The West Ham Park Committee met to discuss the park's budget for 2026/27, and to receive an update on the park's activities. The committee was also scheduled to discuss a proposal for the Natural Environment Charities Review grant funding model. Some of these discussions were scheduled to take place in a non-public session.

Budget 2026/27

The committee was scheduled to review and approve the proposed draft revenue budget for the West Ham Park charity for 2026/27, prior to its submission to the Finance Committee. The proposed budget for West Ham Park amounts to £2.640 million net expenditure, which represents an increase of £310,000 compared with the original budget for 2025/26.

The proposed budget for 2026/27 was prepared within the resource envelope allocated to each Chief Officer by the Resource Allocation Sub-Committee, including a 3% inflationary increase, contingency funding relating to the pay award effective from July 2024, and increases in employer's national insurance. The charity's core grant for 2026/27 also includes funding for the transfer of support services staff at West Ham Park, whose costs were previously met by the directorate.

The report pack reframes the proposed budget to show net expenditure as grant funding from the City's Estate for 2026/27, broken down according to the individual elements of the grant:

• Core Grant
• City Surveyor Works
• Corporate Recharges
• Support Services
• Central Risk Expenditure

The report pack also included a summarised version of the budget for the charity, set out in the format of the Statement of Financial Activities (SOFA) in line with best practice for the financial reporting of charities.

As part of the move to the Grant Funding model, the charity's total proposed grant funding from the City's Estate amounts to £2.459 million for 2026/27, an increase of £212,000 (9.43%) compared with the 2025/26 original budget.

The committee was also scheduled to review and approve capital and supplementary revenue project budgets for West Ham Park for 2026/27 for submission for approval by the Finance Committee.

Cyclical Works Programme

The report pack detailed the budgets held and proposed for the City Surveyor's Cyclical Works Programme (CWP) and building repairs and maintenance:

Capital Projects

The report pack included the latest estimated costs of the current approved Capital and Supplementary Revenue Projects, summarised below:

Staffing

Analysis of the movement in staff related costs was included in the report pack:

Assistant Director's Report

The committee was scheduled to receive a report from the Executive Director, Environment, providing an update on matters relating to West Ham Park since the last committee meeting on 23 October 2025¹. The report covered the four strategic themes of the West Ham Park Management Plan (2025-2035):

• Caring
• Excellence
• Inclusion
• Community

Caring

The report pack noted that the long grass areas would have their final cut by mid-November, after the later-flowering species have gone to seed, to continue with management of long grass areas and to increase biodiversity within the Park. Hedge cutting began in October after the end of bird-nesting season. The internal hedges around the lodges, bandstand, tennis courts, outdoor gym, nursery and leaf yard are being reduced to maintain sightlines, and the perimeter hedges will be cut in the new year. Lawn renovations around the rose gardens and the ribbon beds were completed in October, including hand-spiking, de-thatching re-seeding and top-dressing.

Following concerns expressed at the last committee meeting over the recent planting on the Mound Project, the report pack stated that the species used was Buddleia davidii - Black Knight, due to its ability to attract and provide a nectar source for a wide variety of butterflies, moths and other pollinators, and for its late summer flowers. The shrubs around the mounds will be included in the Park's shrub maintenance plan to ensure they are pruned and kept under control.

The report pack also addressed concerns about wear on the mounds, stating that it was not a significant cause for concern, as nursery children are encouraged to use some of the mounds to support and improve their movement, confidence, balance, and motor skills. There is heavy wear under the monkey bars on the large mound, which the team backfilled with a mix of shingle and soil to reinstate the ground levels. There are desire paths on the sides of some of the mounds, mostly caused by bicycles, which will be backfilled over the winter months when footfall is lower.

A full internal refurbishment of the toilet facilities near the playground is being planned by the City Surveyor's Department, and a Refurbishment and Demolition (R&D) asbestos survey has been commissioned as part of the Cyclical Works Programme².

Excellence

Approximately 2000 bulbs are added to the ornamental gardens each year, and additional bulbs will be planted in various locations within the formal gardens in November, to provide year-round colour and enjoyment for everyone.

West Ham Park achieved a Gold Award for the category of Large Park over 25 acres at the London in Bloom awards.

Inclusion

The football season is underway with East London Ballers using the pitches as their home grounds. Renovation work to pitch two has commenced now that the ground conditions are suitable, including spiking, scarifying, reseeding and renovations to the goal mouth.

A specialist contractor was appointed to carry out full resurfacing works and shock pad repairs to three of the non-turf cricket pitches in September, as they were last resurfaced in 2005-6.

A new gate has been installed where there was a large gap in the hedge to prevent dogs entering the outdoor gym.

Community

The Friends of West Ham Park organised and led a bat walk on Friday 26 September, which was attended by 133 people.

The Learning Team and Park Team are working together to create a Spooky Autumn Trail for families to follow and enjoy on Friday 31 October.

Newham's Biggest Leaf Pile occurred on Sunday 16 November.

Park in the Dark took place on Friday 5 December, with the Friends leading an after-dark lantern walk from South Gate through to the bandstand, where attendees met with festive tunes from Park Primary School, and refreshments. Attendees could swap a food item for a glow stick at the start of this walk, and all food collections were donated to local Newham food banks.

Learning Team Update

The school learning programme has continued to thrive with 1,320 school students participating in sessions during September and October. Demand for the programme exceeds delivery capacity, with 44 schools currently on the waiting list for the autumn term. To help meet this interest, the team delivered a Continuing Professional Development (CPD) day in September for local primary school teachers, equipping them with the skills and confidence to lead more outdoor learning sessions in the Park.

The SEND project (for children with special educational needs and disabilities) continues to flourish, providing tailored, long-term, nature-based learning experiences. A total of 55 children took part over September and October.

On 31 October, the Learning Team collaborated with the Friends of West Ham Park, Park Primary School, City Corporation employee volunteers, and NLOS colleagues to transform the Formal Gardens into a magical Spooky Trail. The event focused on engaging local Newham families, a community where 45% of children live in poverty. 97% of attendees were local Newham residents, and a total of 368 people took part.

Anti-social behaviour and criminal activity

Following an increase in anti-social behaviour and criminal activity in the Park, principally with drug dealing and drug users as well as prostitution, solicitation, and public indecency during the summer and autumn months, four additional security guards from Parkguard were appointed from 29 September.

Additional guards were deployed in response to an increase in Class A drug dealing within the Park, which included dealers and users coming into the Park and openly buying, selling and using drugs there. As a result it was decided to temporarily close Margery Gate (where a concentration of activity was taking place) for a period of time, starting on Friday 3 October to discourage drug-related activity from establishing in the Park.

Officers met with Newham Council on 3 October and with CGL (Newham's Support Services) on 10 October to discuss the issues and ascertain if there was a reason for the recent spike in drug-related incidents. Officers were informed that trees/vegetation and sightlines were recently cleared from nearby Priory Park which Newham Council thinks may have pushed drug activity towards West Ham Park.

Newham Council coordinated teams and had a 'Newham Day of Action' to visit known drug dealing/using areas within the Borough on 13 November, including the Park and surrounding roads.

The report pack stated that working in partnership with Newham Council was useful as the CSOs gained a comprehensive understanding of the Park's operations and safety protocols. Officers are following up for more foot patrols of the Park to be carried out by Newham's Support Officers. Whilst there has been significantly less drug-related incidents in the Park since the temporary gate closures in October, there is still the occasional drug-related incident taking place in the Park, which Officers will continue to respond to appropriately.

The report pack included a table providing examples of the range of incidents and issues dealt with by Parkguard from 11 August to 19 October:

As a result of incidents involving the Met Police around the gates, work has been carried out to review the CCTV provision on all the gates and ensure the security and access to tied accommodation is suitable and safe. Tree and vegetation work near Linden Gate was carried out in September, with the density of lower foliage lifted and thinned to improve security and sightlines.

Natural Environment Charities Review

The committee was scheduled to discuss a report on the Natural Environment Charities Review – Grant Funding Model Principles Proposal in a non-public session.