2018/19 Update

Harrow Lodge Park Management Plan Update 2018/19

General Update ANPR data has shown that 70% reduction of untaxed uninsured vehicles are being detected on our ANPR system which runs on a Back Office function and untaxed vehicles are automatically reported to DVLA with location and heat map data. Graffiti in the boroughs parks over last 4 years have been reduced by 95% which shows 5 graffiti reports 2016 – 2019 compared with 45 graffiti reports 2012 – 2016 Nox Gas bottles calls within parks and open spaces 2014 – 2016 was 57 calls/actions. 2016 – 2019 = 10

Weapons (made or adapted) in parks found by PPS not MPS or other 2017- 2019 = 7. Emergency Planning, SWEP, Flood, Fire Data 2014 – 2017, 31 including unrest, botulism flooding and vehicles stuck or trapped in parks 2017 – 2019 = 18 activations/Actions including. fallen tree or tree at risk flooding Traveller related calls, actions, support and deterrence 2012- 2016 = 246 actions, 2016- 2019 = 89 actions.

15 Safeguarding 2017- 2018, calls including mental health, self- harm missing persons Harrow Lodge Park 101 Calls including 15 traveller related incidents; 29 Motorbike incidents 2 bridge flooded and taped off; 3 wildlife incidents; 5 missing persons vulnerable; 4 homeless calls and referrals; 1 call for suicidal female and found by PPS; 2 drinking alcohol related calls; 1 persons on pedalo (waterside concern); 3 litter complaints GAS canisters, 8 calls asb inc throwing glass bottles from recycling bins. 7 Assist EMS assist Emergency SERVICES inc male with knife and thrown item into bushes person who had fallen, 6 calls fun fayre related including Havering Show,2 warren Drive gates not locked. 3 Vehicle related contractor or resident driving onto land without permission to do works. 4 homeless counts with other LBH department, 3 fly tips. 5 firework related, 260 Reassurance patrols for moped or asb, 389 General patrols with Bikes, 4x4 4 non offensive graffiti removed whilst on a routine patrol by PPS officer

Infrastructure

The Parks and Open Spaces Ranger Service have installed a new plan bridge over Albany Stream. This is a popular crossing point and the banks leading to the old bridge were become worn down and got slippery and dangerous when it was wet. The Rangers made use of railways sleepers and wood left over from other jobs to create and installed the new bridge. They also re-profiled the bank leading to amd from the bridge and reduced the steepness.

4. Maintenance of equipment, buildings and landscape

4.1 Grounds maintenance

Except specialist weed treatment and arboriculture all operations in parks are carried out by an in house Grounds Maintenance team within the Public Ream department. Work is carried out to a specification, found on the Parks W drive under W:\data03\PARKS\James\GM Spec and is available on request. The index page showing the items in the specification is in Appendix 8. This was produced using best practice from the London Parks Benchmarking Group’s Specification, whilst ensuring it suited Havering’s requirements and budget. Although the items in the specification form the basis of all operations and standards of work, there is considerable flexibility in the fact that the teams are manged in house as both the Parks Development team and the Grounds maintenance manager work closely together and report to the same group manager.

At Harrow Lodge Park there is a dedicated Park Ranger and apprentice based in the onsite depot. There are 3 Park Ranger Apprentices who are based at 2 Country Parks and Harrow Lodge Park. They attend Capel Manor College on the Level 2 Diploma in Environmental Management. The apprentices regularly move around between the 3 parks and at times other urban parks to gain valuable experience. During the recent landscaping works in the park all the Park Rangers and their apprentices assisted at various times.

The on-site staff mainly carry out works to shrub beds, woodlands, litter picking, water bodies, small areas of grass cutting and delivery of landscape improvements, e.g. planting. The area Grounds Maintenance team will then carry out all other works, namely grass cutting, sports pitch marking and assisting with litter picking. Both teams work well together to ensure the standards are met which is assisted by the fact that they use the same on site depot and have regular meetings with the Parks Officer.

‘Site Safe’ depot building with Parks Ranger, Grounds Maintenance staff and apprentices

The various landscape features, e.g. sports pitches, grassland, play areas, buildings, are illustrated on a plan of the park using different colours, e.g. brown for woodland, orange for conservation area, pink for play area, yellow for sports pitch, blue for recreation area and red for shrub bed. This is used predominately by operational staff as a guide. This is especially useful for the maintenance of conservation areas for the tractor drivers who carry out gang-mowing. The only features not shown on the plan are individual or small groups of trees as arboriculture is managed separately. The plan is too large to include in this document as it is printed on A3. It is kept in the on- site depot and an example of the Southern section of the park is shown below.

Landscape features in the South of the park

Newly planted shrub beds by Hornchurch Road car park and tennis courts

4.1.1 Amenity grass is those areas used for general recreation and formal and informal sports and can include wide open spaces or those areas planted with trees and shrubs. The height of this grass is cut to 25mm throughout the year. The grass clippings are allowed and not collected. The grass is cut with tractor mounted gang mowers and ride on triples. Areas where the mowers cannot access and grass around obstacles are cut using strimmers.

4.1.2 Fine turf is maintained on the cricket tables and wickets. The table and wickets are cut twice weekly. The table is cut to 5mm, The wickets are cut a maximum height of 3mm. A high nitrogen fertilizer is applied from spring until late summer. In the autumn fertilizer high in Potassium is used. The cricket tables and wickets are cut using a 10-bladed box-on pedestrian cylinder mower. All arising’s are removed from the site. The wickets are rolled by the clubs prior to playing. Major repair works to the wickets is carried out in the autumn, with some areas being levelled and re-seeded. In autumn the wickets are scarified in two directions and hollow tined. Sharp sand is brushed across the surface as a top dressing to improve the drainage. The grass on the tables is allowed to grow to 20mm during the winter period.

4.1.3 Sports grass is maintained on the winter pitches (football). This is maintained using the same mowing frequency and height of cut as amenity grass, however due to the amount of use on these areas the pitches are solid tined to allow water to drain and a drag mat is taken across the pitches monthly to keep the surface flat. Pitches are marked out fortnightly and during particularly wet periods the pitches are checked at the end of each week for playability and if necessary matches have to be postponed.

Major repair works to the sports pitches will be carried out in late spring, with areas some (Particularly goalmouths) being levelled and reseeded.

During the summer cricket outfields are cut weekly by tractor service’s cylinder mowers starting in April and finishing in September. Marking out of the boundary also starts and finishes in this period.

4.1.4 Shrub beds need to be managed to maintain healthy stocks of plants, pruning as necessary and as appropriate for the plant species to remove dead and damaged branches and to retain a natural shape. A count of dead plants will be carried out each autumn and replacement plants will be planted between Novembers to March each year in order to maintain the character of the bed. Replacement planting will use species with a form and flowering habit which is appropriate for the plant’s position in the bed (lower growing at the front, taller in the middle) both to improve the appearance of the feature and minimise the need for pruning to restrain unwanted growth.

4.1.5 Hedges are split into formal and informal. Formal hedges are cut and faced over each winter with mixture offhand held power tools and tractor services tractor mounted finger mower. During the summer only essential cutting back work is carried out so as not to disturb nesting birds.

Informal hedges are cut with the use tractor based implements during winter months when necessary to ensure an optimum height and spread is kept.

4.2 Sport

4.2.1 Football

There are 4 football pitches in the park, 1 full size and 3 mini soccer pitches. These are annually hired to 2 football clubs. The bookings are managed by the department’s Business Support team who deal with clubs, manage the terms and conditions and liaise with Grounds Maintenance and to ensure the pitches are correctly marked out.

All work is carried out by the Grounds Maintenance team as part of their scheduled tasks.

Clubs who hire pitches are also permitted to train on designated areas in the park once a week. There is a permit system used for this purpose and each team is allocated an area, which can be their own pitch or another suitable space, which is then monitored by Parks Protection.

4.2.2 Cricket

The cricket pitch and pavilion is located on field adjacent to Hornchurch Road in the North of the park. This is used by Hornchurch Cricket Club’s 1st and 2nd teams who lease the area.

Hornchurch Cricket Club in action

Hornchurch, is indisputably, one of the earliest pioneers of cricket in Essex. The village of Hornchurch was an early sporting centre, much as it is now with the swimming pool and Sports Centre. Annual wrestling matches for the prize of a boar’s head took place, along

with cock-fighting and prize-fighting. The first home of the newly formed cricket club was Langtons Park which within fifty years was destined to entertain the MCC and to become a notable focus for local and regional attention.

The 1800’s saw the golden era of cricket at the club with an unbeaten run of seven years, ending in 1829. In 1889 the clubs ground was at Grey Towers Park where they played until the outbreak of war in 1914. The pitch was used during the Great War for army billeting, and could not be restored at the end of the hostilities, so a field in Wingletye Lane was used until 1925 when the club was offered a ground in front of Fairkytes, Billet Lane now the Queens Theatre. Play continued there uninterrupted until 1944. The Council had plans for the development of the area, and the club was offered a new pitch at Harrow Lodge which they accepted and moved across to in around 1954. This is where it still resides to this day.

The square is maintained by the club, as per the Council’s specification, and the outfield by the Grounds Maintenance team

4.2.3 Hockey

Havering Hockey Club use the cricket pavilion as their clubhouse (since 1972) and play their home fixtures on an astro-turf at a secondary school in Hornchurch. Over the Easter period they have a hockey tournament in the park which is held on the field behind the Hornchurch Road car park.

4.2.4 Archery

The Abbey Bowmen have been based in the park since 1972 and use the field behind the main car park off Hornchurch Road under a licence agreement.

Abbey Bowmen in action

4.2.5 Tennis

There are 3 tennis courts by the play area in the South of the park. These are freely accessible at all times. All maintenance is carried out by the Parks Maintenance team.

Tennis Courts and ball court

4.2.6 Bowls

There is a green and pavilion situated in the South of the park just off the Upper Rainham Road. This is leased to Elm Park Bowls Club who has been based in the park since they were established in 1957.

The club maintain the green and surrounds.

4.3 Vehicles and plant maintenance

The Park Ranger has a good range of vehicles and plant to use within the park, including an electric ‘Gator’ utility vehicle, Avant multi-purpose telehandler and various power tools. They also have access to a Land Rover Defender, mini-excavator and chipper that are based in the country parks.

The Grounds Maintenance team have a fleet of tractors which power gang-mowers, flails, batwing topper, hedge cutters and a collector mower. They also use triple and out-front mowers for smaller areas within the park.

All fleet vehicles are checked prior to use every day and a corporate vehicle check sheet filled out, an example is at Appendix 9. All vehicles are also fitted with a tracker for security purposes.

All the GM Fleet vehicles and ride on machines are maintained owned by the council and repaired by our in-house transport department. The tractor fleet is on a 5 year contract hire arrangement with the supplying dealer, repairs and maintenance are carried out as part of a service contract with the Transport Services department. Small items of plant (strimmers, hedgetrimmers etc.) are maintained by a specialist external contractor who visits depots at Gidea Park on a regular basis.

4.4 Parks Furniture

All Parks Furniture is inspected as part of the Parks monitoring system and graded A to D as appropriate. Repairs or removal and replacements are actioned as appropriate.

Park benches have been selected as metal frame and slats that better withstand vandalism and are easier for the Parks Fitter to repair. Parks furniture is also of the same colour, RAL 6005, therefore making it easier to repaint.

Bench overlooking the lake Dual-use bin

The Parks and Open Spaces Service are also changing its standard bin to one that is larger and more robust as previous bins suffered badly with corrosion. This is on a rolling program and Harrow Lodge Park’s bins have changed over to this new type. The larger capacity means they can hold dog waste. In parks where the new bins are being installed the old dog bins are being removed. People are encouraged to use the new dual-use bins by signage on the bins, around the park, on social media, and when necessary through contact with the Parks Protection Service.

4.5 Play areas

There are 2 play areas at Harrow Lodge Park, one to the rear of the Sports Centre in the North and the other by the Upper Rainham Road in the South. Both have equipment for children of all ages with recreation areas for older children including ball courts and skate. A new Parkour (free running) area is planned in the North of the park, near the sports centre for early 2017. A plan can be found in Appendix 10.

Play area in the South of the park

Play areas are subject to three types of inspection.

Basic visual inspection This is carried out by RoSPA trained Grounds Maintenance operatives at specific frequencies throughout the week. Each inspection is logged on a visual inspection sheet, an example of which is in Appendix 11. These sheets are then fed back to the Parks Development Officers to be actioned as appropriate, e.g. repair, take out of action or monitor. The frequency of these checks varies as it is decided on a usage and fault finding basis. The large majority of repairs are carried out by the Parks Maintenance team (Supervisor and Assistant). If necessary a specialist play area manufacturer will be used.

Operational Inspection This is a more in depth inspection and is carried out by the RoSPA trained Parks Maintenance Supervisor. They will check bearings, chains. Links nuts and bolts etc and have the equipment to carry out many repairs. These checks are recorded, example in Appendix 12, and any faults that cannot be rectified reported to the Parks team and if necessary the item taken out of use until repaired. The fitter carried out these inspections on a quarterly basis.

Independent annual check This is carried out by a reputable organisation such as RoSPA on an annual basis. The outcomes of their report are used to set a work program in for the Parks Maintenance team and feeds into budget planning of the Parks Development Team. It is very rare that high risk items are found in our parks and none have been identified in Harrow Lodge Park. Therefore mainly the medium risk items are prioritised for the year. These are found on the W drive under Parks Inspections.

As well as the above there is are also ad hoc inspections by the Parks Development Officers that back up the formal inspections and also ensure a quality check on the visual inspections.

4.6 Parks Buildings

Park buildings come under two headings. Leased buildings where there is minimal council involvement and most maintenance is the responsibility of the lessee under a full repairing lease, or buildings where all maintenance is carried out by the Council under its Corporate Landlord Agreement managed by the Asset Management department.

The sports centre and Hornchurch Bowls Centre are both managed externally. The Public Realm depot buildings are managed under the Corporate Landlord Agreement. Therefore any repairs and checks, e.g. water hygiene and heating system, are carried out by the Council. The pavilions that serve Hornchurch Cricket Club and Elm Park Bowls Club, plus the café are managed by the tenants. The only exception is if there are structural defects then these are the responsibility of the Council.

The café was refurbished in 2015 to include an internal seating area and much improved public toilets. In 2016 the café frontage was improved to ensure equal access and additional outdoor seating. The café is open throughout the year, although only at weekends and other busy times during the winter.

The café operator also runs a pedal boat service during the summer. Boats are used on the northern lake and launched from the café frontage.

Refurbished café and toilets being opened by Councillors, local MP, external funders and tenant.