The Nonsuch Park Joint Management Committee is scheduled to meet on Monday 13 October 2025 to discuss the mid-year budget, a report regarding unauthorised encampments, an update on the solar system walk, and other park-related matters. The meeting will take place at the Studio Room, Bourne Hall. Members of the public are welcome to attend and a 30-minute period will be set aside to receive questions or statements.

Unauthorised Encampments and Fly-Grazing

The committee will consider a report that seeks authority for officers to take necessary steps to deal with unauthorised encampments and fly-grazing within Nonsuch Park.

The report asks the committee to confirm that it:

• does not tolerate any encampment occupying land within Nonsuch Park that does so without the Committee's prior consent, and that the Committee considers any such encampment as unauthorised.
• does not permit any horse to be left on land within Nonsuch Park without the Committee's prior consent.

The report also asks the committee to nominate and authorise several officers to exercise powers under s.77 and s.78 of the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994 to deal with unauthorised encampments, and powers under s.1 of the Control of Horses Act 2015 to deal with fly-grazing¹.

The report notes that since August 2024, three urgent decisions have been made in relation to unauthorised encampments within Nonsuch Park.

Mid-Year Budget Monitoring

The committee will receive the Mid-Year Budget Monitoring Report 2025/26, which advises on the mid-year financial position and the forecast outturn.

The report forecasts an unfavourable variance of £5,238 against the agreed net expenditure budget of £228,660, which will be covered from reserves. According to the report, the main reason for the forecast adverse variance is predominantly due to maintenance budgets.

The report notes that the cost of memorial benches currently stands at £4,964, showing an overspend of £1,464, but that this is due to increased demand which has resulted in a correlating favourable income variance of £3,110.

The report also notes that the building and maintenance budget for Nonsuch Grounds is set at £10,000, but the forecast is £16,685, which is £6,685 higher than the budget. This is owing to:

• Repair of Sparrow Farm and London Road car park
• A grant application to fund the installation of height restriction barriers at all Nonsuch car parks, which, if successful, would require a matching contribution of £5,000
• Other unplanned urgent ad hoc maintenance works in Nonsuch Grounds amounted to £1,685.

The report also notes that the building and maintenance budget for Nonsuch Mansion House is set at £102,240, including £12,240 in match funding provided by London Borough of Sutton. A total spend of £103,807 is forecast, which is £1,567 higher than the budget. The adverse variance is mainly due to the following:

• Maintenance of pathway between Sparrow Farm Lodge and Nonsuch Mansion has the highest priority on Nonsuch priority planned works due to the surface deterioration and potential risk to public safety. The maintenance budget for the project is set at £24,480 including £12,240 match funding from London Borough of Sutton. The actual project costs increased by £10,000 resulting in a total cost of £34,480. The additional £10,000 cost has not been matched by London Borough of Sutton.
• Maintenance of the high-level roof above flats in Mansion House is forecast at £48,710 against a budget of £50,000, showing a favourable variance of £1,290.
• Flat 3 window repair has been completed at a cost of £8,374 representing £1,626 saving against the allocated budget of £10,000.
• The cost of the various repair and maintenance works completed in Mansion House amounts to £4,243 against a contingency budget of £9,760. This has resulted in a favourable variance of £5,517.

Solar System Walk Update

The committee will receive an update paper from Martin Howe of the Ewell Astronomical Society regarding the progress made on the Nonsuch Park Solar System Walk.

The previous update on this project was at the JMC on 16th June 2025 where, following the successful funding bid with Surrey County Council's Your Fund Surrey, the JMC gave final approval for the solar system walk.

Since that meeting:

• The walking route has been finalised
• The design work, undertaken by Whistlestop Arts, has been completed
• The signs for the beginning and end of the walk, along with the intermediate points, have been procured, along with the posts that these are to be fixed upon
• Development of a website, accessed via a QR code printed on the signs, is nearing completion
• A launch date of Saturday 25th October has been proposed.

Urgent Decisions

The committee will receive a report regarding two decisions taken by one of the Directors and / or Chief Executive on the grounds of urgency.

The decisions are:

• Decision 155 Unauthorised Encampment Nonsuch Park
• Decision 156 Unauthorised Encampment Nonsuch Park

The urgency reason for both decisions was that a decision was required to confirm that the UE was not tolerated by the JMC so that consideration of the Council's powers under s.77 and s.78 of the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994 could be acted upon. It was necessary to make this decision within 24 hours so there was insufficient time to schedule a special JMC public meeting and delaying this decision until the next JMC would seriously prejudice the interest of the Council and local residents.

Other Matters

The Interim Assistant Head of Service (Streetcare), Samantha Whitehead, will provide a verbal update on donation units, the playground project, and the dog walking licensing scheme. The committee will also confirm the minutes of the previous meeting.