a)     

Land and Heritage was an environmental consultation company that dealt with heritage landscape conservation and woodland creation in Devon, Cornwall and Leeds;

b)     

The target had been to have 500 hectares of woodland planted in two years around Plymouth and South Devon, Mount Edgcumbe had been contacted to assess whether the Country park and estate would fit into the project. The Project would see woodland planting, fencing and maintenance undertaken and funded by itself receiving no contribution from the Mount Edgcumbe Country Park and Estate.

c)     

The entire estate had been a grade 1 listed landscape in Cornwall and the project had been looking to complete an environmental impact assessment.

a)     

Tree Planting for the project would be logged under the forest for Cornwall banner;

b)     

Introductions of tree species would be given careful consideration and would take into account climate change and the Rame Peninsular’s unique native species with its micro climate;

c)     

The Project would look into planting a tree to commemorate Her Majesty Elizabeth II’s 70^th Anniversary of her reign;

d)     

There had been a clear management process in relation to ash dieback, it had been agreed to delay clearance as it had been possible to wait and there were no concerns for safety. This problem would be unavoidable and presented a capital issue for the Park. 

a)     

The Park had settled into a new normal approach and had been working without restriction for six months. The Park and Country estate continued to act as the green lung for Plymouth and had recently welcomed thousands of children to a week long activity session;

b)     

The Country Park and Estate had, through various commercial activities, become financially independent from Plymouth City Council and Cornwall County Council; 

c)     

COVID had a negative impact on the Park in relation to its core volunteers which had significantly reduced. Chris Burton advised the Joint Committee that they had been attempting to rejuvenate the volunteer programme;

d)     

The Park Manager had been working on drafting a development plan which included a buildings development plan in consultation with Historic England, it was hoped that the Development plan would be with the Joint Committee for approval in approximately two years;

e)     

Parking machines had now progressed to provide payments over the phone and it had been planned to increase the offer to include machines that could accept contactless payments. This would support a move away from solely cash machines;

f)      

Numerous events at the park continued to take place consistently, the park would cover its costs through ground rent or through a percentage of turnover;

g)     

Lady Emma’s cottage had been a success story and was a derelict property until a private individual bought the lease and set the cottage up as a holiday let. Through the Park Managers connections another individual visited the cottage and bought the cottage before returning it to the Park for its own use.

h)     

The English Garden House got to the last six for a previous heritage lottery fund bid. The Country Park and Estate had been in discussions with Catherine Marlow with a view to receiving possible future grants. Should this be unsuccessful the Park and Estates would pay £20,000 a year on the building;

i)      

The Holiday let portfolio saw the introduction of Rame Head lookout in May 2022, this had also been converted from a disused building and provided the park with increased revenue. The Holiday let portfolio had recorded high levels of occupancy throughout the year and the Park had established a good partnership with Classic Cottages;

j)      

The Park manager continued to ensure that the park was free to everyone and balanced its different user groups effectively;

a)     

The Garden Battery would tell the story of the house, Battery, Park and its role in Plymouth Sound as a critically important defensive structure for Plymouth;

b)     

All reports completed for the Park would be made available on the Mount Edgcumbe website. All papers relating to the Joint Committee would also be published on the website;

c)     

The Park continued to look into bringing electric bikes and scooter to the park which would link in to other areas in  ...  view the full minutes text for item 20.

a)     

The membership of the Friends of Mount Edgcumbe Country Park agreed on 3 April 2022 to proposed changed which had been required by the Charity Commission;

b)     

Membership of the Group had increased from its lowest of 550 during COVID lockdowns to 675 members in August 2022;

c)     

The cancellation of events during the pandemic significantly impacted fund raising efforts, yet despite this the FOMECP provided £26,795 of funding for 2021 for projects in the pack. In 2022 the FOMECP supported four significant projects in bedding plants (£3,500), Education shelter (£7,500), resurfacing of road adjacent to the Barrow Centre (£20,000) and the repair of statues Athena and Diana the Huntress (£10,000) with a total contribution of £41,000;

d)     

Membership costs for a family of four had cost £20 a year and included 25% discounts on anything bought in the Orangery; 20% discount on purchases at business in the park and reduced annual parking fees;

e)     

The FOMECP had continued to target an increase in members that were younger in age with the aim of increasing the cohort of younger volunteers;

f)      

The FOMECP successfully continued to manage events which contributed positively significant finances to the Park;

a)     

The Monitoring Officer for Plymouth City Council would provide advice as to whether Members were able to be part of the FOMECP and also be part of the Mount Edgcumbe Joint Committee.