Agenda item

Report of the Superintendent of Hampstead Heath.

The Committee received a report of the Superintendent of Hampstead Heath that provided an update on management and operational activities in Highgate Wood over the

past six months. Members were advised of the following matters:

Saving and Income Generation

By the 2017/18 Financial Year, the City of London Corporation’s Open Spaces Department would be required to find £2.2m of savings, with £332,000 of savings identified across Hampstead Heath, Highgate Wood and Queen’s Park in 2015/16.

Savings were being addressed through seven programmes that focussed on the following areas: learning; sports; Various Powers Bill; promotion of services; energy efficiency; fleet and equipment; and wayleaves. The Superintendent advised that officer project boards had now been set up for each of these programmes.

The Highgate Wood Conservation and Trees Manager added that Highgate Wood would be particularly affected by the Sports programme during a review of the true costs of its sports facilities. This would include benchmarking of fees for other sporting activities provided locally.

In response to a member’s question, the Superintendent advised that donations for guided walks were not currently asked for but this could be considered.

Roman Kiln Project

Work was now underway to gather all the supporting documents that had to be submitted with the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) application. Letters of support would be obtained from local schools, The Museum of London and Bruce Castle Museum.

In response to a Member’s question, the Superintendent advised that a fee of £4,500 would be paid to the small consultancy who had already produced the Interpretation and Display Plans for the reconfigured education building to help with assembling and submitting the Heritage Lottery Fund application.

Sustainability

The Open Spaces Department had recently launched its Sustainability

Improvement Plan 2015-2017, which focussed on three actions: an increased focus on driving down energy and water usage; a department wide review and rationalisation of vehicle and machinery use; and a programme of delivering further Solar Power Projects or other sustainable energy technologies.

Conservation Management Plan

The images from the recent LIDAR survey of Highgate Wood and Queen’s Wood were extremely interesting but the definition of the survey was not sufficiently detailed to be of any real value. A better way to carry out the survey would need to be established.

Woodland Conservation and Tree Management

Work continued with Heath Hands Volunteers to construct dead hedging around sensitive areas where there had been significant compaction, and encourage natural regeneration and soil remediation.

Tree Disease

Oak Processionary Moth (OPM) was advancing ever nearer and may well reach Hampstead Heath in summer 2015. The caterpillar had been found in several locations in Regent’s Park, and was also present a few kilometres to the west in Brent Park just off the North Circular. The Division now had an Action Plan for OPM which had been circulated to all the sites and a number of staff attended training days organised by the Forestry Commission.

Play Area and Recreation

The sports field was gradually recovering from the wet winter months and starting to dry out, although there are some drainage issues to be resolved before the cricket season gets underway.

Pavilion Café

The current lease holder had used the quiet winter trading period to make a series of improvements to the internal serving area and also carried out a spring clean of the storage area next to the compactor. Meetings would continue to take place to discuss further improvements.

Community and Events

The Highgate Wood Heritage Day Event had been renamed ‘Community Day’ and would be held on Sunday 6 September 2015. Members noted the name change and the Highgate Wood Conservation and Trees Manager advised that staff would be open to suggestions for the name of the event in 2016. He added that the Monkey Do climbing event would be available for two days this year instead of three in order to reduce costs.

Members suggested that the London Wildlife Trust could be invited to attend the event as long as this would not involve additional costs.

Infrastructure and Buildings

Repairs to the main pathways were underway, which should make a major difference to the quality of the surface. The Superintendent added that the office had a new boiler installed and this was now working well.

RESOLVED – That the Superintendent’s update be noted.