Agenda item
Management Plan (Brent)
This report presents progress on the Brent Reservoir / Welsh Harp Management Plan since the last meeting of the Committee and during the 2015/16 year to date. The Management Plan is jointly managed by the three main land-holding organisations: Brent Council, the London Borough of Barnet, and the Canal and River Trust.
Minutes:
Members received a progress report on the Brent Reservoir / Welsh Harp Management Plan since the last meeting of the Committee and during the 2015/16 year to date. The Management Plan, jointly managed by the three main land-holding organisations of Brent Council, the London Borough of Barnet, and the Canal and River Trust included an Action Plan for the current
Year attached to the report as Appendix 1.
In summarising the progress to date, Leslie Williams (Strategy and Service Development Officer, Brent) highlighted the main salient points:
The transfer process of the Welsh Harp Environmental Education Centre to Thames 21 was completed in January 2016.
There had been recent changes in the national procedure for the approval of new park byelaws, however, it was anticipated that the byelaws would be implemented by 1 September 2016.
A replacement life buoy (ring) was installed at Neasden Recreation Ground in December 2015.
The public consultation stage for Brent Council’s draft Physical Activity Strategy had been completed with the Strategy due to be published by 30 April 2016.
Since 1 April 2015, the new Active Lifestyles Team have had a focus on encouraging physical activity rather than of sports in particular.
The weekly walks programme at the Welsh Harp had continued into 2016 with walks generally attracting 15-25 people and were led by a walk leader. These take place on Thursdays from 10-11am meeting at Birchen Grove Car Park, Kingsbury NW9.
He then gave an update on crayfish at the Brent reservoir. He stated that several other species of crayfish mostly North American Signal Crayfish had been released into UK waterbodies which could cause extensive burrowing into river banks leading to erosion and releasing sediment into rivers. Current control measures included import and legal controls; education of the risks; and guidance on the need to check, clean and dry equipment and watercraft that were being moved from one water body to another.
In reference to a suggestion raised at the last WHJCC meeting to include in the Management Plan the construction of a ‘Kingfisher bank’ at the Welsh Harp, Leslie Williams stated that Kingfisher banks provided an additional structure similar to the riverside banks that Kingfishers use for nesting. Discussion suggested that while desirable, the construction of artificial banks for Kingfishers was not a current priority and in any case would require riparian regulatory approval and involve construction and maintenance costs.
He then highlighted the policy on ice skating, contained in the safety guidance of the management plan and cautioned against skating near the reservoir due to the inherent dangers involved and the risk to human lives.
There then ensued discussions on signage, warden service on the Welsh Harp and the validity of the claim that kingfisher nesting had been identified,. It was confirmed that kingfisher had been identified but no evidence of nesting had been found. It was noted that Barnet had installed signage and that Leslie Williams would follow up the issue of signage and report back to a future meeting. Councillor Khatri undertook to look into how best to progress the issue of part time warden service.
RESOLVED:
that the management plan be noted.
Supporting documents:
- Brent welsh harp management plan, item 7. PDF 97 KB
- Brent plan action app1, item 7. PDF 64 KB
- Brent Welsh Harp Management Plan Draft Update February 2016, item 7. PDF 2 MB