Agenda and minutes

Apologies were received from Anne Fairweather, Cllr James Denselow, Cllr Neil Nerva and Cllr Eleanor Southwood.

There were no declarations.

To agree the public minutes and summary of the meeting held on 14 June 2017.

RESOLVED, that the minutes of the meeting held on 14 June 2017 be approved as a correct record.

Report of the Superintendent of Hampstead Heath.

Members considered an update report of the Superintendent and the following points were made.

Operational Management

·         The Queen’s Park Manager noted that two recruitment campaigns had been conducted for the vacancy of Team Leader, but the preferred candidate had declined the role in favour of a secondment in the Ascension Islands. The Queen’s Park Manager added that he was working with City of London Corporation HR to review the job description, and a further recruitment round would be conducted in early 2018.

·         The Queen’s Park Manager noted that a range of cyclical works had been carried out in the Park, including rewiring of the Play Area Toilets and the Pool. Further cyclical works were planned, including to paths and fencing. Park users would be updated on the progress of works via social media.

Projects and Programmes

·         The Queen’s Park Manager noted that some movement had been detected in the Ladies’ Toilets. Temporary repairs had been carried out by the City’s City Surveyor’s Department, and the building would be monitored for further movement. The Manager reminded Members that a proposed extension to the toilet block had been proposed at the June 2017 meeting, at a cost of £45,000. The recent movement presented an opportunity to review whether a wider, more ambitious, project could be undertaken.

·         In response to a question from a Member, the Queen’s Park Manager confirmed that monitoring the building for further movement was being undertaken.

·         In response to a question from a Member, the Chairman noted that any increased project scope would be subject to the City of London Corporation’s Project Procedure. The Superintendent agreed to map out a draft project timeline and share it with Members outside of the meeting.

·         In response to requests from Members for the Group to be involved in the process as much

The Superintendent to be heard.

Members considered a tabled paper of the Superintendent regarding potential options for Queen’s Park Café and the following points were made.

·         The Queen’s Park Manager noted that Members had before them four anonymised bids for the licence to operate Queen’s Park Café. They had been graded using a matrix of 60% quality and 40% price. Of the four bids, bid 6 and bid 12 had proved most popular in terms of their menus during public consultation.

·         In response to a question from the Chairman, the Park Manager confirmed that each potential café operator’s social offering had been evaluated as part of the catering concept element of their bid. He agreed to amend the title of that section accordingly to reflect the fact it included a social offering.

Giovanna Torrico left at this point of the meeting.

·         The Park Manager noted that bids 6 and 12 had plenty of catering experience but not necessarily in a park context. Bid 1 had less experience and was more geared towards hot drinks. Bids 1, 6 and 12 were all local to the Queen’s Park area.

·         The Chairman noted that she would welcome a community statement from bid 1.

·         A Member commented that she would welcome a provider was creative in terms of menu, and planned to use the whole range of space in the café.

·         A Member encouraged the Park Manager to interview all four bids, not just the top two. If only two bids were brought forward for interview, officers should be clear on their reasons for not inviting the other two bids.

·         In response to a question, the Superintendent agreed to confirm whether the Chairman and the Chair of the Queen’s Park Area Residents’ Association could observe the forthcoming interviews. The Park Manager noted that the interviews were scheduled for mid-January

Report of the Superintendent of Hampstead Heath.

Members considered a report of the Superintendent regarding the development of a Divisional Plan for Hampstead Heath, Highgate Wood and Queen’s Park and the following points were made.

·         The Superintendent noted that 19 projects listed within the report and its appendices related to Queen’s Park. A further project concerning the Ladies’ Toilets would be included, and a Red/Amber/Green column added to future iterations to aid interpretation of project progress.

RESOLVED, that the report be noted.

Anti-Social Behaviour at Lychgate

In response to a question from a Member regarding an increase in anti-social behaviour at the lychgate on the south-eastern corner of the Park, the Park Manager noted that the local policing team had recently had a change in personnel which had meant there had been some interruption in night-time patrolling. He would provide the policing team with a key to allow them to access the Park after hours. A Member added her thanks to the Park Manager for his efforts to secure policing presence – she noted that the Police had attended her Association meetings monthly but had not attended for the past six months.

There was no other business.

24 April 2018 at 3.00pm.

The date of the next meeting on 24 April 2018 at 3.00pm was noted.