Leisure Sub-Committee 8Th January 1997
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LEISURE SUB-COMMITTEE 8TH JANUARY 1997 AGENDA 1. Apologies for absence 2. Minutes of meeting held on 12th September 1996, copy attached 3. To confirm that the items marked Part 1 will be considered in public and that any items marked Part 2 will be considered in private. 4. Notification of any other business or urgent items to be considered in public or private 5. To note that no matters fall within the provisions of Section 106 of the Local Government Finance Act 1992. 6. Report of the officers, copy attached PART 1 - PUBLIC 1 Petition - Manor Farm, Ruislip - maintenance & security Page 1 (Ruislip Ward) 2 Petition requesting security measures at Kingston Lane Page 4 Playing Fields, Yiewsley (Colham & Yiewsley Wards) 3 Information Technology Strategy for the Libraries, Arts & Page 6 Information Service 4 Public Access to Information Technology - Libraries, Arts & Page 13 Information Service 5 European Information - Central Library, Uxbridge Page 16 6 Compass Theatre, Ickenham - Centrestage Drama Classes Page 18 7 Beck Theatre Advisory Committee Page 20 8 Travellers Page 23 9 Car Boot Sales - Springfield Road, Hayes, Field End Road, Page 25 Eastcote & Grosvenor Playing Fields, hayes (Charville, Townfield, Deansfield & Cavendish Wards) 10 Ruislip Woods Management - Grazing on Poor’s Field Page 27 (Ruislip, Northwood, Northwood Hills, Harefield & Eastcote Wards) 11 Ruislip Woodlands Centre (Ruislip, Northwood, Northwood Page 29 Hills, Harefield & Eastcote Wards) 12 Sports Achievers Page 31 13 Tennis - Hillingdon Court Park (Uxbridge North Ward) Page 32 14 Minet Site, Hayes (Townfield Ward) Page 34 15 Windsor Avenue Allotments site, Hillingdon (Hillingdon Page 36 North Ward) 7. Any other business or urgent items in Part 1 PART 2 - PRIVATE 8. Any items transferred from part 1 9. Any other business or urgent items in Part 2 LEISURE SUB-COMMITTEE - 8TH JANUARY 1997 PETITION REQUESTING MEASURES TO ITEM 1 UPGRADE THE MAINTENANCE OF MANOR FARM SITE, AND INCREASED POLICING Contact Officer : Trisha Grimshaw Telephone: 01895 250700 SUMMARY This report informs the sub-committee of a petition from residents in Ruislip expressing concern over issues of maintenance and hygiene at the Manor Farm site, and the vandalism experienced on the site this year. RECOMMENDATIONS 1 That the report be noted. 2. That the Community and Environment Committee be requested to consider an allocation of resources for additional measures. INFORMATION 1. A petition of 257 signatures has been received requesting the following:- · the restoration of clean hygienic conditions · the upgrading of the general maintenance · increased policing to maintain safe public order 2. The Manor Farm site is a 20 acre site in the Ruislip conservation area with a significant grouping of Grade 2 listed buildings, including the Great Barn. 3. The grounds maintenance of the site is contracted out to Taylor Plan. The site is maintained to the specification standard for a general park, not as a specially identified site such as Eastcote House grounds. The grounds maintenance inspector checks the Manor Farm site regularly and walks the site once a week. Some changes have been made within the specification to improve the general maintenance. Within the small amount of variation funding available, a list of tasks to produce gradual improvements to the site over a period of time has been identified with the grounds maintenance inspector .e.g. removal of elm shoots from the edge of the Motte, ivy removal, an additional prune of shrubs, a clearance programme of perennial weeds 4. The long grass on the Motte has caused significant problems this year as it became a hiding place for young people who were gathering and drinking. This has been a source of disturbance to the residents living in St Martins Approach. The Conservation officer and the Ruislip Area Conservation Panel have agreed that the Motte will no longer be a conservation area for wild plants. This has enabled the specification for this area of the site to be altered to six cuts per year, instead of the single cut permitted for a conservation area. 5. The grounds maintenance inspector reports that the litter is collected twice a week, more frequently in the summer and that the contractor responds as is required by the specification. However, the litter bins are insufficient in number and in poor condition ,so that the wind scatters the litter across the site. The drinking on the site has added to the litter problem The current site budget can only support a bin replacement programme spread over a long period. 6. The pond does not come within the grounds maintenance contract, Maintenance work is carried out on a response basis, and litter picking on an ad hoc basis, within the variation funding available to the Recreation Service. The pond is naturally-fed and the water level reduces in the summer. As a result, the pond did smell this summer and this problem Leisure Sub-Committee report 8th January 1997 Page 1 was exacerbated by the number of ducks in residence. A volunteer group has helped with clearing the pond surrounds of litter. A winter clean and a pruning is scheduled. 7. The site has suffered from vandalism this year, and from being a gathering place for young people who were often bringing drink on to the site. This is a general problem and is not restricted to the Manor Farm site. Windows have been broken, guttering pulled down, a lightning conductor pulled off a building, waste pipe broken off, wall graffitied ,information boards smashed, Stables building broken into, etc. Within the limited site funding, a number of crime prevention measures have been taken. Funding support for one measure has been received from the Ruislip Residents Association. As site funding permits, a security guard is employed on those nights when the site is felt to be particularly vulnerable. Since mid-July the acts of vandalism do appear to have stopped, though young people continue to gather on the site, particularly around the St Martin’s car park. 8. In October, after a long gap, a Youth worker was appointed to the Ruislip Youth Centre. It is hoped that this worker will be able to make contact with the young people on the site 9. Inspector Graham Wright of the Metropolitan Police has been consulted about the request in the petition for increased policing on the site. In his response, Inspector Wright referred to the time and support which had been given by the police to the Manor Farm site this year. Police foot patrols were increased through the site in the spring when the vandalism was at its worst. A week’s night surveillance was mounted on the site in May. Some young people have been spoken to for public order offences. In June two juveniles were arrested by the police in the act of breaking into the Stables building. On many evenings, a police patrol car drives through the site via the Pinn Way entrance. Police visibility acts as a deterrent. Recently, the police apprehended two people causing damage. All incidents on the site are reported to the police by staff and the police have been consistently supportive to the site and the site staff. 10. The general lighting levels on the site are inadequate in some places. The Ruislip Sector Focus Group propose to include 3,000 for lighting improvements for the Manor Farm site in their funding bid. The lighting improvements need to be designed to support any future site CCTV project. A full 24-hour monitored CCTV scheme for Manor Farm can only be achieved through linking to a future major scheme in the Ruislip area, possibly through a bid into the Home Office challenge scheme. The feasibility of a bid is being considered by the police, the Ruislip Chamber of Commerce, Ruislip Residents Association and the Ruislip Sector Focus team. A feasibility study for a CCTV system for the Manor Farm site with continuous recording has been completed and costed. 11. Capital funding has been allocated to the Manor Farm site over the last two years to enable structural repair work to be undertaken. The drought conditions of 1995 affected several buildings on the site. In the case of the Winston Churchill Hall, the drought worsened the structural problems that had existed for some time and major underpinning work was required. In the case of other buildings , new structural problems appeared. An underpinning scheme for the Manor Farm House is being handled by the Engineering Consultancy. Director of Finance comments 12. The report mentions both revenue and capital work. Any Proposals which are not included in existing revenue and capital budgets will require the Community and Environment Committee to fund the associated costs. The cost of any service development will have to be funded from the Committee’s existing revenue budget, in accordance with Council policy. This requires the Community and Environment Committee to formally identify and agree compensatory budget savings before the measures are implemented. Background Documents Petition from residents received October 1996 Leisure Sub-Committee report 8th January 1997 Page 2 PETITION REQUESTING SECURITY MEASURES, ITEM 2 FENCING, ETC. AT KINGSTON LANE PLAYING FIELDS, YIEWSLEY (Colham & Yiewsley Wards) Contact Officer : Gordon McLeod Telephone : 01895 250647 SUMMARY This report informs the Sub Committee of a petition from residents of Yiewsley expressing concern over the security of Kingston Lane Playing Fields, following the illegal entry onto the land by travellers during July. RECOMMENDATIONS 1. That officers include this site in future Parks Improvement Programme 2. That officers endeavour to seek funding as part of any Section 106 agreements for the area or other such similar funding opportunities. INFORMATION 1. A petition of 265 signatures has been received requesting the following to secure Kingston Lane playing fields:- · Wicket Gates at three locations · Main gates in Chestnut Avenue to be restricted in width and a height barrier fitted · Gates to be locked and unlocked daily and boards erected showing opening times · Fencing around the playing fields similar to that at Stockley Park · Railway sleepers sunk into the ground to deter regular access but to enable occasional access to the area as a temporary car park for events at Stockley Park.