To follow

The Chair invited Tony Burton (Independent Merton Green Spaces Forum) to present the report.

The Cabinet Member for Local Environment, Green Spaces and Climate Change informed the committee that papers were not shared ahead of the meeting and apologised for not having the opportunity to read the report ahead of the meeting.

There was a shared passion for green spaces in the borough and acknowledgement of the points raised around communication, which was due to resources challenges as opposed to anything else. The next step in the process was to further review ways to improve communication going forward.

At present, they explored bringing the booking system back to the Council which would provide more flexibility and scope.

There was appreciation for the input and contribution provided to the service by the Friends Groups.

Andrew Kauffman (Head of Parks Services) shared that Greenspaces was a small and passionate team. It was important to manage expectation however, agreed that communication could be improved.

With sight of the report, they could now provide a more detailed summary. They planned to share the Q3 report with Sustainable Communities and would continue to do so each quarter, noting particular areas of focus.

In response to question, the following was stated:

·       Fix My Street was in the final integration stage and required map integration. The recent integration was around fly tipping and they planned to open this up withing the next three months, but this would depend on the availability of the IT service team who would lead on this.

·       Specific issues impacting Lynmouth Gardens Park and the river should be raised with officers in the Park Development Team who would be happy to arrange an onsite meeting.

·       A structured form of conversations would help with communication.

·       An example of good practice was that they were getting better at not cutting grass. There were good projects and relationships which was sometimes due to members of Idverde having a personal affinity with the location. Mulch was also doing well.

·       Reporting with Idverde was done at a management level with most of the enquiries coming through the SLWP enquiries log which was recorded monthly. Action points were picked up at each monthly meeting and were then reviewed twice per month, which allowed for jobs to be closed down each month.

·       Playgrounds were part of the larger Playground Capital Project. A link for this could be shared.

·       There was commitment for more structured meetings.

·       They received a £1.75million grant to upgrade parks and the initial focus was on the parks that needed it most. There were still funds available within the budget which was part of a longer heads of terms arrangement held in perpetuity.

·       A key element linked to the Civic Pride funds was how much the team enjoyed the working relationships with the friends of parks.

·       Officers were liaising with the Executive Director of Housing & Sustainable Development, Environment and Regeneration in regard to Mitcham War Memorial. Advise was sought from the Boroughs Conservation Officer.

·       Concerns of allotment allocations were being addressed, particularly around loopholes which allowed some individuals to get spaces ahead of time. Residents were offered alternative allotments where available and the loopholes have been closed pending review.

·       The Executive Director for Environment, Civic Pride and Climate informed members that they were in a period of reflection on the performance of contracts which will be brought back to Cabinet in the near future.

·       The Q1 and Q2 report could be provided to allow for a comparison to Q3.

·       There was not a definitive list of Friends Groups but there was a lot of community level communication.

The Executive Director for Environment, Civic Pride and Climate informed members that they were in a period of reflection in relation to the performance of contracts and this will be brought back to Cabinet in the near future. There was a commitment to liaise with residents.

Plans had to be made based on the available budget and resources. The work of Andrew and his two members of staff has been phenomenal. They recognised that they could always do better and the report was helpful in identifying how this could be done.

It would be useful for officers to have reports in advance to allow them to reflect ahead of committee.

A recommendation was raised to address concerns of attendance at the Independent Green Spaces meeting. The Cabinet Member for Local Environment, Green Spaces and Climate Change suggested for members to attend the meeting to avoid potential duplication. Engaging with friends groups was good and would help with building the overarching strategy.

Andrew Kauffman added that it was important to look at how they managed the different components. The Friend and likeminded groups were a good way unless they could get a representative from the Schools Forum. The Green Spaces Strategy and the Scoping Project will be of key importance.

Based on the discussion, the recommendation was withdrawn.

A recommendation was raised for best endeavours to repair Mitcham War Memorial.

Andrew Kauffman informed members of ongoing conversations with the Executive Director of Housing & Sustainable Development, Environment and Regeneration. They now received answers to their questions from Stonewest which will be shared with Tony and the Executive Director of Housing & Sustainable Development, Environment and Regeneration tomorrow. A conservation architect had been brought in to support. It was agreed to provide updates as part of the quarterly report.

Based on the discussion, the recommendation was withdrawn.

RESOLVED: That recommendations A and B were agreed.