Agenda item

In response to concerns from Susan Rose the Chairman replied that the principle of Committee Members visiting sites upon which they were being asked to comment upon at Committee had not been deliberately abandoned. He accepted that a visit to the Model Farm Compartment, which was closed to the public had been offered to Committee Members only at very short notice.

Jeremy Wright welcomed the report and suggested that further consideration be given to the screening of Athlone House, depending upon the outcome of the planning application and resultant size of the new property.

The Hampstead Heath Ecologist explained the location of the Model Farm Compartment and outlined the two main factors that made it a unique site on the Heath. The first was that it was home to an important population of grass snakes, and secondly it was the site of a historic model farm from the Kenwood Estate.

In response to a question from John Hunt the Heath Ecologist replied that the raspberry border in the Compartment would be kept but maintained in such a way as to ensure it did not infringe upon neighbouring grassland.