To take any questions 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.

No declarations of interest were made by Councillors with respect to any items on the agenda.

The Committee is asked to confirm as a true record the Minutes of the Meeting of the Committee held on 23 January 2023 and to authorise the Chair to sign them.

A Member highlighted that the minutes of the previous meeting of the Committee held on 23 January 2023 referred in error to the Council Chamber, Epsom Town Hall as the location of the meeting. The Committee agreed that the minutes be amended to refer to the Mansion House as the location of the meeting.

The Committee agreed that the minutes were otherwise a true record of the meeting and authorised the Chair to sign them, following the agreed amendment.

This report provides an update on the current financial year 2022-23 priority planned maintenance programme (including the additional health & safety and emergency works undertaken during the year).  It also seeks approval for the forthcoming 2023-24 priority planned maintenance works.

The Committee received a report providing an update on the current financial year 2022-23 priority planned maintenance programme (including the additional health & safety and emergency works undertaken during the year). The report also sought approval for the forthcoming 2023-24 priority planned maintenance works.

The following matters were considered by the Committee:

a)            Maintenance Works: In response to a concern from the Chair regarding the potential for leakages, the Senior Surveyor confirmed that the provider of the museum roofing material had provided a manufacturer’s guarantee and confirmed that the material is resilient to leaking.

b)            Potential Fundraising Opportunity: It was proposed by the Committee that QR codes for making donations could be located at appropriate locations around the Park, such as the museum. The Streetcare Manager explained that the Committee would require a charity status in order to do that. The Nonsuch Voles Representative confirmed that although the Voles do not have a charity status, the work they do is for a charitable purpose, and that they would be interested in investigating with the NJMC the practicalities of the Voles being able to accept donations.

c)            Heritage Days: In response to a query from the Committee, the Streetcare Manager explained that Awareness Days celebrating English heritage used to be run in the Park. She explained that historically the events were focussed on education and information and were not commercialised, and elaborated that commercialisation of the event would come with increased Officer resource, and financial and organisational costs. She stated that the event in the past was well received and enjoyed by visitors. The Committee agreed that an investigation be undertaken into the viability of restarting Heritage Day events in the Park and the viability of commercialisation of the events.

d)            Friends of Nonsuch and Nonsuch Voles Awareness: The Streetcare Manager suggested that the possibility of setting up information stools in the Park, on occasion, could be investigated in order to raise awareness of the Nonsuch Voles and Friends of Nonsuch for Park visitors.

e)            Mansion Tenancy Arrangement: In response to a question from the Committee, the head of Property and Regeneration explained that the Council lease the Mansion to the catering company, Bovingdons, and that they contribute to the external maintenance of the Mansion. He explained that altering their contract to require their involvement in any Commercial events run by the Council would affect the amount of rent the Council could charge them for their tenancy. He stated that to date they have been a very successful tenant.

Following consideration, the Committee unanimously resolved to:

(1)          Note the progress of the works (including the additional Health & Safety and emergency works) carried out during the current financial year 2022-23.

(2)          Approve the proposed planned maintenance priority works for 2023-24.