Agenda item

West Ham Park Committee to nominate a representative to act as their Park Champion, as agreed by the Open Spaces and City Gardens Committee at their meeting held on 21 July 2014 (copy of the report considered and an extract from the  minutes of the meeting are attached).

Members noted that the recent Heritage Lottery Fund report ‘The State of UK Public Parks 2014 – Renaissance to Risk’ provides an important insight into the current state of Parks in the UK. The report summarised the key findings and considered the issues that were particular relevant to the City of London; both in managing

green spaces across London and in supporting the wider green space agenda

across London.

The Committee considered the five HLF challenges from two perspectives;

firstly, as the authority responsible for the green spaces in the Square Mile

and secondly, as the provider of strategic green space across London. The five challenges were:

1.     Local authority commitment

2.     New partnerships

3.     Getting communities more involved

4.     Collecting and sharing data

5.     New finance models and rethinking delivery

Members noted that the number of Friends and user groups had increased by 30%

in the last three years and membership by 47%. There were some 5,000

groups across the UK raising a significant £30million each year. Members agreed that partnership working was very important to the directorate, as a number of the City owned parks, gardens, forests and heaths were located outside of the Square Mile and within other local authorities.

In response to a query, Officers agreed that the nominated champion would have a four year term. The exact terms of reference would be confirmed by the Director.

Resolved: That Members appointed Cllr Bryan Collier as the West Ham Park Committee Park Champion.