The Hampstead Heath Consultative Committee is scheduled to meet on Tuesday 23 June 2026. The meeting's agenda includes discussions on improvements to the facilities at the Hampstead Heath Bathing Ponds, proposed fees and charges for the Learning Team, and an update on the financial outturn for Hampstead Heath in the 2025/26 financial year.

Facilities Improvements at Hampstead Heath Bathing Ponds

A key item for discussion is the proposed improvements to the facilities at the Hampstead Heath Bathing Ponds, which comprise the Kenwood Ladies' Pond, the Highgate Men's Pond, and the Mixed Pond. The report highlights that the current changing, shower, and toilet facilities are in a poor state of repair and are inadequate by modern standards. Specifically, the changing facilities at the Ladies' Pond are not sufficient to meet demand, leading some swimmers to change in open meadow areas.

The proposed improvements aim to address these issues by enhancing changing, showering, and toilet facilities. This includes providing additional changing capacity at the Ladies' Pond, with more private changing areas, and additional outdoor shower points. For the Mixed Pond, the proposals include new or extended staff welfare facilities and a full internal refurbishment of existing public toilet facilities. The report notes that a feasibility study is required to produce detailed specifications and costings, with an estimated cost of £50,000 for the study itself, and an estimated £840,000 to £1.16 million for the implementation of the improvement works. The feasibility study will be funded from the Natural Environment Director's contingency budget.

Learning Team Session Fees and Charges

The committee will also consider proposed fees and charges for the Natural Environment Division's Learning Team activities on Hampstead Heath for the 2026-27 financial year. These proposals aim to balance fundraising and cost recovery with the charity's wider objectives, including maintaining accessibility and supporting learning and community engagement.

The proposed fees represent an increase of 11% and 12% on current fees, which have remained unchanged since 2016. Fees for state schools are proposed to increase from £99 to £110, and for private schools from £129 to £145 per two-hour facilitated learning session. These adjustments are intended to strengthen cost recovery while ensuring fees remain affordable. The report notes that these proposed fees have been benchmarked against comparable organisations.

Hampstead Heath 2025/26 Outturn

The committee will receive an update on the revenue outturn for Hampstead Heath for the 2025/26 financial year. The report compares the actual revenue expenditure with the final budget for the year. Overall, there was an overspend of £93,000 for the charity compared to the final budget, which represents 1.1% of the final net expenditure budget.

The report details explanations for significant budget variances. The Executive Director, Environment, had an overall underspend of £66,000 on her local risk budget for Hampstead Heath activities, primarily due to additional facility and parking income. Conversely, the City Surveyor's budget saw an overspend of £147,000, largely attributed to additional expenditure on the Cyclical Works Programme (CWP) due to the rephasing of projects. The report also discusses the potential carry-forward of underspends to the 2026/27 financial year.

Other Agenda Items

The agenda also includes an update from the Assistant Directors on matters relating to Hampstead Heath, and an update from Heath Hands, a charity delivering conservation, community, learning, and wellbeing programmes across Hampstead Heath and other sites.

The meeting will also address the confirmation of previous minutes from the committee's meetings on 21 April 2026 and 5 May 2026, and note draft minutes from the Hampstead Heath, Highgate Wood and Queen's Park Committee meeting on 12 May 2026.

The public will be excluded for discussions on non-public matters, including non-public minutes, cash payments on Hampstead Heath, licenses on Hampstead Heath, and charity funds and reserves.

You can observe the public meeting online via a YouTube livestream link provided in the agenda documents.

• Agenda frontsheet 23rd Jun 2026 17.30 Hampstead Heath Consultative Committee
• Public reports pack 23rd Jun 2026 17.30 Hampstead Heath Consultative Committee