Agenda item

Report of the Superintendent of Hampstead Heath.

Members considered a report of the Superintendent of Hampstead Heath regarding the Hampstead Heath 2018 Management Plan which had reached another important milestone in its development and the following points were made:

·         The Projects Management & Support Officer noted that this was to mark progress with the development of an Outcomes and Measurement Framework for Hampstead Heath and to set out the next steps for completion of the Management Plan.

·         In response to a question from a member about what the Management Plan would include, the Projects Management & Support Officer stated that the Management Plan would not exceed 20 pages to ensure a more concise and readily updated document than the 2007 Management Plan.

·         The Projects Management & Support Officer invited Members to put themselves forward to engage in the final stages of the development of the Management Plan.

·         Various comments were made on the Heath Vision which was included as an appendix to the report. The Projects Management & Support Officer advised Members that the Heath Vision had been discussed with Members in detail in July 2017 and was approved by the HHHWQPC on 27 September 2017, and therefore no changes would be made to the wording. A Member noted an idea on the scale of difficulty based on the length of sentences and highlighted that there were a number of sentences within the Heath Vision that reached the very difficult to understand level. The Projects Management & Support Officer agreed take this into account when writing the Management Plan. A Member noted potential contradictions in the language as different users of the Heath visit for different reasons and therefore have different views on what is needed. It was noted that the local community fought for 175 years to ensure the Heath was kept open and to protect the Heath as an open space and felt it was important that people were educated on this fact.

·         In response to a query, the Projects Management & Support Officer clarified that the 2007 Management Plan contained 100+ essential actions and the aim was to ensure the 2018 Management Plan addressed the higher-level strategies with actions and details captured in the Divisional Plan and the Annual Work Plan. The purpose of the Management Plan is to provide a strategic framework for making decisions about matters that cross-over a range of management issues and to enable a balance to be found.

·         A Member noted that the outcomes-approach provided an excellent framework and questioned whether the proposed schedule for completion of the Management Plan enabled adequate time for consultation. The Projects Management & Support Officer noted that stakeholders and forums would be engaged with as it develops.

·         The Chairman queried the imperative for completion of the Management Plan by a particular date or whether was it possible to extend the schedule. In response, the Superintendent confirmed that the Management Plan must be completed before the end of 2018. A Member noted that consultation undertaken in preparation of the Management Plan had been effective, but that timing needed to be realistic to continue this inclusive approach. Members recommended that presentation of the Management Plan to HHHWQPC for approval ought to be delayed until November to allow more time for review and for consultation.

·         In reference to the Outcomes and Measurement Framework, the Deputy Chairman questioned how much engagement there had been with Local Councils, particularly around social inclusion, as they would hold relevant data and would want to be involved to aid their own strategic plans.

RESOLVED – that:-

·         Members were supportive of the proposed steps set out for the finalisation of the Hampstead Heath Management Plan.

·         Members recommended that the timeframe for finalisation of the Management Plan be extended to ensure adequate time for consultation.

·         The views of the Hampstead Heath Consultative Committee are conveyed to the Hampstead Heath, Highgate Wood and Queen’s Park Committee.