Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence were received Matt Rumble, Heather Marsh and Councillor Helen Rowbottom

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.

There were no declarations of interest

To approve as an accurate record, the minutes of the meeting held on 3^rd August

2021.

To discuss the minutes of the meeting held on the 23^rd June 2021.

RESOLVED:

That the minutes of the meeting held on 3^rd August 2021 were approved.

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

Update on Kensington Dragons Grant Agreement

Steve noted that the funding agreement between the Wormwood Scrubs Charitable Trust and Kensington Dragons Football Club Limited had now been completed. This was to award grant funding of £250,000 for 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.

HS2 Bill Alternative Ecological Mitigation -Master Plan

Steve noted that a brief for a specialist in community engagement had been drafted and a revised programme for the Biodiversity Masterplan had also been drawn up. This showed the consultation taking place over several months, to enable a full and in-depth consultation with residents. A revised Masterplan was proposed to be presented for final approval at the June 2022 Committee. There was a risk that HS2 would not fund further consultation and engagement. The funding agreement for the Alternative Ecological Mitigation did not mention community consultation or any other works apart from ecological enhancements. Nevertheless, HS2 had funded a limited programme of consultation with residents and agreed that interpretation signage could form part of the project.

HS2 had indicated that if a rationale or business case was presented to them, setting out the need for further consultation, they may be prepared to fund engagement to develop a vision for Wormwood Scrubs which reflected the needs of local people.

The Chair felt that the original consultation exercise lacked sufficient engagement with local people. A large number of residents had submitted their feedback on their vision for the Scrubs. Therefore, she felt that it was vital to reopen the consultation process to gather further feedback and capture the views of the residents, noting that the execution of a robust engagement plan would play a key part of this exercise. This could then feed into the revised Masterplan,

Stephen Waley-Cohen (Co-opted Member) expressed his concerns on the delay of the project timetable and asked the Trust advisors to explore options on how this could be brought forward by Spring 2020 if possible.

Miriam Shea (Co-opted Member) enquired what the total cost of the consultation would be to the Trust if HS2 were unable to fund it. In response Steve explained that the full costs were unknown until the tender exercise had been completed. However, these costs were expected to be around £10k or less.

The Committee unanimously agreed this recommendation.

HS2 Update

Steve provided an update and noted that HS2 had now secured access from Old Oak Common Lane and had started the construction of the UTX site. However, there had been a delay to their programme. He updated members on the current timetable and provided an overview on the following key areas, future access point for utilities, easements, temporary trackway from Braybrook Street, BT Manhole, and clarification on the compulsory purchase order. It was noted that a letter had gone back to HS2 seeking written assurances that the land would  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4.