Meeting held at Omnibus, 1 Northside, Clapham, SW4 0QW

Present

Alison Macnair (AN) (Chair), David Dandridge (DD), Cllr Bernard Gentry (BG), Marcus Hope (MH), Lyndsay Jones (LJ), Diana Linskey (DL), Simon Millson (SM), Helen O’Malley (HOM), Peter Schmitt (PS), Fred Uhde (FU) and Deryn Watson (DW).

Apologies

Iain Boulton (IB), Cllr Linda Bray (LB), Cllr Nigel Haselden (NH), Alex Nickson (AN) and George Owen (GO).

Appointment of Secretary

The Committee agreed to a proposal by Diana Linskey and seconded by Marcus Hope that Simon Millson become Secretary of CCMAC with immediate effect.

Apologies were duly noted

AM welcomed Tricia Peters, Vice-Chair of FoCC, who was attending as an observer, to the meeting.

Minutes of the previous meeting

The minutes of the previous meeting were accepted with a minor amendment under agenda item 8. It was agreed that Linda Bray was to make contact with Cllr Jane Edbrooke regarding the training workshop.

Matters arising from the minutes

1. BG thanked the Committee for the kind words of condolence.
2. Item 7 (Forum Report): A discussion took place regarding Lambeth Council’s Management Plan for Parks inc. Clapham Common. There was general agreement that more information was needed.
3. MH took the Committee through CCMAC comments on the pro-formas (previously circulated) for both the Calling and SW4 Festivals.
4. AM reported that she had submitted the Committee’s response to the Cultural Services 2020 consultation. AM had removed the reference to filming on the Common being illegal. Members of the Committee contested that filming on the Common is not permitted by the 1967 Act. The Committee asked AM to seek a meeting with the Film Office. London Borough of Lambeth (LBL) had acknowledged receipt of the response, saying that they would be considering responses over the next few months and feed back will be provided later in the spring.

Reports

Parks Manager

1. In IB’s absence AM presented the Management Report. Restructuring of departments is under way within LBL. The post of Clapham Common Manager, left open following Joyce Guiste’s return to Housing, remained vacant and is being covered by IB and Dave Paul. Alastair Johnstone, previously Parks and Open Spaces Operations Manager, has moved to Commissioning for the coming year. His area has been included in the responsibilities of Keith Naish, who is now Operations Manager for Streetcare, Highways and Parks. IB is arranging for the railings around Captain Cook’s Tree to be replaced. AM will ask him to share the design options available from LBL’s contractors.

Bandstand Beds

1. DD presented the report. Due to Veolia’s work commitments the Committee was asked to note the change in date of the launch clearance at the community garden from 18 May to 27 June, now coinciding with Bandstand Bed’s summer picnic. DD also thanked DL’s efforts in securing some £9,000 in funding, including £1,459 awarded by the Mayor of London’s Capital Clean-up Grant in support of creating the community food growing garden on Clapham Common.

Website

1. In the absence of AN, SM gave an update on the progress of the development of CCMAC’s website. SM informed the Committee that expected completion of the wording of the website pages was the end of May; that the remainder of the pages would be circulated to CCMAC for comment; and that the web team was looking for interesting photos of the Common, to tie in with the text, from Committee members. It was agreed that the following Committee members would be trained in publishing notices on the website: AN, DD, SM, AM and BG.

Trees Group

1. The Trees Group wants to co-opt Diana Bell, who was already a co-opted member of a Tree Sub-Group. The issue of whether this was possible in the constitution was raised and AM said she would check this out.
2. Deryn proposed renaming this sub-committee the Trees, Landscape and Ecology group. No objections were raised.
3. The group is waiting for a decision from LBL about replacement railings around the Cook Tree.
4. The key decisions regarding the succession planting for the Avenues was not specifically named in the minutes of the Blue Star House meeting.

Bandstand programming for summer 2015

DD, AM and Marie McCarthy met with the Events Manager at LBL responsible for approving events on the Bandstand. Despite asking a few times, there was still no events calendar available for the Bandstand. It was agreed SM will be invited to the next meeting with the person at LBL responsible for putting approving events on the Common.

Management Planning and training session

It was agreed to hold the planning session. SM to secure a date most convenient for Committee members. The objective of the session – led by Tree Shepherd – was to set the objectives and priorities of CCMAC in the context of LBL’s proposals to devolve more responsibilities and accountabilities to local community groups such as CCMAC.

Visit to Playgrounds

AM, LJ and LB visited a number of communal playgrounds in LBL, some of which had not been refurbished since 1998. AM and LJ informed the Committee that they will seek to put together an application to seek a grant for refurbishment. DD said he would put both in touch with the people responsible for the successful renovation of the playground at Brockwell Park.

HLF bid for improvements to Battersea Woods

DD informed the Committee that IB was applying for a grant to improve the biodiversity of Battersea Woods.

Plans for a Quiet Way

In NH’s absence AM explained that proposals were being developed by Transport for London for a Quietway, a shared cycle and pedestrian route, to pass over Clapham Common by the side of Long Pond across Windmill Drive and past Eagle Pond. Some members of the Committee expressed opposition to more cycling across the Common. NH has asked for a report that would be put before a subsequent meeting of CCMAC.

Date of next meeting

Thursday 4 June. AM informed the meeting that Committee members should expect each CCMAC meeting to take place on the first Thursday of each month.