Agenda and minutes

The committee is asked to appoint a Chair and a Vice-Chair for the 2015-16 Municipal Year.

RESOLVED -

That Councillor Wesley Harcourt be appointed as the Chair of the Wormwood Scrubs Charitable Trust for municipal year 2015-16.

That Councillor Joe Carlebach be appointed as the Vice-Chair of the Wormwood Scrubs Charitable Trust for municipal year 2015-16.

The committee is asked to approve the appointment of two non-voting co-opted members.

Councillor Harcourt ask that it be noted that the non-voting status of the co-opted member positions did not reflect upon the proposed appointees and was due to the timescales involved with taking the decision to appoint voting members to Full Council.

RESOLVED-

That Miriam Shea and David Jeffreys be appointed as co-opted members of the Wormwood Scrubs Charitable Trust.

Councillor Harcourt asked that it be noted that he maintained an interest in the Old Oak and Park Royal Opportunity Area Planning Framework as he was a member of the Planning Committee of the Old Oak and Park Royal Development Corporation.

Apologies for absence have been received from Councillor Joe Carlebach and Ian Ross, Leisure Services Manager.

Apologies for absence had been received from Councillor Joe Carlebach and Ian Ross, Parks Manager.

To approve as an accurate record, and the Chair to sign, the minutes of the meeting held on 4^th March.

RESOLVED -

That the minutes of the meeting held on the 4^th March be approved as an accurate record subject to the following amendment:

That Ian Ross’s title be amended from “Leisure Manager” to “Parks Manager”

To receive a presentation updating the committee on the Old Oak and Park Royal Opportunity Area Planning Framework

Alexandra Day, Senior Engagement Officer, and Tom Cardis, Principal Strategic Planner, presented an overview of the Old Oak and Park Royal Opportunity Area Planning Framework (OAPF) and the work of the Old Oak and Park Royal Development Corporation (OPDC).

The OPDC had been formalised on the 1^st April 2015. Since then an engagement exercise had begun, looking to involve key partners in the delivery of the project. The OPDC was now the local planning authority for the OPDC area and would  be reviewing planning applications  as well as  developing the Local Plan for the area. It was confirmed that some planning applications had already been received.

The  consultation on the Local Plan would commence in the autumn and take approximately 18 months for the plan to be formally adopted.

The OAPF

The OAPF was a GLA document that had been started before the creation of the OPDC. The framework served as a pre-local plan guide for dealing with the early stages of the development.

Revisions were currently being made to the OAPF in response to the consultation exercise that had taken place. The revised document would be sent to the planning committee for review prior to endorsement by the OPDC and adoption by the Mayor. The OPDC would not formally adopt the OAPF until the Local Plan is adopted.

It was reported that there had been 11,000 responses to the consultation on the framework; these had been received from 3000 separate respondents, including the Trust and the Friends. It was noted that the Friends, The Local Authority and the Trust had raised similar concerns.

How these issues were likely to be addressed in the revised framework was discussed.  References to the objectives of the Trust and the Scrubs would be made more prominent in the document and details of the planned density around the boundary of the Scrubs would be specified. There would be clarity over the amenity spaces in the development north of the Scrubs.

The response to comments on the  OAPF would be going to the planning committee in early July, and then to the OPDC Board two weeks later.  A track changed version of the OAPF would then be submitted to Planning Committee and OPDC Board in September 2015 for approval.

Governance

It was asked whether the Trust would be keen to hold a position on one of the panels that comprised the governance structure of the OPDC. Suitable panels were advised to be the “Place Review Panel”, the “Communities Panel” or the “Public Sector Advisory Panel”.  It was agreed that members of the Trust needed to have a discussion about where they felt they best aligned and where they would be able to have the most impact.

The timescale for a decision was questioned and it was reported that it was unlikely that all the committees would have been set-up by the time of the Trust’s next meeting on the 24^th September. Alexandra Day agreed to check the timescales for the creation of the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6.

To receive a report from the Director of Safer Neighbourhoods and the Director of Finance and Resources, ELRS, updating the committee on recent management activity.

Opposition to Wetland Mitigation Area Proposed in HS2 Bill

Jackie Simkins highlighted to the committee that the land currently being reviewed for a wetland mitigation scheme could be subject to a compulsory purchase order if an alternative solution with HS2 was not agreed upon. It was however felt unlikely that HS2 would use this option.

A document was circulated detailing the work that had been done to identify alternative enhancement areas that would meet HS2’s mitigation requirements. These were focused around the edge of the Scrubs and included work to remove knotweed, enrich grassland and improve hedges etc.

A meeting had taken place with HS2 where they had accepted the enhancement works in principal. The cost of the scheme was estimated to be £3.3 million, reportedly more than HS2 had expected. HS2 were to take the proposal to their board.

A decision needed to be made on whether LBHF should continue with their planned petition to the HS2 select committee. It was felt this decision should be based on whether the assurances against the Wetland Mitigation Scheme had been strengthened before the hearing took place in the following week. It was felt to be frustrating that HS2 had asked for any proposed scheme to be equal in price to the Wetland Mitigation Area without supplying information of how much this scheme would cost. The pricing of the enrichment was felt to be robust, spread over ten years with no ongoing costs to the authority.

It was noted that there were other avenues for the Trust if an agreement was not reached with HS2, including petitioning to the House of Lords. However it was felt that HS2 were under pressure to agree to the authority’s proposed scheme.

It was reported that the Friends were now likely to withdraw their Overground   petition as they were happy with the proposed Option C.

It was asked that the document detailing the proposed enhancement not be circulated outside of the Trust until after the select committee hearing.

Amendment to Scrubs Act

Sharp Pritchard had been consulted on the possibility of strengthening the Act. They had quoted the cost of getting the Bill through parliament at between £55,000-130,000 based on the level of opposition it received. Councillor Harcourt asked that this be noted as an option for the Trust if required, with the progression of the proposal held off until the outcome of the OPDC consultation and plans were known. The OPDC had often publically stated that they would work within the Act.

Filming and Events

Jem Kale, Events Manager, reported that the Scrubs had been advertised to potential clients and that all attempts were being made to build the reputation of the Scrubs as a potential events venue. LiveNation had pulled out from holding an event on the Scrubs, although a payback scheme for structural changes had been discussed. AEG, LiveNation’s main competitors had also been approached.

A few sports agencies had shown an interest in hosting supplementary events to large sporting occasions, such as  ...  view the full minutes text for item 7.

The dates of the next meetings:

24^th September 2015

8^th December 2015

15^th March 2016

The dates of the next meetings are:

24^th September 2015

8^th December 2015

15^th March 2016