Agenda item

Report of the Superintendent of Hampstead Heath.

The Committee received a report of the Superintendent of Hampstead Heath that provided Members with an update regarding the following management and operational activities across the Heath, Highgate Wood and Queen’s Park since May 2016.

Consultation

 The Superintendent updated the Committee on the plans for improving the consultation arrangements, following on from a discussion and resulting recommendations from the Consultative Committee. The priorities that had been identified were;

·         To consistently engage with the Consultative Committee at a formative stage when proposals were being prepared

·         To prepare a Divisional Plan to feed into a forward reporting plan (to be developed for the November meeting cycle)

·         To update the data relating to Heath usage to put reports in greater context and to use statistics to assist forward planning and the decision-making process

·         To clearly state in reports going to the Grand Committee the recommendations of the Consultative Committee

·         To ‘close the loop’ by ensuring that the Consultative Committee was clearly informed of the notice taken by the Management Committee of their recommendations.

Schedule of Meetings

The schedule of meetings would be amended to allow for four Consultative Committee meetings and four Hampstead Heath, Highgate Wood and Queen’s Park Management Committee meetings per year, with a gap of approximately four weeks between them. This would allow time for reports to be amended to incorporate the views of the Consultative Committee. It was agreed that the new schedule should begin in the new municipal year (April 2017). The programme of walks on the Saturday morning before the Consultative Committee would remain in place and the Superintendent would circulate a note of the issues discussed on the walks.

Minutes

A meeting between the Town Clerk and the Superintendent would be arranged to discuss the recommendations of the Consultative Committee in regards to the level of detail and format of minutes. It was agreed that the draft minutes of the Hampstead Heath, Highgate Wood and Queen’s Park Management Committee should be circulated to the Consultative Committee as soon as they were available.

Open Spaces Bill

It was advised that a meeting with the Kennel Club had been arranged to discuss the issues presented in their petition against the Bill.

Learning Team 

A Gateway 2 report for conversion of The Hive would be progressing through the Chief Officers’ Group, the Consultative Committee, the Management Committee and the Projects Sub-Committee in due course. The proposal involved the conversion of existing changing rooms into two classrooms and an outdoor learning space.

Benches

The Superintendent advised that 120 applications for benches were on the waiting list, which would be closed to deal with the backlog.

Heath Hands Volunteers

Heath Hands had completed 100,000 hours of volunteering and an invitation to an event to mark this achievement on 21 September 2016 would be sent to Members, who wished to record their thanks to Heath Hands Volunteers for their hard work in supporting the management of the Heath.

Events Update

The Committee wished to thank the Leisure and Events Manager for organising the successful events programme, including the Give it a Go festival, which had been well attended.

Veteran Tree Seminar

 A Member informed the Committee of the discussion that had taken place at the Veteran Tree Seminar, which had highlighted the level of expertise of officers working in the Tree Team. The challenges facing the department, including lack of resources, were discussed and the Tree Team were thanked for sharing their expertise.

 RESOLVED – That the update regarding the management and operational activities across the Heath be noted.