Agenda item

The Constabulary and Queen’s Park Manager introduced a report of the Superintendent of Hampstead Heath on the work of the Constabulary during 2013.

            In response to a question from Richard Sumray, he confirmed that individuals caught attempting to carry knives on the Heath and attempting to access facilities such as the Lido would have the weapon confiscated before being excluded.

            In response to concerns expressed by John Weston regarding the potential reduction in police dogs, the Superintendent reiterated that deployment of dogs would be based on data and experience of trouble spots.

            In response to a query from Jeremy Wright, the Constabulary and Queen’s Park Manager said that poor dog control on the Heath was often due to individual dogs rather than groups of dogs being exercised by commercial dog walkers.

In response to a query from Colin Gregory over what the proposed action plan for dog control would involve, the Constabulary and Queen’s Park Manager replied that it would seek to improve engagement with dog walkers and commercial dog walkers. For example the Constabulary were aware around 30-40 commercial dog walkers used the Heath and therefore it would be useful to engage with them and work with them to ensure the Heath was used responsibly.

In response to a query from John Hunt, the Superintendent replied that the City of London was investigating whether to license commercial dog walkers.

In response to a question from Susan Rose, the Constabulary and Queen’s Park Manager replied that the increase in reported dog incidents was due to improved reporting processes.

In response to a question from Michael Hammerson, the Constabulary and Queen’s Park Manager replied that metal detecting was not a problem on the Heath.