Agenda and minutes

The Committee is asked to appoint a Chair for the 2021-22 Municipal Year.

RESOLVED:

That Councillor Alexandra Sanderson was unanimously agreed as Chair of the Committee for the municipal year 2021-22.

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

RESOLVED:

Sir Stephen Waley-Cohen and Miriam Shea, representatives of the Friends of Wormwood Scrubs, were unanimously agreed as co-opted members of the Committee for the municipal year 2021-22.

Apologies for absence were received from Matt Rumble

At the start of the meeting the Chair will carry out a roll call of committee members to confirm attendance. Members will also have an opportunity to declare any interests.

If a Councillor has a disclosable pecuniary interest in a particular item, whether or not it is entered in the Authority’s register of interests, or any other significant interest which they consider should be declared in the public interest, they should declare the existence and, unless it is a sensitive interest as defined in the Member Code of Conduct, the nature of the interest at the commencement of the consideration of that item or as soon as it becomes apparent.

At meetings where members of the public are allowed to be in attendance and speak, any Councillor with a disclosable pecuniary interest or other significant interest may also make representations, give evidence or answer questions about the matter.  The Councillor must then withdraw immediately from the meeting before the matter is discussed and any vote taken.

Where Members of the public are not allowed to be in attendance and speak, then the Councillor with a disclosable pecuniary interest should withdraw from the meeting whilst the matter is under consideration. Councillors who have declared other significant interests should also withdraw from the meeting if they consider their continued participation in the matter would not be reasonable in the circumstances and may give rise to a perception of a conflict of interest.

Councillors are not obliged to withdraw from the meeting where a dispensation to that effect has been obtained from the Audit, Pensions and Standards Committee.

The Chair carried out a roll call to confirm attendance. There were no declarations of interest.

To approve as an accurate record, the minutes of the meeting held on 24^th March 2021.

RESOLVED:

That the minutes of the meeting held on 24^th March 2021 were approved.

Members asked for the following amendments to be made to the minutes:

Grounds Maintenance and site management update

Members discussed the pricing difference between 2 and 5 years for the recovery of the roadway providing vehicle access from Scrubs Lane to the Linford Christie Stadium, the Pony Centre, Council depot and to the temporary site for Kensington Aldridge Academy.

Stephen Waley-Cohen (Co-opted member) requested that a sub-group be set up for the ground’s maintenance contract and Emma Ranson and Miriam Shea (Co-opted member) be invited to join.

Treatment of rental income for the pony centre

In response to a question asked by Stephen Waley-Cohen (Co-opted member), Officers noted that a formal report relating to the treatment of the rental income for the pony centre would be brought to the next meeting.

Action: Chris Harris

The Committee is asked to approve and note all matters in the report.

Steve Hollingworth, Advisor to the Trust, presented the report.

Update on Kensington Dragons Lease, Grant Agreement and Service Level Agreement

Steve noted that the lease, grant agreement and service level agreement were now all agreed and ready to be executed. Although the Trust delegated authority to officers to complete the terms of the lease and the service level agreement, it did not delegate authority to officers to complete the terms of the grant agreement. Therefore, to execute all documents, the Trust were further asked to delegate authority to officers to: -

Complete the funding agreement between the Wormwood Scrubs Charitable Trust and Kensington Dragons Football Club Limited, to award grant funding of £250,000 to the Club to contribute to the delivery of upgrading and providing new sports pitches and circulation areas on the Trust`s property at the Linford Christie Stadium.

The Committee unanimously agreed this recommendation.

HS2 Bill Alternative Ecological Mitigation -Master Plan

Steve noted since the consultation began in the autumn of 2019, there had been a noticeable increase in residents using the Scrubs during lockdown and continuing to enjoy the area as lock down was released. There had been greater interest and engagement from schools with the natural world and therefore the Council was keen to capitalise on this increased interest and engage much more with the wider community and the educational sector. Steve noted that a suggested way forward would be to develop a more inclusive community engagement strategy and work in co-production with residents on the Master Plan. To ensure that wider community engagement was achieved before signing it off.

To achieve this, it was proposed to appoint specialist community engagement consults to develop the vision with residents, the educational sector, and key stakeholders before moving forward further.

The Chair explained that given the interest at the Scrubs over the last few months, it would be useful to broaden the consultation to the community to develop a more inclusive community engagement strategy and feed that input into the Master Plan.

Stephen Waley-Cohen (Co-opted member) explained that whilst he understood the need for a wider consultation, it was equally as important to proceed with the implementation of the project without any major delays. He asked for further clarification to be provided on the timeline for implementation. In response Steve noted that the latest timeline would be circulated to Committee members when this was available.

Action: Steve Hollingworth

Councillor Helen Rowbottom noted that she was in favour of extending the consultation period. She requested that additional signage be added so that the public were able to register their interest and provide feedback.

The Committee unanimously agreed this recommendation.

HS2 Update

Steve noted that HS2 were now working to secure access to the Stamford Brook Sewer compound from Old Oak Common (OOC) Lane. The access had been delayed due to the need to carry out investigate works, to identify the location of utilities under OOC Lane. An update was provided on the current timetable for works and to  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6.