Agenda and draft minutes

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Adam Peter Lang, Trey Campbell-Simon, Andrew Jones (Cabinet Member for the Economy), Zarar Qayyum (Cabinet Member for Enterprise and Skills) and Frances Umeh (Cabinet Member for Housing and Homelessness).

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 Standards Committee.

There were no declarations of interest.

To approve the minutes of the previous meeting and note any outstanding actions.

The minutes of the Economy, Arts, Sports and Public Realm Policy and Accountability Committee meeting held on 21^st July 2025 were agreed subject to a question arising on page 8 of the minutes from Councillor Amanda Lloyd-Harris  about whether the closure of Hammersmith Bridge had caused congestion on major surrounding roads. In response, officers stated that:

“there is no specific evidence that the closure has added to congestion only displacement and analysis done by TfL indicated that the numbers were spread across a number of bridges in the area, although this information would be held by TfL rather than ourselves”. 

This report provides the background and initial Action Plan for the Active Wellbeing Strategy.  A previous report was brought to the Committee on 29 April 2025 setting out the rationale for a move towards a holistic approach to physical activity and wellbeing, recognising the role of movement, connection, and community engagement in improving health outcomes and reducing inequalities. 

Nigel Court, Interim Lead for Sport and Active Wellbeing introduced the item which provided the background on, and initial Action Plan for the Active Wellbeing Strategy.

He provided a presentation which covered the following points:

• Information on the national context for an Active Wellbeing Strategy and the shift from sport participation to whole-system wellbeing.
• Details on the strategic context, and how the new strategy replaced the former Sport and Physical Activity Strategy. Noting that Hammersmith and Fulham was one of the first London Boroughs to deliver a systems-based approach linked to public health outcomes.
• The vision and objectives of the strategy, including details of the co-production and consultation work undertaken.
• The three strategic themes:

1.     Active People – To build confidence and motivation to move more.

2.     Active Communities – To develop local networks and accessible opportunities.

3.     Active Environment – To create spaces and neighbourhoods that enable activity.

• Barriers to activity and ways to overcome these, including the priority areas within the Borough.
• Details of the Year 1 Action Plan and Active Wellbeing Partnership.
• The expected outcomes and benefits of the strategy and details of the Council’s leisure assets.

Councillor Amanda Lloyd-Harris noted there had been a lot of discussion in social media about organised sports groups (LTA, FA) coming into boroughs and offering to run their sports in the respective boroughs with the intention of purchasing the grounds they were going to use. She asked officers if they were aware of this and if there was any likelihood of it happening in Hammersmith and Fulham.

In response, Nigel Court, Interim Lead for Sport and Active Wellbeing confirmed he was not aware of these intentions. However, he explained the Council was in consultation with all the governing bodies as part of the Council’s Playing Pitch Strategy at looking at ways improvements could be made, and there had been no indication from the Governing Bodies that they would like to deliver sessions or take control of the asset/s. He confirmed the Governing Bodies were working with clubs and hirers to ensure that additional participation was ongoing. He cited the work that was currently being done by the LTA to target hard to reach groups to increase participation and not to take control of the Council’s assets.

Councillor Amanda Lloyd-Harris commented that historically there had been issues with some borough facilities that had not been maintained and had been closed down due to insufficient attendance such as the Janet Adagoki Leisure Centre. She confirmed the Leisure Centre was a Council facility, was especially well used, but was not maintained properly. Councillor Amanda Lloyd-Harris sought assurances that where the Council was aiming to improve facilities there would be an undertaking to maintain them, as this was far more cost effective than letting facilities fall into disrepair and to then rejuvenate them at a later date (such as Linford Christie Stadium.)

In response, Mark Raisbeck, Director of Public Realm agreed it was considerably cheaper to maintain facilities. He confirmed the Council was undertaking  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4.

This report provides an overview of the current condition of Hammersmith and Fulham’s playgrounds and outlines the development of the 2025-2028 Play Transformation programme which will see a £8.3m investment across the borough.

Jessica Bastock, interim Head of Parks and Cemeteries, introduced the item which

provided an overview of the current condition of Hammersmith and Fulham’s playgrounds and outlined the development of the 2025-2028 Play Transformation programme which would see a £8.3m investment across the borough. She was supported by Hugo Ross-Tatam, Parks Projects Officer

The presentation covered the following points:

• An overview of the Playground Transformation Programme, including the timescale, budget and aims of the project.
• Details on the Programme Development work, including the independent review of the borough’s parks playgrounds and using inspection reports to highlight where improvements could be made.
• Information on the existing programme for 2026-26 and the specific improvements being made to several parks.
• Details on the Housing Services Programme 2025-26, its 62 play sites and the actions being taken to improve play provision on the estates.
• An overview of the Delivery Programme, including the duration of the works, consultation on playgrounds and the procurement of planned works.
• Details on the consultation and engagement work undertaken.
• The role and aims of The Play Forum as part of the Play Transformation

Programme.

Councillor Florian Chevoppe-Verdier, Cabinet Member for Public Realm thanked officers for their work on the project. He noted the Council was fortunate to have nearly £10 million of investment to put into the borough’s parks and open spaces. He explained he had asked officers to focus on three key areas. These were the improvements made to play spaces within housing estates, the intergenerationality and accessibility of the design/s and finally to look at the two-phase consultation effort to maximise resident feedback.

In relation to the £8.3 million of investment, Councillor Amanda Lloyd-Harris asked how much of this was part of the Section 106 money from Fulham Football Club. In response, Mark Raisbeck confirmed the investment was not connected with the money from Fulham Football Club and the funding was completely separate.

With regards to the new space for girls, Councillor Amanda Lloyd-Harris asked what this was. In response, Hugo Ross-Tatam, Parks Projects Officer confirmed this was a space for teenage girls (using the findings in parks, including from the Make Space for Girls national study) for them to hang out in parks. There was a feeling that despite the provision for all genders with multi-use games areas, the needs of teenage girls had been overlooked. Hugo confirmed that the first space for girls would be created in Bishops Park.

Councillor Amanda Lloyd-Harris referred previous initiatives for teenagers, including the creation of a skate park which had been very successful and brought in teenagers from across London which was used by some girls. However, she was still unclear what girls wanted, as, having spoken to a number of them, there had been mixed feedback. So, she asked what the space for girls would look like.

And in relation to the ’beach area’ at Bishops Park, there were ongoing concerns as there was no security in the park. She explained it was welcome to have facilities in parks  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5.