Meetings with IdVerde - our reports
FOWWS trustees had two meetings with LBHF and the ground maintenance company IdVerde in March - a round table discussion on 4 March and a walk on the Scrubs on 11 March.
Carmel McCoughlin, secretary of FOWWS, writes:
Notes on the Meeting Friday 4th March between the FoWWS trustees, LBHF and Id Verde Team regarding the new Grounds Maintenance Contract which commenced February 2022.
Attending: FoWWS trustees – Stephen Waley Cohen, Emma Ranson, Carmel McLoughlin, Ben Novak, Miriam Shea, Smita Dave, Sarah Johnson
LBHF – Simon Ingyon, Interim Head of Parks & Leisure
Id Verde – Ben Binall, Director of Operations, Terry Burns, Operations Manager, Lewis Byrnes, Contract Manager, Kate McVay, Ecology Manager
Lewis Byrnes outlined the structure of the contract management team. He said under the old contract the grounds maintenance staff attended the Scrubs between 7.30 and 4pm Mons – Fris with no attendance at week-ends. Under the new contract there will be two full time dedicated grounds maintenance staff with a continuous presence 7 days a week. In the Summertime the hours will go right up and staff will be on hand to deal with bins, anti-social behaviour and any issues arising into the evening. He circulated the tasks contained within the Specification document with frequencies at which to be undertaken and issues identified and reported. In addition an apprentice has been recruited, dedicated solely to the Scrubs. Kate MacVay, Ecology Manager, is a f/t new role dedicated to the Scrubs and is partnered with RSPB to ensure most relevant and up-to-date input on ecology issues.
Kate tabled an Ecology Plan which she has produced in her first 3 weeks. It sets out the objectives and parameters of her role which includes input to the Grounds Maintenance team, community engagement and volunteering opportunities. She has already proposed a series of events and is keen to work closely with the Friends on encouraging biodiversity on the Scrubs and to play a lead on community engagement. She is keen to receive training on hedgelaying so that she can lead future hedgelaying on the Scrubs and save LBHF monies. She will ensure she is involved with the latest LDT Masterplan consultation. The Friends emphasized that the consultation must not ‘reinvent the wheel’ and the new consultants must be given access to the previous consultation undertaken in c. 2018. Kate said she has not seen it but is keen to do so. Simon Ingyon said he would locate and forward to Kate.
The Friends were pleased with the resources going into the new contract but were keen to emphasize that whilst the contract is for either 5 or 10 years, there will be changes in that time on the Scrubs. The implementation of the Masterplan will change the maintenance regime going forward, and the increased usage of the Scrubs which coincided with Covid lockdowns and the increased building development, especially to the North and West of the Scrubs, is bound to increase the footfall on the Scrubs even further so there needs to be long term thinking around the Scrubs. Increased funding would be welcomed. Nudging of the users of the Scrubs, especially the dog walkers, towards respecting the ecology issues was welcomed, with the use of roping off of the meadow and signs to alert users of why the ropes are in place at certain times of the year. Apparently there is a cycle route on Google Maps across the Scrubs East to West. However cycling on the Scrubs itself (other than on the dedicated paved cycle route) is strictly forbidden. This needs to be investigated by LBHF as to what action can be taken to remove it.
It was agreed that the meeting was very useful and another should be held in approx. 6 months time.
Notes on Meeting on Fri 11th March 2022 walk on the Scrubs with the Id Verde team.
Present: FoWWS trustees – Stephen Waley Cohen, Carmel McLoughlin, Smita Dave, Emma Ranson with Tilly Collins of Imperial College (Ecology adviser to the FoWWS)
From Id Verde – Ben Binall, Terry Burns and Kate McVay
This was a follow on discussion from last week on planning for the future for the next 10, 20 and 30 years to ensure that the Scrubs is fit for purpose and amenable to both the increased usage expected from the developments to the North and West of the Scrubs and to create an ecologically sound environment for wildlife and plants.
Ben Binall said on the RBKC contract the Friends of Holland Park have a 20 year plan for Holland Park with planting of trees, etc and looking ahead to the distant future which might be of use on the Scrubs.
Looking at the paths which have been created over the last couple of years in particular, there was discussion on how these can best be managed so that the meadow could be protected to ensure that the ground nesting birds were undisturbed from March – Aug in the breeding season. The ropes were noted with signs saying why closed off. Most people will respect this. There was no desire to return to the dead hedging which had been introduced last year and caused a lot of unhappiness and friction amongst users, and were very unsightly. A gentle nudging is more effective. Kate said that she’s spoken with many of the professional dog walkers and they are happy to avoid the roped off areas once they realise their purpose, and to keep to the recognised paths. A suggestion was that branches could be laid on the ground to ‘demarcate’ paths to be walked on.
A rotational management plan, with scything of the grass and removal of cuttings would remove sight of a lot of the ‘desire paths’ created which should not be there.
The Community Pay back volunteers will be attending the Scrubs from Mon 21st Mar and will be directed in laying mulch and chippings to improve the muddy paths. It was noted that with a couple of days of dry weather a lot of the mud has dried and the paths are more passable. There was also discussion around the use of ‘grasscrete’ on the muddy paths. These allow the grass to grow through and are ecologically sound.
Id Verde have a list of corporate volunteers who will be called on to undertake specific tasks on the Scrubs such as raking up grass cuttings, and to help with the removal of brambles at the appropriate time.