Agenda item

The Superintendent of City Gardens & West Ham Park to be heard relative to City Gardens matters.

The Committee received a verbal update from the City Gardens Manager relative to City Gardens matters. The following points were made:

·       Finance – budgets were on target for this period of the year. An additional £47,000 had been spent over the Olympic and Paralympic period to cover payment for existing staff overtime, additional casual staff, additional planting and rubbish clearance. This was to be reimbursed through the finance pot allocated by the 2012 Sub Committee. 

·       Staff – two assistant gardeners had recently been recruited, making a full complement of staff for the City Gardens team.

·       Works update – the team had a very successful summer working collaboratively with many departments and partners to make the Olympics and Paralympics such a success. Shard planters and the decorative ‘Look and Feel’ decorations associated with the events had been removed and the team were preparing for a busy winter work season.

·       Planned works included:

o   Converting fifteen existing annual bedding areas into more sustainable planting schemes using shrubs, perennials and herbaceous planting to create planting schemes that give seasonal interest as well as introducing biodiversity features. Notices would be posted where works were to be carried out and ward members would be notified of any major works in advance.

o   27 trees would be planted, with a further potential 23 trees associated with the three-year Green Corridors project when trial holes were confirmed.

o   A mixture of spring and summer bulbs would be planted in Tower Hill gardens, funded by local area funding. Planting would be undertaken in partnership with local scout groups and schoolchildren in the next month.

o   Tree, grass and lavender planting would include the landscaping improvements at St Paul’s walkway, to be completed by March 2013.

·       Awards – City Gardens had retained both Green Flag and Green Heritage Awards this year, and had received gold in the London In Bloom campaign. Team members were recently awarded the Luder Cup for Festival Gardens by the Flowers in the City Campaign and the team was currently awaiting the results of the London Squares competition this coming week.

·       Children’s Festival – The City Gardens team represented the Open Spaces Department at the Children’s Festival, which was held in the Leadenhall Market a couple of weeks ago. The team handed out information leaflets, talked to and advertised all our open spaces to a wide range of families and people. The stall attracted a large number of children who learnt how to plant hyacinth bulbs and create grass heads, which they took home to observe plant growth. Families’ details were collated to enable them to be invited to future events.

·       Insurance Claim – City Gardens had received £13,000 from a developer in compensation for damage caused to a tree in Warwick Square. This was the first successful claim and was evidenced using the CAVAT valuation system. An additional £5,500 has also been awarded to pay for the tree’s removal and its replacement with a new specimen.

Members recorded thanks to the City Gardens staff for their efforts over the Olympic period and the Chairman undertook to write to all officers to convey the Committee’s gratitude.

RECEIVED