Agenda item

Report of the Director of Open Spaces.

The Committee considered a report of the Director of Open Spaces on the department’s final high-level business for 2019/20.

A Member commented that the departmental business plan did not have the required funding the for the projects which the department was required to undertake specifically highlighting Oak Processionary Moth (OPM) and the Branching Out education scheme. Further to this the Member raised that the Pests and Diseases summary risk relating to the OPM be recategorised as red risks. Members discussed the potential reputational risk and the impact on the public using the City of London Corporation’s Open Spaces that OPM could have. The Director of Open Spaces informed the Committee that funds had been agreed in the Open Spaces departmental budget for the education programme including the Branching Out scheme. In addition, the Director explained that strategies were in place for to limit the impact of OPM. The Chairman commented that despite the strategies the Open Spaces department had in place to mitigate the risks caused by OPM it was inevitable that it would present a substantial long-term risk for the department. Members agreed that the OSD 005 Pests and Diseases summary risk be recategorised as a red risk and the likelihood be increased to more accurately represent the actuality of the impact on the department.

RESOLVED- That the Open Spaces Department’s high-level Business Plan 2019–20 be approved.