Agenda item

To receive a verbal update from the Superintendent of Epping Forest.

The Committee received the following update from the Superintendent of Epping Forest:

 

Staff Changes

A gardener, litter picker & maintenance worker had retired in the past two months.  The Branching Out Project Manager had also left to join Royal Parks, 5 months before the project closure.  An interim Senior Forest Centres Officer and Branching Out Project Manager had been appointed.  North London Open Spaces were providing a senior manager to temporarily cover the role of Head Keeper and recruitment for the role of Head of Visitor Services was continuing.

 

Dry Weather

Both May and June were a 1 degree Celsius warmer than the last 20 year average. While May saw average rainfall, June had seen rainfall amounting to half the monthly average leading to very dry conditions across the forest.

 

Fire Severity Index

In response to the very warm and dry weather the Fire Severity Index as measured by the Meteorological Office had ventured into 4 (very high), on a scale of 1 to 5, much earlier in the year than normal.

 

Ladies Day

The weather was kind for Ladies Day, where 60 guests enjoyed walks on Fairmead Plain and The Warren.  In a very welcome break with tradition the Lord Mayor attended the pre-lunch estate walk to observe progress with the grazing scheme.

 

Football Season

The Football season ended on the 10^th/11^th May.  1,808 games were played between September and May generating £66,500 in income.  A further 28 school sports days and 12 summer football matches and a summer soccer school were also held.  Unusually 6 weekends were cancelled due to poor weather in January and February and the Superintendent’s delegated powers were used to extend play for 3 weekends to 10/11^th May.

 

The FA Chairman’s England Commission Report

The Chairman’s 84 page report had been published with a focus on increasing the levels of England Football talent.  A key finding hidden away in the report showed that England lagged behind in the quantity and quality of affordable grassroots facilities.  A further report on new funding models for grassroots football was to be delivered in the Autumn.

 

Chingford Golf Course

The number of rounds played in 2013/14 were up 1,657 or 8% from 20,497 to 22,154.  The Sky Sports Golf Survey indicated that 70% of clubs reported a continuing fall in membership.

 

Rough Sleepers

Forest Keepers were continuing to clear Rough Sleeper encampments.  Figures were yet to be confirmed but the rate on increase compared to last year’s caseload appeared to be slowing.  According to CHAIN 6,508 people slept rough at some point in London during 2013/14, an increase of 15% on the previous year’s total of 6,437 and a 64% increase on 2010. 

 

The Autumn 2013 total of street counts and estimate in London was 543. This was a decrease of 3% from the 2012 figure of 557, which was an increase of 25% from the 2011 figure of 446. London accounted for 22% of the total England figure compared to 24% in 2012 and 20% in 2011.

 

Fly tipping

Following the overall 24.8% fall in incidents across 2013, the first two months of 2014 have seen 105 fly tips up 21% on 87 for the same period last year.

 

Prosecutions

3 cases of disfiguring the Forest were successfully prosecuted at Colchester Magistrates Court.

 

Advertising Encroachment at Woodford Green

The City had commenced legal action to remove an advertising hoarding that was previously on London Borough of Redbridge allotment land but had been re-erected on Forest Land at Woodford Green.

 

Paws in the Park – 8^th June

Forest Keepers held a well-attended Dog Show event at The Temple, with Local Authority partners; vets; dog training clubs and the Kennel Club to share messages about responsible dog ownership and Dog Control Orders. 

 

Fawn Tagging

A further third year of tagging was completed in partnership with the Deer Initiative.  7 fawns were tagged, sadly resulting in one fatality.

 

High Beach Visitor Centre

Visitor Numbers for first three months totalled 4,355 visits(April 1,368, May 1,825 June 1,162).  Volunteers provided 673 hours of volunteer time.

 

Evening Craft events at The View

The mosaic making courses had sold out and proved to be a very popular event.

 

Wanstead Park Hydrology Study

Final study had been presented by consultants JJB.  The basin was losing water due to springs at the edge of Boyn Hill Gravels; Shoulder of Mutton was largely a sealed system but sewers had reduced surface water collection; Heronry Pond was leaking at a rate 13 litres/second making it the most problematic lake.  Perch Pond was struggling to maintain a positive balance and Ornamental Pond was probably beyond intervention due to its construction in porous alluvium.

 

Highams Park Lake

Balfour Beatty had submitted project cost estimates on dam strengthening, but work has not commenced in June as scheduled.  Desilting options for 5,000 M3 of the 14,000 Ms of silt were being considered including extraction from the north or south of the lake.

 

Grazing

Redpolls were now out on Fairmead, Whitehouse and Almshouse Plains following grazing on the Buffer Land.  Further cattle would follow once new coolars had been supplied by Laceme and the invisible fencing was installed.

 

8^th Symposium on the Conservation of Saproxylic (Woodloving) Beetle Fauna – Basel

The Head of Conservation presented a scientific research paper at the conference.  The paper outlining the success of the Forest’s wood pasture restoration work had been well received.

 

Grassland Invertebrate Monitoring

Epping Forest hosted Imperial College MSc students studying grassland invertebrate ecology for the 8^th year.

 

Windsor Forest – Cooperation with Crown Estates

The Head of Conservation met with the Superintendent of Windsor Park and the Chief Forester of Windsor Forest to consider ways of working together on wood pasture restoration and conservation grazing.

 

Proposed Development – Forest Lodge, Wake Arms

An application for 19 new homes on the former play facility and stables had been submitted to the District Council.

 

Gifford Wood Update

The planting of 5,280 trees had been completed and spiral guards had been added to manage rabbit damage within the enclosure.

 

Common Agricultural Policy - New Greening rules

Staff were considering new guidance on Ecological Focus Areas.

 

Kew Gardens – Shed Limb Death

Long awaited inquest that had been adjourned to study tree safety policies and pruning history of the tree in question had ruled accidental death and would not be producing a Prevention of Future Deaths Report.

 

The State of UK Public Parks

Major report on The Condition of Parks published by Heritage Lottery Fund.  The report showed that while 34million people visit parks, making them one of the most used of public services, 86% of parks were reporting cuts to revenue budgets since 2010, with 45% of Local authorities considering selling parks or transferring management to others.  77% of parks had lost staff since 2010.

 

Volunteer Hours

Volunteers had helped replace revetment around Knighton Pond over tasks in April and May.  Volunteers provided 1,470 hours of time between December and January. 

 

Tour de France – 7^th July

The Head Keeper had been attending key meetings with race organisers and local authorities regarding the management of the events when it passed through Epping Forest.  The Epping New Road would be closed on race day between 09.00 hours and 17.00 hours.

 

In response to a query from a Member regarding a sign illegally situated in Woodford, Officers explained that it had not been removed yet as it was a sizeable and costly task which Officers wanted to ensure would be paid for by the culprits.

 

The Committee thanked the Superintendent and his team for their hard work.