Agenda and draft minutes

The Committee was asked to appoint a Chair for Nonsuch Park Joint Management Committee from Councillors representing Epsom & Ewell Borough Council for the Municipal Year 2023/2024.

Councillor Tony Froud proposed that Councillor Julian Freeman be appointed. Councillor Robert Leach seconded the proposal.

The Committee unanimously elected to appoint Councillor Julian Freeman to be Chair for Nonsuch Park Joint Management Committee for the Municipal Year 2023/2024.

To take any questions or statements from members of the Public.

No questions were received from members of the public.

Members are asked to declare the existence and nature of any Disclosable Pecuniary Interests in respect of any item of business to be considered at the meeting.

Nonsuch Final Accounts 2022-23:

Councillor Julian Freeman, Other Interest: In the interest of openness and transparency, Councillor Julian Freeman wished to declare as a non-prejudicial interest that he had previously taken part in Park Run events at the Park.

The Committee is asked to confirm as a true record the Minutes of the Meeting of the Committee held on 27 March 2023 (attached) and to authorise the Chair to sign them.

The Committee confirmed as a true record the Minutes of the Meeting of the Committee held on 27 March 2023 and authorised the Chair to sign them.

To fix the dates and times for meetings of the Nonsuch Park Joint Management Committee for the 2023/24 Municipal Year.

The Committee was asked to fix the dates and times for its meetings for the 2023/24 Municipal Year.

The following matters were considered by the Committee:

a)            Conflicting dates: Members stated that the present meeting of the Committee conflicted with an Armed Forces event taking place in Epsom and Sutton. The Committee requested that steps be taken in future to avoid Committee meetings being arranged for days conflicting with other events requiring Councillor attendance.

Following consideration, the Committee unanimously resolved to:

(1)          Fix the day and time of its meetings for the municipal year 2023/24, as set out in the appendix to the report.

To update the governance and public participation arrangements for the Nonsuch Park Joint Management Committee, following recent updates to the Epsom & Ewell Constitution.

The Committee received a report looking to update the governance and public participation arrangements for the Nonsuch Park Joint Management Committee, following recent updates to the Epsom & Ewell Constitution.

The following matters were considered by the Committee:

a)            Advertising meetings and informing the public on how to submit questions and statements: The Democratic Services Officer confirmed that the meetings of the Committee are advertised to the public on the calendar of meetings poster in the Mansion House café and on Epsom & Ewell’s website. He explained that the public information page on meeting agendas, the Committee’s page on Epsom & Ewell’s website, and the calendar of meetings poster provide information on how to submit questions to the Committee. He confirmed that said information would be updated accordingly, should the Committee be minded to agree to the recommendation. 

b)            The Chair’s discretion to accept questions and statements submitted at meetings without prior registration: The Committee expressed that they felt it was important to be able to receive questions and statements that had not been submitted within the registration deadline.A Member enquired as to whether members of the public would have the ability to address the Committee with questions or statements at a meeting if they had not registered to do so prior to the meeting. The Democratic Services Officer suggested that such questions and statements could be accepted at a meeting at the discretion of the Chair. The Chair confirmed that he would be inclined to exercise his powers as Chair to accept such questions and statements. The Committee agreed that the public information page on meetings’ agendas, the Committee’s Epsom & Ewell website page, and the calendar of meetings poster should be updated to inform the public that questions and statements at meetings of the Committee can be accepted without prior registration at the discretion of the Chair.

Following consideration, the Committee unanimously resolved to:

(1)          Discard the protocol for ‘Public Participation at Nonsuch Park Joint Management Committee’ and agree that the Epsom & Ewell Committee Rules of Procedure and Protocol for Public Speaking apply to the Nonsuch Park Joint Management Committee, pending a new joint management arrangement.

This report provides members of the Nonsuch Park Joint Management Committee with the outcome of the Byelaw and Dog Control Working Party meeting and proposes a consultation exercise to gauge public opinion on a proposal to launch a pilot licencing scheme to regulate commercial dog walking in Nonsuch Park.

The Committee receieved a report providing the outcome of the Byelaw and Dog Control Working Party meeting and proposing a consultation exercise to gauge public opinion on a proposal to launch a pilot licensing scheme to regulate commercial dog walking in Nonsuch Park.

The following matters were considered by the Committee:

a)            Electric bikes in the Park: A Member enquired as to how the use of illegally modified electric bikes in the Park is policed. The Streetcare Manager subsequently noted that the row of information on in the Park was missing from the table at the report’s appendix – she confirmed that she would circulate the information to Members after the meeting. She explained that there is Police presence in the Park, but policing the use of electric bikes is heavily reliant on people reporting incidents.

b)            Scattering/Burying of Ashes in the Park: A Member enquired as to whether there were any byelaws that control the Scattering/Burying of Ashes in the Park. The Streetcare Manager that there were no byelaws on the matter, but confirmed that a report on Cremated Remains Policy would be brought to the next meeting of the Committee in October.

Following consideration, the Committee unanimously resolved to:

(1)          Note the outcome of the Byelaw and Dog Control Working Party

(2)          Agree to keep the existing byelaws but explore further measures to regulate the use of drones and commercial dog walking in the Park.

(3)          Agree to actively promote the Civil Aviation Drone and Model Aircraft Code.

(4)          Agree to carry out a six-week local consultation exercise to gauge public opinion on a proposal to introduce a pilot licencing scheme to regulate commercial dog walking in Nonsuch Park.

(5)          To delegate the collation of consultation responses to Officers and the decision to commence the pilot scheme to the Chair and Clerk as set out in the timetable in paragraph 2.13 of the report

This item presents the Joint Management Committee’s final accounts for financial year 2022/23.

The Committee received a report presenting the Committee’s final accounts for the financial year 2022/23.

The following matter was considered by the Committee:

a)            The Committee wished to express their appreciation for the work carried out by the Finance team.

Following consideration, the Committee unanimously resolved to:

(1)          Receive the final accounts for 2022/23.

The Committee received a verbal update from the Arts, Culture and Heritage Programme Officer and the Principal Programme Manager.

The Principal Programme Manager explained that she had recently written a bidding application which secured £44,000 for the Park. The Committee and Officers wished to extend their thanks and appreciation to the Friends of Nonsuch and their Chairman for writing a letter in support of the bid.

the Arts, Culture and Heritage Programme Officer explained that her team was liaising with Bloomberg Connects to develop an app, with the hope of launching in September to coincide with a Heritage open day at the Park. The app will provide people with a self-guided tour of the Nonsuch Park gardens, accessed via QR code. The app will have Google translate functionality for non-English speakers. 

The Streetcare Manager, the Arts, Culture and Heritage Programme Officer, and the Principal Programme Manager confirmed that they would soon be meeting with the Sutton culture team to discuss and investigate the possibility of cross-authority organised heritage events at the Park.

The Arts, Culture and Heritage Programme Officer explained that she was currently investigating the possibility of providing a QR code to enable Park visitors to donate to the Park. She also explained that was working with NESCOT and UCA to engage with students on matters relating to the Park. 

The Committee wished to express their thanks to the Arts, Culture and Heritage Programme Officer and the Principal Programme Manager for their work.

The Chair decided that going forward, agendas of Committee meetings were to include a theme – i.e. a topic for discussion brought to each meeting focussing on a specific activity that takes place within the Park, to provide Members with the opportunity to discover more about that activity and for Park users to highlight and promote the contribution they make to the life of the Park and its value to the local community.