Agenda item

The Superintendent of Epping Forest to be heard.

 

The Committee received the following update from the Superintendent of Epping Forest:

 

Staff changes

The Community Liaison Officer completed his temporary contract term.  An Interim Sports Development Coordinator had been appointed to work on current and future season’s bookings, together with four casual Information Assistants for ‘The View’.

 

Weather

With an unseasonably warm and dry March and April, the Fire Severity Index for the south of the Forest rose to 4 (Very High) and 3 (high) for the North of the Forest for the last few weeks of April.

 

Riders Forum – 9^th March

A very positive meeting was held on 9^th March, with praise for information being disseminated on events and work to open up 7 km of horse rides.  Concerns continued to be raised around grid bypass gates; cattle fencing and mounting blocks.

 

Skylark Initiative

A series of events and new signposting had been delivered in partnership with Wren Conservation and an Animal Behaviourist to draw attention to the problem of disturbance by dogs of ground nesting birds, especially skylarks.

 

Reservoir Inspection – 17^th April

Dr Andy Hughes completed his first inspection of the year.  Dr Hughes was again complimentary over the further improvements in dam vegetation maintenance and again emphasised the need for hard landscaping improvements to Baldwins Pond and Birch Hall Park Pond.

 

Tour de France

Further meetings were being held with the organisers and Local authorities regarding the stage through Epping Forest, including road closures and viewing opportunities.

 

Knighton Wood

The recent temporary measures to restrict public access to the Knighton Wood car park attracted some criticism in the local press.  The new car park gate had improved the situation.

 

Trespass Incidents – Wanstead and Leyton Flats

15 caravans and associated vehicles tried to occupy The Dell on 23^rd March and the Old Lido Site on 16^th April.  On both occasions staff in partnership with the Police and Emergency Planning Officers cleared the site within 3 and 6 hours respectively.

 

Body Found at Tarzy Wood, Wanstead

A body was discovered by children at Tarzy Wood on 27^th April.   The individual was thought to have been a Rough Sleeper.  A post mortem had been inconclusive.

 

Break In at The Warren

A series of items including powered machinery were taken during a break in at The Warren yard.

 

Fly tipping

Fly tipping incidents had risen by 30% (51 incidents) from 170 to 221 for the first 4 months of 2014.

 

Land Fill Escalator

The Landfill Tax had risen by a further £8 per metric tonne to £80 per metric tonne from April as part of the continuing ‘escalator’ arrangements.   Fly tipping levels appear to be more closely linked with the fortunes of the economy rather than the escalator.

 

Litter

Littering had proved to be a major talking point over the past 2 months with conversations on Twitter, coverage of Eagle Pond in the local press; and new initiatives including tidyourflats and a clear up at Davies Lane.

 

Byelaw Enforcement

Chelmsford Magistrates Court supported 4 cases on fungi picking.

 

DEFRA Ash-dieback Research

DEFRA had published their most recent assessment of the impact of Ash ‘dieback’ fungus which suggests around half of all the trees in Essex are expected to be infected by 2018.

 

Ban on the sale of selected non-native plants

Ahead of a more wide ranging EU regulation on Invasive  Alien Species (IAS), DEFRA had banned the sale of five highly invasive water plants from April 2014 including Australian Swamp Stonecrop (also known as New Zealand Pygmy weed) which has extensively damaged over 20 Epping Forest Ponds)

 

Oxford University Report on extreme rainfall events

A new report indicates that rainfall events expected only once in a century are now likely to be witnessed every eighty years.

 

Campaign to Protect Rural England report on threats to the Green Belt

CPRE echoed research by the National Trust reported to your Committee on 13^th January that Local Planning Authorities were set to undermine the Green Belt in the search for housing allocations.

 

Highams Park Lake

The London Borough of Waltham Forest provided planning consent for the dam strengthening works on 15^th April.  Main works were expected to commence in June.  The City had now exceeded the 8^th April commencement deadline and has kept the Environment Agency appraised of the situation.   Site Investigation works started in 17^th March.  Survey work had revealed that the lake contains 14,000 M3 of silt and a desilting strategy was being developed.

 

Wanstead Park Hydrology Study

The detailed report by consultants JJA would be available next week.  Significant deficits have been observed at Heronry Pond and Ornamental Water and the study would address a strategy for improving water collection and minimising leakage in the catchment

 

Ornamental Water, Wanstead Park – High Risk Designation

The Environment Agency had advised a provisional designation of High Risk Reservoir for Ornamental Water as part of the risk-based review under the Flood and Water Management Act 2010.

 

Goose Control

The Central Forest Keeper Team had completed goose control for the fifth successive year with eggs located have declined from 95 in 2010 to 53 in 2014.  Geese were inhibiting grassland restoration at Jubilee Pond and the use of a deterrent made from grape by-products was being considered for use to reduce grazing pressure.

 

M25 Hard Shoulder Scheme

The controversial scheme involving hard shoulder running and refuge bays had commenced construction on the unlit Epping Forest section.

 

Visitor Survey underway

The 2014 season survey had commenced.

 

High Beach Visitor Reopening – 5^th April

Magnificent work by the Friends of Epping Forest has seen the training of over 20 volunteers who would staff the centre on Fridays and Saturdays.  The Centre was declared open by the Chairman and Eleanor Laing MP.

 

London Borough of Waltham Forest Design Awards

The City of London received commended for the ‘best refurbishment of a Heritage Building’ category.

 

Family Learning Events

Over 220 attended each of the Family learning Events on the 19^th and 21^st February.

 

Thinkspace Teachers Conference

Epping Forest staff attended a conference designed to help teachers prepare for the new National Curriculum for history.

 

Orion Harriers Cross Country & Jack Fenn Trophy

The Chairman was guest of honour at the recent Orion Harriers race day.

 

GLA ‘Mini-Holland’ Proposals

The London Borough of Waltham Forest has secured a £30M award from the GLA.   The centrepiece of the LBWF plan is a Superhighway Scheme for Lea Bridge Road and a ‘Mini-Holland’ roundabout on Forest Land at Whipps Cross.

 

Social Media

Officers extended their thanks to the hard work of five staff members who maintain our Twitter strategy our number of followers has passed 2,000 to reach 2,254. 

 

Deer Carving at Queen Elizabeth Hunting Lodge

Three 1.5x life size carvings by Gloucestershire carver Denius Parson had been installed in the grounds of the Hunting Lodge.

 

Chingford Golf Course

The Red Rule at the Golf Course was removed from Sport Relief Day on 22^nd March.  Since its removal play has increased by 28%.  The introduction of a new Season Ticket scheme has increased public membership from 10 to 105 registrations.  Play at the Course was up 8% across the year.

 

Outreach

The Community Liaison Officer and Forest Keepers secured involvement on conservation projects from Forest Gate Women’s Institute to Newham Woodcraft Folk in the south of the Forest and St John’s School in the north.

 

Volunteers

Recruitment was underway for 2014.  Notable projects led by volunteers include clearance to improve bluebell habitat at Chalet Wood, clearance at Earl’s Path Pond and scrub clearance at Top Pond, Knighton Wood.  Overall 10,884 hours were completed by volunteers in 2013/14.

 

Epping Forest on Television

An episode – The Curse of the Bronze Lamp - from the detective series ‘Jonathan Creek’, filmed at Copped Hall, was aired on 14^th March.  A forthcoming commercial for folding doors was filmed at Rushey Plain on 29^th April.