Agenda and minutes

Apologies were received from Councillor Bryan Collier and the Reverend Stennett Kirby.

Wendy Mead declared a standing declaration regarding Item 6 given her membership of The City Bridge Trust Committee.

To agree the public minutes and summary of the meeting held on 7 October 2013.

RESOLVED: that the public minutes and summary of the meeting held on 7 October 2013 be approved as a correct record.

Matters Arising

Staff

The Chairman noted that a staffing update would form part of the Superintendent’s Update.

Tessa Sanderson Foundation Academy

The Superintendent committed to circulating a note on the TSFA to members of the Committee.

The Superintendent of West Ham Park to be heard.

Staff

The Superintendent noted that the preferred candidate from the October interviews for the West Ham Park Manager post has decided not to accept the role. The role has been re-advertised and the recruitment package has also been circulated to the London Parks Benchmarking Group, The London Parks & Greenspaces Forum and other contacts within the industry. In the interim, a manager from North London Open Spaces continues to assist with the management of the park for 1-2 days per week. He added that the new City Bridge Trust (CBT)-funded West Ham Park apprentice has been awarded Highly Commended in the Young Gardener of the Year category of the Sunday Telegraph’s ‘Gardening against the odds’ programme.

Works update

He reported that spring bedding had now been planted in the park and the final 1,700m² of CBT-funded wildflower meadow was sown at the beginning of October. The meadow was sown by 5 classes from 2 different primary schools, totalling approximately 150 children.

The park remained closed on 28 October as a result of the St Jude’s day storm. Damage was relatively light, with only two trees having to be removed (London Plane and Maple).The only damage to property within the park was to some fencing around the tennis courts. Outside the park, a branch fell onto a car parked on Ham Park Road and was being progressed through the insurance section. Staff spent approximately 3 days clearing up debris.

The Nursery had now completed the dispatch of spring bedding and staff had reverted to asset maintenance duties, as well as securing quotes for the supply of seed and plugs for summer bedding next year. The Superintendent noted that he was meeting with The Royal Parks on the 27 November to discuss future bedding provision. He added that the nursery team had

Report of the Town Clerk.

The Committee considered a report of the Town Clerk regarding its Terms of Reference. The following amendments were agreed:

Instances of ‘Heirs-at-law’ to be amended to the singular;

‘Together with the ex-officio Members referred to in paragraph 1 above…’ to be deleted;

Four representatives elected amended to ‘appointed’;

One representative nominated amended to ‘appointed’;

Two representatives nominated amended to ‘appointed’;

The Town Clerk committed to writing to members of the Committee to establish their preference over how their names and titles were displayed in the updated Terms of Reference.

RESOLVED:

·         that subject to the comments above the Terms of Reference of the Committee be approved for submission to the Court of Common Council on 1 May 2014 and that any further changes in the lead up to the Court’s appointment of Committees be delegated to the Town Clerk in consultation with the Chairman and Deputy Chairman.

A joint report of the Chamberlain and Director of Open Spaces.

The representative of the Chamberlain introduced a report on proposed revenue and capital budgets for 2013/14 and 2014/15. She noted that the report had been prepared in light of guidance set by the Policy and Resources Committee. She highlighted that a three year grant from The City Bridge Trust would come to an end in March 2014 and that a new bid was currently being prepared. She went on to explain that any works that were undertaken under the Additional Works Programme that were scheduled to be completed by March 2014 were included in the figures for 2013/14. Any works that were scheduled for 2014/15 had been approved by the Corporate Asset Sub Committee and would shortly go to the Resource Allocation Sub Committee for approval.

In response to a question from a member, the representative of the Chamberlain replied that the current Nursery budget had broken even and that in future any surplus would be reflected in the relevant budget reports that came before the Committee.

The Committee went on to discuss how the surplus from the Nursery should be allocated, with some members noting that it should be for the benefit of the Park as a whole, rather than the Nursery itself. The Chairman pointed out that the Nursery benefited all users of the Park and that it was important that any surplus should not be allowed to accrue to too great an extent. A member emphasised that the whole Park should benefit from any surplus, not just the Nursery itself, whilst another member suggested that the Nursery be given first-refusal on any surplus before it was then allocated to the rest of the Park.

Officers agreed to provide a report at the next Committee detailing the way in which funds were allocated within the Park. The report

There were no questions.

There were no urgent items.

MOTION – that under Section 100(A) of the Local Government Act 1972, the public be excluded from the meeting for the following items on the grounds that they involve the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in Part I of Schedule 12A of the Act.

RESOLVED: that under Section 100(A) of the Local Government Act 1972, the public be excluded from the meeting for the following items on the grounds they involve the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in Part I of Schedule 12A of the Act.

Item(s)                        Paragraph in Schedule 12A

10-15                           3

To agree the non-public minutes of the meeting held on 7 October 2013.

RESOLVED: that the non-public minutes of the meeting held on 7 October 2013 be approved as a correct record.

Report of the Town Clerk.

The Committee received a report of the Town Clerk.

RECEIVED  

There were no questions.

There was no other business.

To agree the confidential minutes of the meeting held on 7 October 2013 (copies to be circulated at the meeting).

RESOLVED: that the confidential minutes of the meeting held on 7 October 2013 be agreed as a correct record.

There were no questions.

There was no other business.