Agenda item

The Committee is asked note all matters in the report.

HS2 Bill – Proposed Wetland Mitigation Legal Agreement

Mark Jones provided an overview and noted that officers met with HS2 in May to progress the project. It was agreed that a Development Manager with ecology experience would be appointed to oversee the project. The deadline for application submissions was 11 September and it was hoped that an officer would be in post shortly after the interview process. Ian Ross confirmed that the sole role of the induvial would be to deliver the ecological mitigation and would assist with the website and social media aspects on an ad hoc basis.

HS2 Bill – Re-Routing Stamford Brook Sewer Legal Agreement

Mark Jones noted that officers had secured a legal agreement from HS2 regarding the re-routing of the Stamford Brook sewer through the northern edge of the scrubs.

Councillors asked for further clarification on who would be liable for an incident arising from the installation of the boreholes. HS2 officers confirmed that the contractor who installed the borehole would be taking periodic monitoring measurements from any that were installed with equipment. These locations would be the responsibility of the principal contractor until they were novated over to another principle contractor for early works or they were decommissioned and removed. Any post de-commissioning report would require a site condition handback to the Council to verify and accept.

Stephen Waley-Cohen asked when the works for the Stamford Brook sewer were expected to start. Mark Jones said that he would provide an update on this.

Action: Mark Jones

Filming and Events Update

Mark Jones noted that Secret Cinema had provisionally been booked for July/August 2018. The maximum net income would be £150k for 5 viewings in a week for 4 weeks. He added if the temporary school still occupied the Red Gra next year, a temporary secure marshalling area would be created.

The large winter wonderland project proposer had not provided financial details so far. The Council had requested the information to be provided by October 2017. Stephen Waley-Cohen advised not to rely on this information to be provided by the suggested deadline and recommended that other options be explored.

Community Safety Update

Mark Jones provided an overview and noted that Parks Police had carried out 102 patrols of WWS during quarter one and dealt with 31 incidents. These included the discovery of a number of concealed weapons including six crossbow bolts, a 9mm automatic pistol and two paintball rifles.

Miriam Shea asked for the location of where these were found on the Scrubs. Ian Ross said along Braybrook Street. Miriam Shea highlighted that the issue around people feeling unsafe on the Scrubs had been raised more often than usual and suggested that we posted a clear message on the website (when up and running) to reassure people that there had only been a very few number of reported incidents that had taken place.

Stephen Waley-Cohen also expressed some concerns around a motor bike incident that took place around the Scrubs Lane entrance. Ian Ross thanked him for bringing this to the Committee’s attention and said that he would notify Parks Police.

      Action: Ian Ross

Grounds Maintenance and Site Management Update

Ian Ross provided an overview and noted that litter continued to be a major challenge for the maintenance team at the site but we do believe progress was being made albeit slowly. There had been further volunteer sessions from Disney and hoped this would be ongoing. They continued to concentrate on litter in the copses along Braybrook Street but also did some work to the picnic tables in the ‘old tent city’.

Miriam Shea highlighted, it was noticed that drones were flying too low and outside of their designated area and over the Old Oak Estate. Ian Ross responded that he would look into this an update would be provided.

Action: Ian Ross

Financial Forecast 2017/18

Mark Jones provided an overview and reported that the Trust’s opening cash balance for 2017/18 was £235,431. The latest forecast anticipated a drawdown of £60,189 (26% of the current cash balance), which gave a cash balance of £175,241 to be carried forward to 2018/19. This was £3,000 worse than the original forecast drawdown on reserves.

The income from KAA and for UKPN (£193,542) was not included in the projection, however the refund had been approved and payment was imminent. Councillor Elaine Chumnery asked for a projection of forecast over the next few years be provided in a table form at the next meeting.

Action: Mark Jones

Legal Comments

There were no legal implications to be noted.

RESOLVED

That the committee noted all matters in the report.