Issue - meetings

Update by Larry Malone, Amenity Services

Larry Malone confirmed that works agreed at the last meeting of the Committee had now been completed, including the addition of non-slip material to one of the larger bridges. Mr Malone noted that he had received positive feedback on the work which had been carried out and apologised that he had not come back to the Committee with a timescale for works being completed as the work had been undertaken when time and employees were available.

Councillor Douglas thanked Mr Malone for the work which had been carried out by the team and advised that the area now looked much better than it had previously. Mr Malone confirmed that work had been carried out around the fences in the area as many had been missing. Bridges within the Woods had also been fixed where required, steps had been replaced and a number of trees had been removed.

Mr Malone confirmed that 97 trees had been identified in the original survey as hazardous and those trees identified around pathways and areas where people would be walking have now been removed. Mr Malone confirmed that the department had made a decision based on what was reasonable and had agreed this in consultation with Health and Safety officers. It was agreed by those in attendance that the original tree survey and reaction to same had been potentially overzealous and that a sensible approach had now been taken to enable the woods to be re-opened safely.

Martin Grafton advised that he was pleased that a pragmatic approach had now been taken but was disappointed that the situation had taken so long to resolve following the Woods closure in June and felt that the re-opening of the wood had not been well publicised. Mr Grafton noted that he had placed a notice on the Friends of Duchess Woods Facebook page and sent an e-mail to members providing an update on the re-opening of the Woods. Mr Offord advised that he felt there had been communication issues over the length of the closure of the Woods and this had led to increased sensitivity around the subject, however the Friends were grateful for all the work which had now been carried out.

Decision

The Committee noted the detail of the update and thanked Mr Malone, Mr Brookfield and their team for the work carried out to re-open Duchess Woods.

Update by Tom Murphy, Amenity Services

The Committee considered a report which had been tabled and provided detail in relation to the upcoming works to be carried out in the wood.

Decision

The Committee noted the detail of the update and asked for a further update to be provided at the next meeting.

(Reference:  Written report by Assistant Team Leader, tabled)