Environment Overview and Scrutiny Committee - Thursday 12 February 2026, 7:30pm

Environment Overview and Scrutiny Committee
Thursday, 12th February 2026 at 7:30pm

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2 Declarations of Interest

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3 Update on the Delivery of the Wandsworth Environment and Sustainability Strategy (Paper No. 26-35)

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26-35 WESS & CEAP Update

4 Council's Investment into Play Areas, Parks and Open Spaces (Paper No. 26-36)

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26-36 Investment into Play, Parks and Open Spaces

5 Committee Action Tracker (Paper No. 26-37)

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26-37 Action Tracker

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Disclaimer: This transcript was automatically generated, so it may contain errors. Please view the webcast to confirm whether the content is accurate.

Hello and good evening everyone.

Welcome to the 12th of February, 2026 edition of the Environment Overview and Scrutiny Committee.

I'm Councillor Coakley, the chair of this committee and the St Mary's Councillor.

I'm joined by Councillor White, the cabinet member for environment, and Paul Chadwick,

as the Executive Director for Resident Services.

Just some housekeeping, any members of the committee, officers or councillors, introduce

themselves when they first participate in discussions, and with officers, introduce

yourselves when you're presenting your reports.

For apologies, we have at the moment,

Councillor French and Councillor Lawless.

Are there any others I need to know about?

I think we're good.

Okay, all good.

So item one in the agenda is the minutes.

Are there any objections to confirm

in the minutes of the 26th of November 2025

as a correct record?

That's agreed.

2 Declarations of Interest

And are there any declarations of any pecuniary or other vegetable or non -vegetable interests?

Enough on that?

Cool.

Okay.

So, we can start with our first substantive item of this meeting, which is paper number

3 Update on the Delivery of the Wandsworth Environment and Sustainability Strategy (Paper No. 26-35)

agenda item three, paper number 26 -35.

That's an update on the delivery of the Wandsworth environment and sustainability strategy.

Councillor White, I believe you wanted to introduce this paper.

Yeah, thank you.

And thank you to all of our officers for this exciting report.

Since declaring a climate emergency in 2019, Wandsworth has taken its commitment to be

carbon neutral organisation by 2030, and net zero

borough by an ambitious 2043, seven years before

the national target. Our efforts have been rewarded by an A -rating for the

third year

running by a carbon disclosure project and a jump of 18 places to third

in the climate action scorecard. This borough faces many challenges to reach its

targets, many outside factors will be difficult to navigate, not least the

massive investment

it will need to reach those targets.

However, the two ratings mentioned show we are very much

on the right trajectory and our one million pound investment

from developer offsets and another potential

three million pounds will help decarbonize

our own buildings and also 4 .7 million pounds

from the public sector decarbonization scheme

for five other sites including Putney Leisure Centre.

1 ,500 warm packs delivered to residents

to improve home energy efficiency.

We also demonstrate this and rolling out a food waste collection, 100 ,000 households

now, conversion into biogas then to the grid and improvements of 28 % in the council's recycling

rate, savings of 1 .3 million.

And this is from our position of worst performing London Borough, has shown our commitment to

improvement.

We are capturing electrical items and pieces of furniture at Smuggler's Way to repurpose

them, the throwaway culture is replaced by the circular economy. Adaptation and resilience

is especially important now, as we have seen recently from extreme periods of rain, we

only have to think about today really, leading to river and water levels rising and impacts

on non -permeable surfaces above and below ground must be taken more seriously. Hot summers

are also a by -product of the climate change. The need for more shade and cool spaces is

more prescient. How a local community would cope in extreme cases for food,

some dry spaces, defences against flooding, how exposed downhill and low

resourced areas can access assistance and build your ability are all things

that we now have to consider and we build our adaptation and resilience

strategy but limited, not limited, to extending wetlands, increasing green

areas and sustainable urban drainage systems.

This update will show our yearly decreases of emissions, which see us reach our national

targets in air quality in all but one area, when we had five areas above that level three

or four years ago.

With the London Mayor's ULEZ and our support of electric vehicles seeing 1 ,642 charge points

and 346 cycle hangers, helping those that can to switch to cleaner travel.

Investments in active travel, home insulation, solar energy and renewable heating will maintain

our mission to our ambitious targets, helped greatly by the Government's recent announcement

to make £1 billion available nationwide for greener energy and empowering communities.

So as I say, it's a very exciting paper I think and the officers again I think deserve

great credit for where we are at the moment.

So I'm really looking forward to this discussion.

Thank you.

Thank you, Councillor Wright.

Mr. Hagger, I believe you're leading on this and you've got some graphs for the committee

as well.

Yes, thank you very much, Chair.

So I'm Andrew Hagger.

I'm head of climate change and sustainability.

I think we've got some slides that we can share.

Brilliant, thank you.

So I just was going to start by outlining our approach to tackling climate change and

there's three key strands to what we do.

One is about becoming a carbon neutral organisation by 2030.

So that's about making sure that we're leading the way and setting a good example in terms

of reducing our own carbon emissions as an organisation.

So that's about decarbonising our buildings primarily.

Second bit is about creating an environment that is low carbon, sustainable and resilient.

So that's about using the powers that we have as a local authority around planning, around

transport, things like that, to make sure that residents and communities can live in

a low carbon and sustainable way and crucially creating that resilient environment that is

adapting and resilient to a changing climate.

And the third is about working with communities so that they can take action on climate change.

We know that as a council we can't solve climate change just on our own.

It needs everyone to be working together.

So engaging with communities, working with partners is a really key part of that.

And combined, that's going to take us towards our target of being a net zero borough by 2043.

So there's a number of focus areas in the Climate Action Plan.

So one is around that carbon neutral by 2030.

It's also about enabling sustainable low carbon transport, improving air quality, and there's a lot of work that goes on around that.

Decarbonizing buildings across the borough.

So this is going beyond just our own buildings as a council,

but thinking about where do the emissions come from

across the borough and how do we support that

in terms of buildings everywhere.

Improving biodiversity in green spaces.

So the climate emergency is also a nature emergency,

so it's addressing that.

Reducing waste and increasing the circular economy.

There's also climate adaptation and resilience,

so creating those resilient communities and environments

for our communities.

And then also communication, engagement, and partnership.

And that again is about working with others,

bringing things together, and the council acting

as a facilitator and convener.

So you can see that this stretches across

not just the climate change and sustainability team,

but it goes very wide across the whole organisation.

And then in terms of some of the data,

within the report there's some information

about Wandsworth's borough -wide carbon emissions.

So this is across the whole of the borough.

The data here is published every year by the government,

which shows long -term trends in carbon emissions.

Stretches all the way back to 2005.

So this is the most reliable data set that we have.

And we've seen a 54 % reduction in carbon emissions

since 2005 and a 15 % reduction in the last four years,

which is really encouraging that there's been a lot

of progress made on this across the borough as a whole.

There is a two -year lag.

That's just the data when it's released.

It would be lovely to have it a bit more up to date, but that's what we've got.

And then also we've got our own carbon emissions as the council.

So again, there's been significant progress in reducing the council's carbon emissions.

We've decreased it by over half since the baseline year of 2018 -19, and that does include

a 28 % reduction in Scope 1 emissions, which shows our reduced gas consumption across all

of our buildings.

So our emissions from electricity are zero and that's due to the purchasing of zero carbon electricity.

So that's a really good step that's been taken around demonstrating the purchasing power of the council as a large organisation.

And we've also, as Councillor White said, secured external funding to deliver more decarbonisation work.

I'm just going to pick through a few highlights, I guess, of what's in the report.

I'm not gonna cover all of it,

because there's lots of really good examples in there

about work that's been going on.

So there's been increased bike hanger storage,

and there's 346 bike hangers now across the borough.

There's been installation of more EV charge points,

and there's 1 ,642 now available.

There's also been a focus on indoor air quality

by the air quality team,

and that has included training 380 health professionals

on information about why indoor air quality is important

and what they can do about it.

And then in terms of some other examples,

there's now 12 green flag parks,

that's the most that's ever been achieved.

There's been delivery of the Cleaner Borough Plan,

which has seen increased recycling rates

and food waste collection.

There's been the development of the Biodiversity Action Plan,

which is going to cabinets,

the agenda's just been published,

so members of the committee can have a look at that

if they're interested.

And then finally, we've got some examples of the warm home packs where we've given out

over 1 ,500 warm packs to low -income households, and that's helped reduce energy use and reduce

fuel bills as well.

And then in terms of engagement and partnership working, there's been the ones with Sustainability

Network and the Net Zero Roundtables, which has brought together communities and partners.

And there's also been the Climate Action Microgrants, which supports community groups to take action

and deliver climate projects within their local areas.

And also we've had Sustainable September

where we showcase climate action across the borough.

We had 100 events there.

And then finally, we're going to be developing

a climate action plan for 26 -27.

So it's gonna be a refreshed action plan

which will go through for approval in June.

Retrofit and decarbalizing homes will remain in focus

as will adaptation and resilience.

And we're gonna be continuing our successful engagement

and communications with our residents and communities.

But there's a chance here for yourselves

as the committee to feedback to us

about what you see as priorities

and what you see as potential actions

so that we can use that to help shape

that next version of the action plan.

We can look at what is deliverable, what's achievable,

and feed that in where we can.

Thank you, Andrew.

Just to add to Andrew's presentation,

so Claire O 'Connor, Director of Climate Change,

What I would say is, although the climate change team is here presenting this report,

it is important to note that the work that is contained within the report and that Andrew

has covered in his presentation is wider than this climate change team.

The work on climate change and sustainability is embedded across the council, so you have

teams across the council working to deliver action.

So for example, the transport team on EV and bike hangars, and you see that work also running

across the committees that we have.

So for example, the bike hangar school,

streets going to transport committee as well.

It's a real strength of our approach,

that it is embedded and not just siloed in one team,

and I think that's something that I wanted

to particularly highlight to the committee.

Thank you both.

And I echo what Councillor Whitefear said,

that this is an excellent paper.

It shows how far we've come from

the early 2000s until now and there's still a lot to go before we hit our targets, but I'm really excited and I feel positive about it.

So, opening the floor to questions from councillors.

Councillor Caddy.

Thanks very much.

I guess the first question is...

Sorry, could you introduce yourself?

Oh, sorry, Councillor Caddy, South Wales Ward.

If you look at page seven, we've got the table which shows the reduction in scope one emissions.

And obviously you can see that line goes from 14 ,000 to 11 ,000 to 10 ,000.

I guess my question is, is there a sort of breakdown of that?

Because that's the emissions obviously that the council are responsible for.

So that's I guess where we want to be focusing our efforts in terms of getting ourselves down to zero carbon.

What's the sort of breakdown of the makeup of that?

And I guess I want to understand what bang for our buck we get to some extent in terms

of planning going forward.

So what are the key things that we can spend money on to drive that 10 ,672 much further

down and what should we be focusing our kind of funding on?

Because obviously given the enormous cuts that are coming along the line, we're going

have to make sure that we get bang for our buck and make sure that we're driving down

that 10 ,000 number, sort of very specifically. So what's the biggest sort of part of that

and how can we impact that?

So we have a detailed breakdown that sits behind the numbers and colleagues in the energy

and sustainability team have a detailed breakdown on the gas consumption for our buildings.

They use that to identify the biggest consumers of gas and we use that to target work.

So specifically the funding that we've got from the Public Sector Decarbonization Fund and the funding that the council is adding to that.

That is targeted at some of our biggest uses of gas.

And so there you're getting your bang for your buck because we're bringing in that external funding to be able to take action on those buildings.

We've also got the funding that we've brought in via leisure on our leisure centres as well,

so we know again that those are big consumers and that that's the action that we're taking.

Thank you very much.

Just a quick follow -up.

So what can we expect that 10 ,672 to go down to in the future?

We don't have the detailed year -by -year breakdown on us, but I can talk to the energy and sustainability

team to see what the pathway would be for those buildings we prioritised for the public

sector decarbonization.

Councillor Apps.

Thank you, Councillor Apps.

Shastri in Queenstown Ward.

Yeah, really love this paper and it's great to see all the progress here.

Clearly we're going to need to scale up as we move towards 2030 in terms of carbon emission

and reductions.

Firstly, how are we gonna focus on doing that?

And secondly, I think it's really important

that we as a whole council are focused on it.

So have we looked at anything like a tracker

or a dashboard or something of that nature

which is like a shared resource that we could,

so we can all make sure that we stay focused?

On the tracker, we're actually developing something

at the moment where we can better represent the data

that's sitting behind it around different

sort of, different performance information,

different data that we can access

to see how we're doing on this.

So we're putting that together

and thinking about how we present it

so that it's not just for sort of offices or members,

but members of the public can have a look at that

and then also be able to scrutinise that

and I think that's important in terms of being open

and transparent around our reporting,

like these annual reports that we do.

And then in terms of keeping a focus,

it's embedded across the organisation.

So for example, we have the sustainability network

that's run by the team that brings together officers

from across the organisation to talk about

climate change sustainability,

the teams that are delivering it,

the stuff that Claire was talking about earlier

around across the whole organisation and different teams,

they can come together to talk about it there.

So it's definitely part of that.

There's also the carbon literacy training

that we're delivering as well across the organisation

to re -embed that deep knowledge around climate change,

the causes, and some of the actions

and solutions to it as well.

Thanks.

Councillor Brooks.

Thank you very much.

Councillor Brooks for Thamesfield Ward in Putney.

Just in paragraph eight on page six

of the Wandsworth Burrowide carbon emissions,

It says that 30 .8 of the total carbon emissions in the borough comes from domestic cooking and heating.

One thing, and obviously in the medium to long term, we need people to transition away from gas use in that area.

One way people can do that is by installing a heat pump.

But we do hear from residents quite often about confusion about what they might need to do in terms of process and planning

to instal a heat pump.

Is it possible that the borough could be more clear

and transparent on the website about when a resident

might need climate permission and when they might not

to save them in that bind of not knowing

and not wanting to proceed with that investment

in their home because they don't want

to trip over the system?

Thank you, Councillor Brooks.

I think there's some guidance on solar panels.

So I'm not sure how it is with heat pumps.

Would an officer come back on that?

I think we do hear from residents about

how sometimes the information generally

in regards to retrofit isn't easy to navigate and to find.

I don't think we're alone as a borough in that.

I think it's a really good area of focus

for the action plan going forward for the 26, 27,

that we look to make sure that the information

that we have is accessible and easy to find.

And also de -jargonified, so obviously I just said retrofit,

probably does everybody in the borough understand

what retrofit means?

We probably could explain that better as well.

So we'll take that action away around the planning

and also wrap that into better clearer communications.

I think, Councillor White, you also wanted to come in

on the heat points.

Yeah, I think it's very important that the expertise

that we have in the council is available basically

for residents to help that transition.

And also that now that that one billion pounds that I spoke about earlier on, people can

access 7 ,500 pounds for a transition to a renewable heating system.

So how to spend that money and whether to spend that money, whether the house is in

the condition that it could actually use and benefit from it is really, really important.

Thank you.

Councillor Cook.

Jonathan Cook, Lavender Ward. Just a question on EV charge points, the front page, the summary

box. To get a sense of how that compares with national trends, but also perhaps most relevant

ads that compare with other urban areas, other London boroughs, where are we placed?

I'm afraid we'll have to come back to you with that, Councillor Cook, because obviously

David Tiddley, who's the expert on that,

goes to the transport committee,

but we can certainly get you the national stats

on how that compares.

Councillor Brooks.

Yeah, just on EV charges.

I guess a similar question to Councillor Cook,

but how faster does the number of EV charges need to grow,

I guess would be the thoughts.

How do we benchmark how many we need?

One thought I had ahead of this evening was to look at the percentage increase in the numbers of fully electric vehicles on our roads in the last four years.

So in 2022 there was 800 and something EV charge points, now there's 1 ,600.

So it's effectively doubled.

But in that time, the number of fully electric, the percentage of cars on our roads that are fully electric has gone up by 170%.

So, despite the good achievements of increasing the numbers of EV charging points, we're

still behind the growth of EV vehicle, electric vehicle take -up.

So how much of a role does the borough have in trying to lay those train tracks ahead

of that take -up?

And do we have an idea of how high we need, how high that number needs to be so that we're

hindering that transition. Again I'm afraid that's a question I have to take

away to Mr. Tiddley and get you a response to. I think obviously the

learning is we need to invite Mr. Tiddley next time we have the

climate change paper here but obviously he has led the EV charging

strategy in the borough for a significant amount of time. He is kind of

a leading expert on that so I'm sure he can give you a comprehensive response.

Yeah, I think it's it'd be interesting to see as council Brooke said that the

Amount of electric cars has increased more than the charges, but does does it have to be?

Exactly parallel the rate of increase of electric vehicles and charges, or is it with?

Yeah, that'd be an interesting one to actually see

councillor caddy

Sorry, it's just another follow -up in EVs

And it's not so much a question just as a kind of area for further work.

Are we looking at sort of other ways to manage electric vehicle charging in the borough?

So whether we have dedicated bays, obviously I know we've got lampposts, but I kind of

speak anecdotally as someone who did have a fully electric car and has now reverted

back to petrol because I found the charging was just too unwieldy and it just didn't work

without having off -street parking.

So what I think I'm picking up from the committee is that there's a kind of strong focus on

EV charging that we need to continue to have in our climate action plan.

And obviously, again, I'll take that feedback back to David Tiddley so that he can pick

that up and respond.

Councillor White, you always want to come in on this?

Yeah, it's turning quickly into the transport committee,

isn't it?

But we have accepted money from the government

to help people in certain circumstances

where it's practicable, where they can charge from home.

But there are a number of issues to overcome with that.

So wherever we can, we are increasing the number

and accept that there is a thirst for more places

is where we can charge.

Councillor Jeffries.

Thank you, Chair.

James Jeffries at Thamesfield Ward,

just to take us from vehicles back to buildings.

Just a question on point paragraph 25

about the decarbonization of the council's housing stock.

Clearly that's a really big project,

a big task for the council to get done.

And I appreciate that there's a strategy paper being presented to Cabinet, but could we get

a sense of sort of what the timeframe would be for final delivery of that and also a sense

of what the financials would be in order to get that over the line?

I don't have – I haven't seen the final version of the paper, so I can't really

comment on on that I'm afraid we have been working with housing colleagues on

that to feed in obviously we we did a retrofit strategy for the looking more

domestic housing last year and so we've kind of taken some by expertise and

learning from that and fed it in so for example Ali and the team has worked very

closely with housing colleagues on that but we we're not producing the final

version of that.

Councillor Boughton.

Thank you Chair Tony Belton, Battersea Park Ward.

Excuse me for the slight frog I've got.

Clearly for the graph on page six,

unless we have a big impact on the domestic users,

then we'll get nowhere near our complete targets.

and always do excuse me don't know where this has come from thank you but one of

the things that concerns me is that perhaps just perhaps we're trying to do

it from to corporate a point of view and not as a leader if you like of the

public I say that for specific reason which the cabinet member will know well

I think. A lot of the ex -GLC properties, the Ethel Burger in my particular patch,

but not much of the Patmore Estate, quite a lot of West Hill I think or West

Putney, I can't remember. I've got flat roofs and there's masses and masses of

space for photovoltaics cells. Now I had a resident who was a, or is, a professor of

ecology or something similar in London University and he wanted to work with

tenants, residents, leaseholders to set up a PV system on the top of the blocks.

But this conflicted with the housing department's targets and goals at the

time, which was to try, as I understood it, to try and ensure the insulation in

the flats and properties, arguing that unless you'd done that job properly,

there was no point in getting heat from solar energy.

Now, I think that's slightly bogus anyway.

But it was having the effect of depressing

quite a lot of enthusiasm, at least on one estate.

But if it was depressed on one estate,

it might have been depressed on others.

And it stopped a possibly exciting development,

which might have spread elsewhere.

Now, I'm not saying any of that's true.

Well, certainly that is true, but I'm not saying the housing department didn't have

a point.

Do we still have that problem?

Is anything being done to try and tackle it?

Because if we don't get at a lot of assistance from the public, like my constituent, then

I don't see how we're going to get to the very ambitious targets.

It's a great paper, by the way, but it's still got to hit this massive private sector element.

So I just wondered about whether that's still a problem

Counsellor why I think you wanted to come in on that and then we can pass on to offices to yeah

this is one of the

areas that

The 1 billion pounds is trying to overcome to bring in

community groups to be able to roll out solar systems

in that way and to enable council estates, you know to be able to

to help manage their solar provision.

And to enable it, I was a founder member

of Community Renewable Energy,

ones with which I'm not a member of anymore.

But that we were inspired by what they were doing

in Lambeth and Hackney,

which is exactly that, it's community groups coming forward.

When we had a feed -in tariff that was really,

made all of this really, really possible.

We don't really have that now.

But what we do have now, which we didn't have four or five

years ago, was battery storage is now cheap enough

that we can do a lot more of this stuff.

Now, the thing is that we don't know.

We're actually talking at the moment.

We haven't had the final meeting with our housing colleagues

about how we're going to be able to use this money

and how wide it can be used.

But there is a very much more exciting prospect, I think, Tony, than the one that we previously

had.

And I think that we previously did have a problem with the Public Sector Decarbonisation

Fund because the amount of leaseholders we had, it was really made for – the PSDF really

At the time, the first tranche of the money was made for councils that had 75 -50 splits,

so 75 % would be tenants and 25 % would be leaseholders.

But because we're 50 -50, it would meant that we were actually spending money on leaseholders

as much as tenants, which was a difficulty.

So these type of issues now, with this money and these opportunities that community groups

will be able to give capacity and resources.

I think that we're going to have, as I say,

a better prospect of being able to roll out

a lot more solar and storage so that it can be used then

when we have daylight today.

Did officers also want to come back

on Councillor Burton's original point?

Yeah, I was just going to add in about engaging

with sort of private sector and with own occupiers as well

and that's an area that we need to expand.

So mentioned about heat pumps and about communications

and things like that and so that's really, really important.

So getting more information out there, supporting that,

doing work around skills as well, for example,

to make sure that people are trained

to be able to deliver this.

So there's been work going on around that as well.

So there's a whole approach that's been taken

with lots of different partners

and working on that as well.

So that's another part of it.

Can I come back on that?

Can I just, Chair, something about the housing problem.

So I'll just say something general about,

we've got a new approach to how we manage works for blocks

and new offices dealing with that.

So I think I would hope via those new approaches

and there's newly coordinated attitudes to how we fix a block and what its needs are

in terms of repair, refurbishment, improvement.

The kinds of concerns you've got are being overcome.

I can't guarantee the particular scenario that the Council describes has been overcome,

but it's certainly, our renewed approach should overcome those kinds of concerns.

Councillor Burton, you wanted to come back on your point?

If I may briefly, that sounds good and encouraging in terms of what I said about the Council

of the States, but I did actually say at the beginning, unless we impacted domestic users

across the board, I just wondered if we'd say a little bit more about that.

And am I right or wrong in thinking that ground heat pumps, there could be advantage in ground

heat pumps being done on a kind of communal basis,

like one pump for a cul -de -sac as it were?

And what are we doing to encourage that

if it's appropriate in parts of the book?

Yeah, so heat networks are an area of work

that's coming along quite quickly in London

at the moment especially.

There's some work going on between local authorities

and the GLA around what's called heat network

zoning and coordination.

There's new sort of responsibilities that's come

into place around that.

So I've been engaging with different boroughs

and with the GLA on that, around what that's going

to look like.

And also finding out more about some of the opportunities

that might come up around that.

So we've been looking at some of the regeneration projects

and like Miss Stanley -Orc Road and thinking about actually

What are some of the potential opportunities there? It's longer term because that doesn't exist at the moment

But it is being looked at and being thought about so that can go into the planning stage early on

And that would be using things like ground source heat pumps in terms of what you're saying cancer belton about

Ground source heat pump for a cul -de -sac that is very

Experimental type stuff and there's a couple of pilot studies that have been done where they where they they put in place to see how?

it might potentially work, but it's not really being done at scale yet.

In terms of that sort of thing, it's more about heat networks and district heat networks

is where that's more likely to happen.

And London's quite well placed for that because of the density of housing, especially

larger blocks.

It tends to suit, that technology suits larger blocks.

Councillor White, you want to come back on that point as well?

Yeah.

We have examined ground source heat pump solutions at other locations as well, but they weren't

quite right for some of the areas, but it's certainly a technology we're still looking

at.

I think also that money as well is interest -free loans as well that will be available to private

users to be able to convert their energy systems as well.

So, yeah, I mean, it's around helping residents to overcome any barriers to that money and

make it an easy transition for a lot of people.

There are also really exciting community schemes of that nature as well.

POP, for instance, an organisation that are active in Wandsworth to do exactly this, to

be able to make a street a power station.

So these things are happening

and we're very much encouraging them.

So and as I say with these new loans,

I think it would be much more prevalent

I think in the future.

Councillor Osborne.

Councillor Rex Osborne from Tooting Broadway Ward.

There have been a lot of useful comments and bits of discussion about individual elements

of the paper.

I'd quite like to take a couple of steps back and talk about the paper as a whole, because

I think it's important that we as a committee tonight are upbeat about the paper.

It is an excellent paper.

And it's an important paper because I think of what it says about Wandsworth as a borough,

what it says about our officer team and the work of our officer team and indeed

the work of our councillors. Councillors from all sides as the discussion tonight

has shown because it says three very important things about Wandsworth I

think the paper. One is that on climate action this borough is cutting edge in

what it does. To some extent that's partly because we've imported officers

from other local authorities who are already very much at the forefront of the work.

To some extent it's because of innovation within Wandsworth and I think that part of

it is an important statement about what Wandsworth is doing that we should recognise.

The second thing about it I think is that it describes in some detail real delivery

on the part of the borough.

I don't want to run through it all, but you know, slide after slide, like a slide with

stuff about bike hangers and EV chargers, as we've talked about, and training on indoor

health matters and so on.

Actual things happening, changes taking place in the borough, which are vital.

And thirdly, the paper looks forward explicitly, I think, in the last conclusive paragraph

about Cabinet in June 2026 and the refreshed action plan for 2026 -27, but actually implicitly

as well about the need to do more in the future.

We talked a bit about the heat pumps and so on, and that is an important discussion in

that context.

But it is saying that Wandsworth recognises even though a great deal has already been

done, as we see from the amount of rain we've had recently, it was reported and discussed on

the BBC website this morning, this is probably a wake -up call about the way our climate is changing.

Even though a great deal has been done, there is always going to be more to do, and this paper

looks forward. Thank You councillors one councillor Kirk. Thank you back to a sort

of detailed question page 13 I think this is rather important question given

the financial context where we're in there's a statement bullet point there

about halfway down over 20 ,000 free bulky waste collection as well very few

things are free, they certainly aren't.

Can we have a sense of what that is actually cost?

It seems to me there are two elements to the cost.

One is income foregone, because we used to charge that,

memory serves, about 16 pounds, I think, for collection.

And what is the cost to dispose?

What's the overall cost of that 20 ,000?

Thank you, Councillor Cook.

I think we have Ms. Epstein online,

so she'll be answering that. Hi I'm Natasha Epstein I'm director of waste and street cleansing

and now I'm massive on that screen thank you. So yes the actual collection cost was previously

£26 per collection. The actual disposal saving I haven't got the number off the top of my head

but the extra disposal costs,

but I can provide it after the meeting,

is not as expensive as the actual collections.

So the disposal cost is a part of that,

but the collections is a greater cost,

but we've made the service more accessible

for people to use,

which has consequently reduced fly tipping.

So previously some people were having to wait

up to three weeks to book a bulky waste collection.

now they can book their next collection day.

So that creation of slots to make it more accessible.

And those slots are busy.

Previously, we only had 35 slots a day.

We've now got up to 150.

So making it more accessible for people to use

as well as making it free.

And yes, the impact on fly tipping,

because we know that a lot of our fly tips

is small scale, a sofa, a mattress on a corner, a bag, it's not large scale from vehicles,

so giving people the correct route to dispose of that bulky waste has reduced fly tipping

by about 18 percent.

Thank you Ms Epstein.

Councillor Apps.

Thank you.

A very good, and I think it is important to talk about the finances in a very good area

where we've also made an improvement is on the recycling rate, which is an improved astronomically

from, you know, we're one of the lowest going up to 29 .7 % now.

But you know, and that has consequently the collection for

recycling is cheaper than the recollection of black bin waste.

So that has made a saving.

And the food waste has also helped in that regard.

But you know, we're ambitious.

So I want to know how we want to drive that up further.

How we're going to continue to make improvements on our recycling rate.

How we're going to improve to get more recycling from estates and

make sure that those are all collected without contamination wherever possible.

So if I could pass that back to Natasha Epstein. Yeah, Ms Epstein you want to take that?

Yeah, we have been working with a delivery unit on some cleaner

borough plan options that haven't got anywhere quite yet, but we are

discussing lots of different options not just around waste but around strict

cleansing as well. We are continuing to roll out the food waste to all the estates, so

we've done all of the council estates and all of the low -rise properties and we're now

working our way through all the private estates. We do expect that to be completed by the target

date of the end of March. I think we're up to about 120 ,000 of the properties now having

access to food waste. We did initially offer that as an optional service and obviously some people

chose not to take it up but now we are being a bit more forceful. The DEFRA gave us more stronger

powers to encourage, strongly encourage private landlords to take that up as a service. So

once we've rolled it out to all the properties then we'll do an extra push on the comms around

encouraging more people to use it. We know that not everyone uses the foodway service

so we want to have a real big push on that. We have also launched a new Flats Above Shops

second collection to make it easier for people to recycle twice a week. That's going fairly

well again that's contributing to cleaner streets but for the new term we'll be looking

towards more comms primarily and just making sure that people are using the services to

their maximum capacity, promoting the wee banks that we've got in libraries and textile

banks as well, and actually the kerbside collection of small electricals. People seem to be well

aware of the drop -off locations but not using that option from the kerbside, so again, making

people aware. We have considered doing some more door knocking, we did that when we rolled

out the new services, but it's really hard to quantify whether it is effective in driving

up recycling. It is very expensive, the company that used to do it, Keep Britain Tidy, have

moved away from doing it, so we're just working on more technological solutions of how we

can target social media to particular areas. Just on the contamination, so yes, we are

always trying to reduce contamination and we do pay considerably for the disposal of

contamination particularly, it is particularly high on estates so we've got a process whereby

if there is a particularly contaminated bank we send letters or text messages to everyone

in that block. Obviously it's really hard to know who was the person who created the

contamination so we have to do some general comms but we are considering doing something

that can a poster that can go up next to the actual bank that's been contaminated that really

draws the attention to it. In addition obviously the new legislation aside of food waste has got

some extra materials that can be recycled from the 1st of April so this will include aerosols which

we previously weren't able to include in the the recycling sack as well as aluminium tubes like

tomato puree tubes and toothpaste tubes.

It's not going to have a huge impact.

Probably lots of people are putting them in

and they're being counted as contamination

at the moment anyway.

But it's a really good way for us to do some extra pushing

of our messages.

We've got something going out with the council tax leaf

to encourage people to recycle more.

And then further down the line,

we'll be looking to trial a soft plastics collection.

So by 2027 we have to have a separate collection. Wandsworth is in quite a good position working

with Western Riverside on this that we have been trialling, collecting it at the sorting

facility in the existing sack. So they've been doing some work pulling out stuff that's

in the sacks already. Obviously this is not a true reflection of how much we might actually

get if we promote the service but that seems to be working reasonably well and

we're optimistic that that might be our long -term solution.

That's excellent news. Well soft plastics are one of the few things that still get

thrown away in my household so it'd be brilliant if we could recycle those as

well. Councillor Caddy. Thank you very much chair. One of the things that we've

of touched on this evening is how important the impact of what we do on

resident behaviour is because obviously you know that's what's going to drive

the biggest savings and particularly I guess things like their transport and

also you know we talked about training on health and I just wondered in this

paper there's not a huge amount of data on how our investment actually improves

the outcomes and I don't know if that's just because it hasn't been included but

But just as an example with the cycling,

obviously we've created lots of cycle hangers.

We've made it much easier to have a bike.

Has that actually had an impact on the number of people

who do use bikes, the number of bike journeys that are done,

and do we record that and track it?

Because I guess it's one thing,

spending money on something that's nice,

but the really important thing is that it has

an impact on the actual outcomes.

So I think we always look to try and evaluate

at the impact of where programmes of work in place.

I think for things like cycling,

that's monitored on a London -wide basis,

so we looked at the GLA for that data

and then it comes out with a lag.

So it's a bit difficult to do that kind of,

we've done extra here and it's resulted

in more people cycling here within like a set amount of time

so we have to wait for the lag.

But we can certainly look to see if we can't incorporate

that in the data that we were looking to bring together.

Councillor White, you wanted to come in on that?

Yeah, I think that the health and the cost of living issues are the biggest drivers behind

this.

It's actually bigger as far as we're concerned than the decarbonisation, I think.

And with the changing of renewable heating systems, for instance, within housing, then

you know, you're removing a lot of the issues around bad air within the house.

and also dampened and mould as well.

So these are all really, really important adaptations

that we got to get to.

And I guess a follow up, I completely agree,

but it would be great to be able to see,

well, there were this level of, this number of flats

that had problems with dampened mould reported in year X,

then subsequent training and work by the department

means that now there's 50 % less, or whatever it might be.

just seeing some of that kind of hard data

so that we can see the effect of the investment

and the effect on people of the interventions

that we're making I think would be really, really helpful.

Yeah, and I think also the impact on the NHS as well,

you know, that less GP appointments

and all that type of stuff

I think would be really, really good as well, yeah.

Yeah, I think it'd be useful possibly

the next committee to maybe get a paper on that

or at least get an update.

Is that being tracked in terms of the recommendations

in the committee?

I think also on that we had Councillor Apps request

for a tracker, is that also in the recommendations?

So we can get an update on how that's progressing.

Councillor Bowne.

Thank you. I was just recalling that there used to be some emphasis on tracking heat loss from housing using helicopters, I think.

but in the days of drones, have we been,

are drones used to try and track areas of,

oh, uneconomic, unfortunate heat loss or anything like that?

I think, yeah, I think I remember that committee

and it was sort of talking, or it was raised,

talking about the infrared, wasn't it, the heat loss?

Yeah, Mr. Ho?

Yes, I think there's some kind of experimental stuff

around drone technology, but I'll pass over

to my colleague, Ali Malvan, to talk about something

we have offered by the Library of Things

to be able to help residents to be able to identify heat loss.

Thanks, Andrew.

Hi, Ali Malvan, policy and programme lead in the climate

change and sustainability team.

As my colleague, Andrew, touched on,

we have offered thermal imaging cameras

to be borrowed from the Library of Things for residents

to cheque their heat loss from their properties.

We offered this over the winter period for free of charge

for 40 residents, I believe,

but I could cheque the exact number.

And just to touch on the trials as well

that I do mention, they do exist.

We have had some conversations via social housing colleagues

on what is available,

but the data sharing has been a limitation

of that project so far,

so we've been quite restricted

on how far we can go with that,

but we are continuing conversations where possible.

Is that data sharing between housing and environment?

That's data sharing of residents' data from what they find from the surveys with the council and the cost of doing that on an annual basis and whether that is value for money for us.

Any other questions from councillors?

Okay, just before we wrap up, again,

can we also have added to the recommendations

about the soft plastic trial,

because I think that's really interesting,

and also as part of that soft plastic collection,

also what we're doing to sort of encourage supermarkets

and other establishments within the borough

to use less soft plastic,

because the best way to stop soft plastic,

again, incinerated is to not have it in the first place.

So I think that'd be a useful update to happen to committee in future.

Yeah, to come back to committee.

Councillor Brooks.

Thank you.

Just on that point you made, I completely agree.

But one thing I was picking up of is the importance of that trial that Ms. Epstein was describing

in avoiding a big change to the way we're collecting recycling from people's homes

to a second bag.

that is absolutely crucial.

So I think if we end up with having residents

having to pre -sort their own recycling,

like happens in so many other parts of the country,

I think you hit recycling enthusiasm quite considerably.

So all strength to that trial that was being described

with that soft plastics collection

within the existing back.

Yeah, I think that's a good point

and there definitely needs to be a limit

to the amount of sorting to make it as easy for residents as possible.

So I look forward to hearing updates on that.

I think that's a really interesting development.

Are there any more from councillors?

Any more points?

Chair, can I just come in on that one?

Of course.

So a number of councils across the country

have been trialling collections of soft plastics up until this point.

And the findings of that report is that if you give them a bag, such as a bread bag to pack soft plastics in, that you do capture more.

So, but obviously, as we said, we don't need to do that because we're already giving them a big bag that it can all go into.

There may be a situation whereby residents are encouraged to still stuff it into bread bag, which is what I do at the moment,

take it to my local supermarket and then put that whole bread bag inside of the normal recycling

sack. But yeah, we certainly don't want to be getting into the business of providing another

single -use sack to collect single -use plastics. It doesn't sort of make sense to do that. So yeah,

I think Wandsworth is in a good position to do that. Definitely. Thank you. Definitely. I think

the idea of having a single -use plastic bag to collect single -use plastic bags would be a bit

It's ironic for residents, so I'd agree on that.

Any more points from Councillors?

Okay, so does the committee note the report,

and are there any more recommendations or input for that?

No, is that noted?

Noted.

Thank you, officers, for your time.

4 Council's Investment into Play Areas, Parks and Open Spaces (Paper No. 26-36)

So we now move on to item number four, which is paper number 26 -36,

which is the council's investment into play areas, parks, and open spaces.

Councillor White, you'd like to start by introducing this?

Yes, please.

Just allow the changing of the seats.

Yeah, and again a wonderful report from officers around our place -based investment, so again, thanks so much.

Green space and infrastructure improve mental and physical health and have shown to reduce health inequalities.

Our leisure infrastructure plan was agreed in February 2025.

We have opened ten sites between 2025 and January 2026.

We have 11 more opening this spring.

A further 30 plus will be finished either this year, 2027 and 2028.

This represents 15 .5 million pound investments in our play areas, with our estates receiving significant investment.

Wandsworth has the highest rate of active children in London, so this money is well spent.

And our Wandsworth moves together plan will seek to get even more people active, with plenty of modern, good quality places to get active and away from screens.

This will also contribute to narrowing the gender gap in participation of women beyond

school age and improving lighting to reduce that barrier as well.

These are no private sector development after four playgrounds recently identified by the

charity London Play, but high quality modern facilities, the result of public authority

investment committed to excellence for their residents. We want Wandsworth to be a place

where every child and young person can access high quality play provision, importantly involving

communities in design and decision making. We have 12 green flags for our parks now, an increase of

140 % since 2022 and our biodiversity action plan will seek to add biodiversity to these projects.

but a balance is struck between recreation and biodiversity.

We will be investing in £600 ,000 in transforming the shooting triangle,

addressing flood resilience, which particularly affects the community space,

upgrading the playground and football pitch,

and supporting the boxing club and community garden also.

With the help of the Football Foundation, £675 ,000 invested in two play zones

at Heathbrook Park and George Shearing Centre.

We are looking for good outdoor gyms and trim trail sites and supporting active travel infrastructure with the aim of realising 60 % of the population within 400 metres of the strategic cycle network by 2030.

These projects are paid through the capital programme, the play strategy and ENSIL.

We will expect tenderers to respect our social value expectations with positive climate change, air quality and carbon reduction outcomes,

and also local employment, skilling and support for our voluntary sector.

This will be underpinned by £1 million a year of improvement to play infrastructure.

Thank you.

Thank you Councillor White.

Councillor Gasser, would you like to come in next?

Thank you.

Good evening everybody and thank you very much for inviting me back to the Environment

Committee.

It's lovely to be here and it's kind of fitting.

It's the end of the term.

I spent three happy years on this committee working with all the fantastic officers.

Mr Chadwick, I'd like you to thank everybody in your team and obviously the climate team

and the air quality team as well.

It's been an amazing four years actually.

It's not always been easy, but we've achieved an awful lot together.

So thank you to absolutely all the officers and all the members of this committee.

There's a lot of constructive criticism and cheering us on as well.

So it's been really good.

So in my current role, obviously, I'm particularly concerned about children.

So this year is the year of play, and that is deliberate alongside the London Borough

Culture Year, because my colleagues, my predecessors in children said, well, it's got to be all

about the children as well.

What are we going to do for the children?

and how do we have a wonderful year of play

and how do we have a legacy from that year of play.

So it has been fabulous.

They've been doing all sorts of things.

There were all sorts of events over the summer.

We had the big play out.

We had all the holiday activity funds.

We had a big launch in the fountain courtyard

with loads of games, children running around,

running amuck in the courtyard.

It was wonderful.

We've done various things from,

I was gonna say cradle to grave.

that's not my thing, cradle to 18.

So we have baby boxes.

So all of our access for all families, having a baby,

they get a lovely baby box.

And it has all the sort of essentials

when you're having a baby.

But we're very focused on play and development.

So it's how does the parents start

to play with their child from the early age.

And that you develop the bonds.

You develop the, what do you say,

the intellect if you like, the social development through play.

And as time goes on as well, we've got our family hubs,

all sorts of support for families and the opportunity to play and learn and develop and have fun.

We've been off the play packs to get into our access for all families across the borough.

And now we're looking particularly at playgrounds.

We have to have the best possible quality playgrounds for our children.

Just get out, have fun, mess around,

and actually get off their phones.

You know, we want the children out having fun, doing things.

So it's all about sports provision,

it's all about play provision,

and I think the officers are gonna talk about

everything that we've been doing.

Thank you.

Thank you, Councillor Gasser.

I believe Mr. Alexander, you're next.

We've actually got a short video.

So I'm Tom Alexander, Assistant Director

of Culture and Leisure, but my colleague Paul

is going to pop up a very short video, 40 seconds, for you to enjoy it.

Yes, I'm Paul Williamson, Play Strategy Programme Manager. Thank you, Tom. This is our commonplace

landing page where we have all the information about the year of play

and we're going to start with a few children who are a bit further down in this little video.

Let's play and make new friends!

Play is a fundamental part of childhood. It's how children develop skills, build relationships

and make sense of the world around them. Through our year of play, we're making a clear commitment.

Every child in Wandsworth should have access to high quality play, whether in schools,

parks, libraries, youth centres or family hubs. We're working with partners across the

to improve local play spaces, increase opportunities for free, inclusive play

and support communities to create more welcoming environments for children to

play safely and confidently.

Okay and we've got a short hopefully slide deck to run through with you to

summarise some of the highlights of the year which Paul will bring up now. While he's

I just want to reiterate the point.

It's been a real collaborative effort.

You'll see in the paper reference to various departments

but I don't want to miss out some of our partners

in the voluntary sector

and also the fact that we've done

various bits of co -production with young people

and other users of parks and open spaces too.

If we move through the slides

and I'll hand over to Paul about halfway through.

We know this is a significant investment

and that means we take play seriously.

We want to create opportunities for people to connect.

We want to have opportunities for people to get off their sofas

and come out and enjoy the weather when that allows.

We want to make sure that we are working together,

as I said, with our partners,

but also with the local health economy,

because we want to be able to evaluate whether this stuff

is actually working and helping our residents.

We've got quite an active borough already, one of the most active,

but there are certain cohorts that we need to focus time on.

And we also want to make sure that we are picking off a number of challenges at the same time.

So you'll see a reference to the strategic alignment between the steps with public health,

the play in Monta's strategy and of course the Monta's move strategy.

But there are other things that we're trying to help with as well around biodiversity and climate change etc.

Hopefully this will be fairly familiar to people.

So this is first the Marmot review.

and the importance of being able to bring people together in spaces to stay physically well,

but also, and as COVID showed us, being mentally well and socially connected.

So I'm not going to read through all the slides. I think people will know this, it's well rehearsed,

but we are finding that more and more young people that were in the COVID generation

are not as connected to nature as previous generations.

So it's been really good to try and bring them back into those spaces.

and also obviously the win -win of getting people travelling

in more sustainable ways is something that's on our agenda too.

The importance of play, I think, is well understood again.

It's really striking how many people now think

that there are less children playing out, as we used to call it, I think,

than in our day.

So that's something that we want to try and challenge.

I'm not sure that's always necessarily the case,

but let's try and create the opportunities.

But we know that a fundamental part of being a flourishing

and productive human being is learning to play.

You know, there are now schemes to try and reconnect adults

with the idea of playing,

because actually there's not enough playing being done,

and try and have a bit more fun in life.

So we are very keen to support that where possible.

And then there were a few achievements, so we did commit to some interesting numbers

around trying to get 18 projects done, we're ahead of that.

We're up to 21.

I think it was mentioned earlier on because we are so collaborative with our colleagues

that went on before us, the green flags.

We've got five new spaces that have got green flags this year.

And we have some soft play at Puckley which in an interesting way we had young people

in there playing in it.

We then observed what they were doing to help us design what will go in there on a more permanent basis.

So genuine live co -production which we were quite pleased with.

And an aside, some really good news about biodiversity.

More places where we are actively managing the sites and increasing the amount of habitats.

More people volunteering and helping us understand what the local environment is made up of and how it is changing.

and more species identified, hopefully more species attracted to our areas as well

because of good care and management.

So some key things, it's already been mentioned, a significant amount of money into our initiatives

and plenty more to come.

We are ahead of target in terms of what we wanted to complete before the end of this

financial year in March and there are a number of play projects in the pipeline by the end

of May 2028, it's a good spread across the borough.

It doesn't feel, when I look at the maps,

there's a cold spot.

And we are starting to see, so captured up there,

there's a quote from somebody who is a volunteer

on the top left -hand side.

One of our partner agencies on the bottom there,

and then a local resident reminiscing about improvements

and getting back in touch with a loved one.

So we're really keen, that's not the only positive feedback

we've had but we're really keen to build on that and Andrew, I'm sorry Paul will talk

a little bit about the commonplace feedback and engagement we've had too.

This is a really exciting site so I suspect people know the area on Tooting

Common it looks a bit dilapidated it's going to be really really interesting

because it's going to be a space that allows active play, connexion with the

environment and nature, learning and also hopefully somewhere not far from there to

get a decent cup of coffee.

So we're really excited about this because it's a large scale project in an area where

we know people spend a lot of time but maybe not, they don't stick around there as long

as maybe we want them to.

So this is our response to that.

The next example is just a summary of some of the work we've done on housing estates.

There's been some complete refits of some of the playgrounds,

some of them are new instals.

And the one I particularly like is the Bullock House one,

which is themed around safe travel, transport, etc.

So, again, an educational element to some of that as well,

and well received as far as we know so far.

And then an example of some work with schools.

So we're not just looking at houses, states and open spaces.

Particularly beneficial, hopefully, to young people

with special educational needs too.

So this is an example of where we've tried

to enhance the programme.

There's a sensory area up in the top left

that you can see, so not an open outdoor space,

but an indoor play space.

I'm gonna pass over to Paul now,

he's gonna take you through some more.

Thank you, Tom.

So just a little bit more on Falkenbrooke,

because it's in the Regen area,

and we're also developing open access play,

linked partly to the primary school but also in the wider community.

So there's open access play on a Saturday.

This is the active kids programme so it's linking in with the places leisure initiative there.

And also Winstanley is one of the areas where we will have play rangers who will support all of those activities.

So they will be really reaching out to those communities who are less likely to become engaged in play and really encourage them.

There's also a holiday activity fund programme in every holiday at the school and that will be underpinned by a community use agreement.

We're also working with four other schools to develop those community use agreements linked to playground projects and community access.

Here are two major new playgrounds in the Roehampton area on the Alton Estate.

They're really remarkable new spaces, very exciting and newly open access in the case

of the Alton Activity Centre, completely refurbished with a building that the voluntary sector

are going to deliver a whole range of services

from both for children in the community

but also for children with SCN.

There's an additional project at Roehampton Family Hub

where we're getting a new youth and play facility

which is actually opening next week.

And that has indoor and outdoor play.

Again, completely inclusive for children

with additional needs.

so there will be lots of targeted work with different groups there.

And these two, the Alton activity and Downshift Fields will be opening by the summer.

So I think we're truly going to be able to create a much more playable neighbourhood

in one of our key target areas in Roehampton.

This is a lovely project which is the Kenber Skate Park.

hasn't been refurbished for a long period of time.

There are hundreds of young people that use Kimber Skate Park every year

and they are absolutely stoked about having the new facilities to board on.

And this one is finishing next week and will be opening next month with an opening event.

And actually it will be open for half term, but the opening event is next month.

Just quickly on our play strategy, I think as was said earlier, we really want every

family to be within walking distance of a high quality play space.

And we're investing throughout the borough and trying to make sure we get that good quality

everywhere.

It outlines all of our target groups and all of the partners that we're working with, from

planning, to transport, to environment, to public health.

Everyone has been incredible at getting involved

in developing the strategy.

Councillor Gasson mentioned the play packs a bit earlier.

We had a very successful pilot with seven schools in Battersea

where we reached 100 % of our eligible families, which

we didn't expect to do.

Well, at least the schools said they reached 100%.

So it was definitely close to 100%.

And we are on the back of that, we will have distributed to all 5 ,000 access for all eligible families by the end of next month.

And we've developed a specific SEND play pack which will go to all of our children in SEN units,

where we've replaced some of the harder objects and the fabric markers, etc.,

with more sensory items and more appropriate items for children with SEN.

These are just some results.

The ratings that school gave to the play packs and their play value.

And families reported that 63 % reported their children played more often

once they received the play packs.

And 56 % reported that they played more often with their children.

and that their children were much less likely to be on screens

once they'd received the play packs.

But we're going to do a lot more detailed study

when we do the rollout

and hopefully get more evidence to build on

because it is a unique project in England and Wales.

There's no other local authorities doing play packs in the same way.

We've got the 10x10 programme

which encourages young people to do 10 different activities by the age of 10 and also a 10 by teen programme.

And what that does is give them a directory of everything that's on locally in Wandsworth,

which is affordable and accessible.

And that's been publicised through 70 different use settings and all of our schools, primary and secondary.

And again, the 10 by teen, there are 10 by 10 programmes elsewhere,

but the 10 by 10 one is unique for Wandsworth and as was mentioned earlier all of this is having an impact we are

We our children are the most active children in London at 56 point

6 % doing more than one hour a week

These are some of our figures over 8 ,000 children and adults attended the big play out and our three family fun days

We've got three playrangers being recruited across Winstanley and Alton.

We have an incredible number of children attending the holiday and activity food programme

and it's seen as best practise nationally.

And it's been fantastic how many of our residents are accessing the information on the Common Place site.

So that's the end.

It's a real privilege to be involved with the play strategy in Wandsworth.

and it's great that everybody is contributing so much.

Thank you to cabinet members and officers for that

really encouraging presentation.

Councillor Apps, would you like to come in?

Thank you very much.

Another excellent report.

As somebody who grew up in the Highlands,

I can confirm it's possible to play in the rain.

Maybe not the rain and the cold.

I just wanted to come back to, I think it's really good to think about it in terms of having these kinds of areas which are really developed,

where families can go for fun, but I think it's really important that children can play on their doorstep as well.

And a couple of things about that, there's lots of things you could say about the Patmore and Savona states

in terms of the building has some difficulty in terms of making sure that we keep them

really energy efficient. However, from a point of view of play, for example, they're really

well configured. They're kind of housing that overlook play areas and green spaces.

And I really feel like we need to think as a borough, we ought to be assessing every

neighbourhood and looking at its play capacity.

I was in West Hill at the weekend and one of the things there was that there were areas

where there was a cul -de -sac so that meant there was more play there than there would

be on a street and those are things that you can build in.

But the other thing I would just like to say is I have actually been lobbied by residents

to discourage play in streets because they find it annoying and which I

completely understand you know it's difficult you know if if you're not used

to that and it's something where culture has changed so people no longer expect

it but I think we do need to kind of as a borough really encourage everybody to

welcome play albeit it has to be appropriate and children should be in at

a decent time at night etc so just your thoughts on how we make sure that play

is we have these really excellent play areas,

but we also have the everyday play,

as it should be part of every child's everyday experience.

Yeah, I think it's a very good point,

and that's why you need to look at all aspects of play

when you're looking at it,

and I think we've got a fairly integrated approach

with the strategy.

Part of it is about changing the culture, isn't it?

And that's why the promotional side of it is so important,

getting leaflets out to families.

And I know that housing colleagues are working really hard

with people on estates to try and encourage them

to use the different community facilities there.

Sometimes that does come up against real challenges.

I know there's an aim to remove all the no ballgame signs,

but sometimes residents have very genuine concerns.

You know, if someone's kicking a ball against your wall

all day long. You know, you have to have a balance and you have to have a way of dealing

with it. But I suppose it's that cultural thing and also making sure those doorstep

spaces are really good and they will then attract people to play in nice environments.

I think the Neighbourhood Community Infrastructure Levy funding has really given housing the

opportunity to make a big difference on the estates. Probably the first time they've had

that level of resource to really make those play spaces good quality.

So hopefully that will really attract families so that it becomes a social place for them to play.

And then there's less likelihood of it becoming anti -social or becoming difficult for other residents.

Councillor Caddy.

Thank you, Chair.

Yeah, I mean, firstly, when I read the report, I thought it was a really, really impressive

document and, you know, all the things that we're doing are extremely beneficial for our

young people.

But actually, listening to your presentation and watching those slides, it really does

bring it home, just how important it is.

And I couldn't, you know, couldn't agree with you more in terms of the fundamental

benefit for children of accessing these facilities. So my comments now are sort of in the light

of that. I think it's fantastic. But then I've just got two questions. One is I think

there's a lot here for the younger children and you can see with the 10 to teen that there

are things for the older children. But as a parent of a teenage boy, 14 year old boy,

you know, they're sort of a bit more independent and one of the things that he would love to

and does sometimes go and do, is kicking around on the common with his friends.

And if I'm honest, it's been very difficult recently,

and particularly last summer, and it's started to happen again.

There are gangs of youths that pick on, essentially, often teenage boys,

steal their phones, that don't treat them very nicely.

And I, as a mum, am really concerned about my son going out

and meeting his friends on his own.

And I would love him to and he would love to and we do let them do it.

But you have to be really sort of careful and I'm concerned about it and I know other parents are.

And I just wondered if there was any work being done across the council particularly with community safety.

In terms of trying to make sure that some of these parks and playgrounds and spaces where teenage boys just want to go.

Are not being essentially predated on by other teenage boys,

often a bit older who you know really really are sort of committing crimes and

that would be I guess my first comment and then my second comment and I'm not

sure there's an easy answer to this but a lot of the football matches and rugby

matches that sort of not just matches training as well that is scheduled for

the weekend so I know it's been a ridiculous month of rain but they're

just continuously cancelled and I wondered if there was any any sort of

plan in place to try and improve some of the drainage on the pitches or get

Alternative provisions because I know you know boys football match it well

Not just boys boys and girls football matches have all been cancelled the trainings cancelled and people can't use our our commons because they're so wet

Okay, so on the

Point about crime absolutely noted and we are

Working with the Community Safety Partnership

So parks police is also in my area and we are trying to do evidence -led patrols to Trump pick up exactly some of that

So we've heard about that one.

And we've got tasking sheets which explain where we're going.

If there are particular issues, then please let me know,

because it just all helps.

The other thing we're doing at the moment,

we've asked our colleagues in FM to review lighting

in a number of our large parks,

because we're aware that some of the lamps are out.

So you'll see, particularly King George's and Battersea,

there's a whole programme of trying to sort those out,

which helps in some ways.

It also attracts more people,

because it's light, so it's that balance.

And the other bit is, which we're trying to do

really through sports development teams,

is educate people, and Paul's services

will know more about this,

that having young boys hang around in parks

isn't a reason for their, you know, that's not crime,

that's young boys hanging around in parks.

And unfortunately, there is a kind of public perception

about that, which is difficult,

which we're trying to work with our leisure operation

and our sports development teams

to try and bust the myth a bit.

But I suspect colleagues and children

are doing more on that.

So Paul, do you want to say that frog on to the next one?

Yes, I mean, we at Community Safety are involved with the play strategy and in the regeneration

areas we have funding for play ranges, we are trying to secure some funding borough -wide

for that as well, and where we have them, part of the idea is that where there's antisocial

behaviour, we try and get community ownership of the space, we use the play

ranges to start running sessions and hopefully that changes the balance. But

it's, of course, it's a real challenge, you know, it's a major issue with

community safety and sometimes needing to involve the police in some of

those discussions. But there are community safety teams working in

every area and we do engage with them. And of course that needs to be part

of a wider youth strategy and thinking about how all the elements work together for a new

strategy.

On access, there are quite a few multiuse games areas in the plans.

We're working with the Football Foundation.

Clearly the artificial pitches are accessible for more of the time and it's about making

them available as much as possible.

I can't really talk on about the drainage in parts, but yeah.

I'll get the exciting one on drainage.

So we have invested just under one and a half million

across the last three years on drainage

across a number of sites, and actually we've seen

some quite considerable reduction in cancelation.

So it was over 20 % about three years ago,

was down to about 3 % last year.

However, this year is different,

and I don't think we're gonna see the same.

But it's good news, hopefully longer term.

There is a bit of funding left over, so we are looking at some sites.

So ones with Colin on the Bolingbroke Road side, because we know there are challenges there.

Fishponds and Garrett Green are the ones we're looking at, which we think have still got remaining problems around drainage.

Councillor Wight, you wanted to come in on the pictures as well?

Yeah, thanks for that. So I think it was only one weekend, I think last year was called off.

But this year, there's only one weekend that's been on, I think.

It's just been an incredibly bad winter as far as rain's concerned, I don't think anyone can blame the standard of pitch.

But I think that we still need to invest money, I think you're right, in our pitches.

We're also identifying sites for all weather pitches as well.

That won't obviously take the capacity from all the football pitches that are called off,

but at least there could possibly be availability there.

And of course with good all -weather pitches that you could play four or five games on them a day,

and it wouldn't have that much impact.

So, yeah, we are recognising this.

We are moving towards a strategy of ensuring that there are excellent quality football pitches.

We do have some examples of excellence, I think, in football pitches in the borough.

In Wimbledon Common, it's part of Wandsworth, part of Wimbledon Common, we've got some excellent pitches down there

that are run from the money that people pay for the, I can't remember what it's called,

but the Richardson Evans football ground is actually subsidised from the conservators.

Yeah, yeah, I don't like saying conservators because it's very close to another word.

I don't use that often.

But, so yeah, I mean, we have excellence and I think that we need to move towards more of that.

I think there are schools, for instance, that have really excellent facilities as well.

We visited one of the schools down in Roehampton and we're negotiating with them at the moment

about trying to get that opened up as well because I think a lot of facilities, private

facilities, and we have a lot of private schools in the borough, a lot of them remain closed

on Sunday.

Very active on Saturday, but not very active on Sunday.

So if we can get them open as well, that would add to capacity as well.

Councillor Kirk.

Thank you.

Just a quick question on green flag page 21 paragraph 10.

Just curious, presumably we apply for this status.

And I'm just wondering about the criteria,

because quite a few of the new ones seem to be fairly small.

So presumably size has got nothing to do with it.

Bessie Park was the first and is consistently there.

So just curious, how do we decide,

Assuming we we take the decision to apply for the state

Yeah, I mean I think it some of it is in recognition of where we got good community input into the area

And so someone like fishponds would be a recognition piece

Some of it where we've seen particular impacts either in the biodiversity or the some of the other measures and it might be

There areas which we know historically people have had a bit of a frown when they talk about those places actually

have been improved.

So size certainly isn't one of those.

It is more about the diversity and the biodiversity

improvements that we're making in those places.

Councillor Osborne.

Yes, just the risk of pontificating the committee

just one more time.

I will be as brief as I can.

And I do think it's important to note a lesson in the paper,

which is what can be achieved, and I think it's quite astonishing.

By the way, I know that Councillor Apps has done a lot of work on this at cabinet level.

What can be achieved by a project which cuts across numerous different elements of the council.

Environment, children's, housing, public health,

agencies like ENABLE bringing contributions together from all those

different areas in order to create a very important project for the council.

I think that's quite striking in this paper and we should note it as a committee.

And Councillor White, you want to come in on that point?

Yeah, I think merging the two departments, environment and housing, there's a lot of

crossovers going to assist in this as well. I'm just sorry, I forgot to mention

something as well about the green flags as well.

The places where we've achieved green flags are also, they have really brilliant community

groups that are really active and they bring them up to a higher standard as well.

So I think that's really, really important to encourage that, that the various MACs and

the various Friends of groups are a real asset and we're really, really lucky to have them

in the borough.

Councillor Laps. Thank you and thank you Councillor Osborne I thought that was going to be a lot longer.

I wanted to do a bit of a parochial business I'm afraid I hope you'll forgive me.

Just I've been looking at I'm incredibly excited in the schedule of improvements and also new

additions but clearly there's some we all look to see what's happening in our

own wards and in my own ward I'm so in fact so excited and and Councillor

Dickenden was so involved in getting the set up but the Oasis green space is

gonna be fantastic and I noticed it's kind of starting I think this sort of

September and then finishing like the beginning of next September's the plan I

thought oh if we could just curtail that so we could just get some of the summer

holidays in that would be amazing. I know it's better to be maybe realistic

and not promise things that you can't necessarily deliver but if there is any

way to push that sort of truncate that timetable I think that'd be so

appreciated by families nearby. There's also you know the Latchmere Road

recreation ground obviously it's scheduled finish in August there's a big

difference between 1st of August and 30th of August for local families so

just that would be another one where if we can push that on that be great. And

similarly with the multi games area in Dunstan Road. Um, so just I know that

the team has worked incredibly hard to try and get everything ready for some

holidays where possible, but just some local please, um, to just particularly

on the Oasis, I think, because it's going to be such a such a good

investment in families that really do lack much green space at the moment.

Thank you.

Mr Alexander, do you want to come in on that?

Yeah, absolutely noted and the team will be relentless in trying to bring as much money

forward as possible, frankly, because, you know, the last thing we want to do is get

into the really boiling hot weather, frankly, to be out there doing work.

So I'm happy to do that.

Okay, Mr White.

I think it must be said as well that Heathbrooke, that the team are going to bust every record

to get Heathbrook ready for the summer.

This is where I think I would introduce a degree of realism though, because every project

has its parochial council of course, so there's only so much the team can do, you send an

enormous list of projects that are being delivered. So we'll do our very best, but resource -wise

we can't absolutely promise these faster timescales, that you're all understandably

encouraging.

Thank you for that injection of realism.

It's a pleasure.

Councillor Jeffries.

Thank you, Chair.

There is, following on from Councillor Abst's point about Appendix B, there's a lot in the

pipeline which is really great, but naturally there is some sort of overlap between the

and I guess sort of for context,

the Wandsworth Park playground refurbishment

in my own ward, which is very important

for my own two little stakeholders,

did suffer from quite a long delay

in getting that over the line.

So I'm keen to understand how this overlapping project point,

how that all gets handled, how that's managed,

relationships with contractors, it would be great to hear a bit more about that.

So moving forward, we have a dedicated capital programme team now set up in Culture and Leisure,

which means we have a little bit more resource to help with some of that.

They will be there to manage those relationships.

This timeline, as with all of these things, will be subject to change.

What we need to do is be mindful of where we have already consulted and where residents have an expectation.

What we are trying to do, if you spot any areas that are problematic, we are trying to make sure that geographically people don't lose out on two things within the same place.

That mapping is being undertaken, or has been undertaken, but it is under review.

We are very mindful that there are certain things that have been on the burner for a while so we need to make sure they get delivered.

The other point that the team will pick up is around how we try and consolidate and get

best value because obviously we want to make that money go as far as possible and where

we've got people or contractors that can geographically do things.

Some of that plays into it, so sometimes it might feel as if they're a bit close together,

but actually it's a purely financial decision to try and get them to do a patch of work.

Councillor Brooks.

We're back.

Thank you very much.

Just about wider than just play, several of the Friends of groups in MAX have asked about

whether the wider schedule of work that's going to be planned for those parks, both

as definitely coming and as wish lists, might be made publicly available and or shared with

the Friends groups and MAX.

In some cases this is because there could be an opportunity for the Friends groups and

to find alternative resources to bring that forwards.

But that's not something I don't think we do right now

according to those friends groups and matters.

So if that could be done, and those sorts of,

I'm talking wider than that table,

including a wish list of things that's not begun work on,

but the council are looking to do in the future.

I think that they're just looking to avoid

a duplication and try and see what is a long way in the future that they might like to

bring forward themselves and maybe save the council the problem.

Does that all make sense?

Yeah, and that's a useful point and we should definitely have that noted down in the minutes

of recommendation.

Did anyone else have any points or recommendations?

Yeah, just a quick one is, really welcome that.

It should go through enable,

the people who are managing the parks areas,

so please raise, because any ideas around that every time,

and if there's a challenge with that,

then come to me and we'll see what's going on.

I think on the enable part,

I think because of the changes that have happened

with enable in the last 12 months,

whereas it all used to be quite clear

who they had to go to, I think with this change,

there's emerged a lack of clarity,

where some of the friends and Max were less sure of who's talked to and there was a worry

about requests and attempts to contact people being missed and falling through the cracks.

So I think there might be a piece of work there just to make sure that everyone is talking

to each other and that there's no sort of silo communication now with the change that's

been made.

I will put that up.

Any other further points from Councillors?

Okay.

So is the paper noted?

Yes.

Congratulations to officers for the paper and thank you for your time.

Next, we'll enter agenda item number five, which is paper number 26 -37.

5 Committee Action Tracker (Paper No. 26-37)

This is the committee action tracker.

This is a new item that I think after the election and when we start coming back to

committee this will be a more recurring item so we can see what the committee's recommended.

Are you heading off now?

Before you leave, Councillor Kirk, I was hoping to do it right at the end, but since you've

been on the committee a long time and you've been a cabinet member and you're standing

down, I was just wondering if you wanted to say a couple of words before you left, since

we're in between agenda items.

Yes, it's been very rewarding to be involved in lots of things this committee has done

over the years.

So, yes, Mr. Chadwick and then predecessors and many of the people around this table.

So, no, it's been very good.

Thank you.

Thanks for the opportunity.

Yes.

Thank you so much for your service.

So action trackers. So yeah this is going to be a more of a current item as we go

through the future just keeping track of what the committee's asked for and the

officers response to that. So did any councillors have any points to make on

the action tracker. Councillor Belton. Thank you. I'd like an update really on the one

on page 36, the first one about Weybridge Point. The cabinet member will know because

I write to him every second hour about Weybridge Point. I've got constituents living right

next to it and just for a bit of background because of the nature of the block, they don't

live in the block but the block right next to them which is 15 storeys or something like

that and it has cladding problems so it's got, it's had scaffolding all around, not

scaffolding, fencing off all around the bottom of it ever since the beginning before this

Council took over in 22 and I kind of had a promise I'm going to get rid of that if I can

and four years later, it's still there and

right outside of the Ford dust enormous great dust bins and almost permanently

Massive fly tipping and it's right outside these

these folks front door

And they get a little bit bored of it and I get a little bit bored of it and possibly the cabinet member gets a bit

board with me, he was writing to him.

So I'm really keen on whether there's any particular

advance there.

I believe Miss Epstein isn't online anymore,

but Councillor White, did you want to come in?

Yeah, sorry, Tony.

We should have taken this paper first, shouldn't we?

Unfortunately, Miss Epstein isn't here.

As you know, we've been trying to deal with this,

and it is a terrible blight on the local area.

As I say, we are looking into it and we will get on top of it eventually.

But it's something that needs to be sorted.

So if you write to me again, Tony...

Of course it does overlap with your previous role of yours.

One of the main problems, of course, is taking forever to resolve cladding on all sorts of blocks everywhere.

This one's one of them.

But as I say, I'll get in contact with Natasha tomorrow, not the morning, but tomorrow later on.

And I'll get some clarity on the cladding point from colleagues as well.

Great, that would be useful. Councillor Osborne.

Yeah, two items in the action tracker. The first one very, very dear to my heart is the progress

on the rollout of mini museums in libraries. We have one in Wandsworth Town and I think one in

two of the three family centres, one in each of two of the three family centres. I am pleased to

see that there is progress in Putney and we're talking about the cabinets, the display cabinets

and the space for them. I understand there's a discussion going on about the various types of

paint that will be needed to where they're being installed and so on. So it's great that there's

progress and I'm delighted. I think I have to say I am disappointed that the progress is so slow

in that particular area of work and would want that recorded here.

I'm not really looking for an answer on it or anything in particular,

but I do want to put a marker down at this committee.

And secondly, a parochial point about Greaves Place in Tooting Broadway Ward,

where again, almost exactly the same, I can see that there has been a degree of progress,

But I am frustrated at how slow we are at clearing the way for pedestrians and children

and families and so on to get from the main road to the entrance to our leisure centre.

I know that some work is being done and I know that there are improvements, but it is

so heartbreakingly slow that again, I think a marker should be put down at this committee

about that.

I'm not looking for answers particularly, but I'm keen that that matter is resolved

with a bit more speed than it is at the moment.

Thank you.

Absolutely, and yeah, definitely happy to note that and keep tracking that in the action

and future action trackers and get a note updated on you once we get anything.

Councillor Caddy.

Thank you, Chairs.

It's not directly relating to the action tracker, but I can't leave this evening without mentioning

it and raising it.

It was one of the things that I wanted to talk about at this meeting, which is essentially

the financial challenge that we find ourselves with.

I think it's really important for this Committee going forward to take a much more detailed

interest in how we make savings in this Department, because the financial settlement that the

out our discretionary spending completely.

And I don't think at the moment anyone has grasped the mettle of even considering how

we're going to start to cut our cloth to suit our means.

And I really think it's something that this committee and the whole council will need

to focus on.

So I would like to see that on this agenda going forward.

Yeah, I think it will be something that will definitely get picked up in the future committees

and especially after the election when we have more of an idea of what political direction

as well that the council is going in as well and then I'm sure those conversations will

come up very soon.

Just to come back on that, I completely agree, of course, the decision will have to be made

after the election, that there's a huge amount of work that goes on behind the scenes by

and I think you know the sooner that starts the sooner those those savings

are going to be able to be made so I would just counsel that that actually

that that starts right now because we know what the settlement is going to be

and we know it's it's it's dreadful and we know we're gonna have to make

enormous savings which you're gonna have a an enormous effect on the services

that we're able to deliver as well as the level of council taxes that's levied

and I just think it would be irresponsible for the council not to address this immediately

and put in place measures now that we know are going to have to happen.

Councillor White, did you want to come back to that?

Well, the council takes it as you know is frozen this year so...

Which makes the need for cuts even more important.

Well, the thing is that that's the settlement that we have and the financial situation that faces us this year.

and going on to the following years, there is a period of time where these situations might change.

We don't know yet, so all we can do is really pitch it every year.

And at the moment we've got really good reserves, we're in a really good position financially.

So, you know, at the moment there is no news from that front, really.

I mean, I would have to come back and say that I think that is a completely irresponsible

attitude because we know that the settlement is not going to change.

It's been given to us until 2030.

It's absolutely behaving on the Council and the administration to start considering what

the financial position of this Council will be over the coming years.

And those kind of cuts and those kind of financial impacts are not ones that can be quickly dealt

with so they need to be put in train now and they need to be started now and I think it's

deeply irresponsible to do anything else.

No cuts planned and no increases in the council tax plan.

It should gladden your heart.

How can you say that in the context of the settlements?

That's mad.

Seriously?

Because the council taxpayers of Wandsworth will not pay any more council tax this year.

How do you square that with the settlement?

Sorry, you've taken us here with this really odd, facetious, sort of smug attitude to this,

but in response to what Councillor Kelly was saying,

but if the council is losing 89 million pounds of funding from its core funding

from the government how can you say there is no council tax increases coming

and no savings coming? Because we do a budget yearly and there are no council

tax increases this year and there are no cuts this year. No no. That's and the

thing is if you want to take it though I think the Finance Committee is next week

So if you want to attend the finance community and sort more...

You're being deliberately obtuse, Councillor White.

I'm not being obtuse because that is the situation that we have at the moment.

There is no change.

Have you not seen the settlement?

What am I going to tell you?

That we've got plans for billions of pounds of cuts.

We haven't.

Have we got any plans to raise council tax?

We haven't.

So there's nothing to report as far as that's concerned.

I'm sure officers are still going to be looking at every point in how to best be efficient

with our money.

We've managed to make savings, for example, thanks to food waste collections, and that

was one good particular initiative, and we're going to be still looking for best ways.

We don't want to spend money unnecessarily.

Probably we want to run a good budget and every year that I've been in the committee,

we've been pretty much on budget and I don't see why that wouldn't continue.

Councillor Belton?

I think it's reasonable for opposition to make that point in a general sense.

I think they're being a little bit blind.

Perhaps they haven't had time to look at the finance papers yet, but they will see in the finance papers, which I got yesterday.

So I think they're public and available.

45 million of saving in one particular area,

for instance, talking about a figure of, I think you said,

18, 9, whatever it was, there's 45 million.

Now, that's being worked on.

And I know, because I know, and people close to the cabinet,

even if not in it and don't do know that the cabinet are working hard on it as you would expect and

There are things in train, but it wouldn't be appropriate for them to talk about those in great detail

But you know, there are actual savings not cuts but savings like the 45 million and we'll be working on it

I'm sure you'll be working on similar ideas too if you're in a position to put them into interaction and

And forgive me, Chair, just to jump in, it would have been great if we could have had

some reassurances and some debates about these very points at the last full council meeting,

as I think has always historically been the case, instead of being assured that these

discussions are going on between cabinet members and at some point, you know, we'll,

don't worry about it, we'll be reassured in due course. I just don't think that cuts the mustard.

I'm sure you're aware that we are going to be having a special meeting or some kind of

interpolation with our full council in which we are going to be discussing exactly that.

The point is definitely noted about making sure that our officers are always identifying

savings and making sure that we're running as lean a budget as possible.

And I think that's the main point that was relevant to the Environment Committee.

Were there any more points from councillors?

No? Okay. So does the committee note the report? Noted. Great. So that's all the substantive

items on the agenda. I would just want to finish as this is my last environment committee

as chair. I wanted to start off firstly by thanking everyone that served on the committee

with me. We already said we already embarrassed Councillor Kirk. Time to

embarrass a few more. I think Councillor Jeffries and Councillor Caddy you're

both stepping down in the next election too. I think Councillor French who isn't

here is also stepping down so thank you for your contributions to the committee.

It is really appreciated and compared to the occasional cesspit of full council I

I think this has been one of the most positive committees in terms of discussion and actually trying to come together on some consensus.

So I do really appreciate your attitude and your spirit and I hope that continues with the new chair and the new set.

So thank you for your time.

Thank you.

And I think we should thank Councillor Colclyse as well.

This is his last meeting and his last time as chair.

and thanks for doing such a brilliant job.

And keeping us all in order and making us such a light hearted time.

Thank you.

And I also wanted to thank the officers as well who have been really productive.

They've been doing incredible work the last four years.

My main dream when I got elected was to get through race collections

and it's so good to see the work that officers have done to help roll that out.

Same with a park run in Battersea Park,

those were my two personal favourites.

So the whole team is brilliant

and it's been a real pleasure working with them.

And finally, most importantly, I wanted to thank Callum

because he does about 90 % of the work

and then I just sit here and do the talking.

So it's really appreciated.

You've done a fantastic job

and you've been such a good aid to me and to the committee.

So thank you for you as well

and definitely a round of applause.

I think that's enough self -congratulating now, so thank you everyone for your service.

Best of luck in your own election campaigns and best of luck for the future.

Thank you everyone.

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Environment Overview and Scrutiny Committee - Thursday 12 February 2026, 7:30pm - Wandsworth Council Webcasting

Environment Overview and Scrutiny CommitteeThursday, 12th February 2026 at 7:30pm

Agenda

Slides

Transcript

Map

Resources

Twitter

Forums

Speakers

Feedback

Votes

2 Declarations of Interest

3 Update on the Delivery of the Wandsworth Environment and Sustainability Strategy (Paper No. 26-35)

4 Council's Investment into Play Areas, Parks and Open Spaces (Paper No. 26-36)

5 Committee Action Tracker (Paper No. 26-37)

Environment Overview and Scrutiny Committee
Thursday, 12th February 2026 at 7:30pm