Enc. 1 for Cobtree Estate Progress Report

Appendix I

Cobtree Estate Progress Report September 2015

Introduction

This report sets out the work on the estate and covers the period November 2014 to September 2015.

Cobtree Manor Park

Maintenance of the park over this period covered the winter and spring. Works to the park included the following;

ˇ         Ongoing shrub renovation throughout the park

ˇ         Planting of new shrubs and trees

ˇ         Delivery of the 2015 events programme; the mini beast safari walks have proven particularly popular with all of the walks in the summer holidays being fully booked. The new autumn/winter events of bird feeders and Christmas decorations are also booking up quickly.

 

Works undertaken as part of the Master Plan for phase three of the project.

ˇ         Completion of the Visitor centre and opening of the café.

ˇ         Installation of the final sculpture by Jason Mulligan; thereby completing the master plan project.

 

 

The final sculpture has been installed, completing the sculpture trail. More information can be found on the blog written by sculptor Jason Mulligan http://thecobtreesculpture.blogspot.co.uk  This main piece is sited next to the visitor centre.

The new visitor centre has been completed and handed over by the builders. The café has opened and is gradually increasing the menu, now serving hot food and breakfasts which are proving to be popular. Car parking charges will begin on 5th October 2015.

A new Cobtree Manager, Lizzie Buckingham has been appointed to manage the park and set up and run the new Visitor centre. A catering supervisor, assistant and casual staff have also been appointed.

The Park Ranger, Eva Girling has left Cobtree and a review of the staffing arrangements in the park will be undertaken to consider the new visitor centre and team working. It is hoped that existing park staff currently employed under agency arrangements will be able to be offered permanent employment.

 

 


Cobtree Footfall Totals

Unfortunately a technical fault led to a loss of date for six months of 2014, the machinery has now been repaired. Figures show a decrease in footfall for the first 2 quarters of 2015. This could be due to various factors including advanced publicity of parking charges and weather changes with January 2015 being wetter than normal resulting in lower figures, March 2014 being sunnier than average, hence the high visitor figures for that month and June 2015 being colder than average, hence the lower numbers then.

Cobtree Monthly and Quarterly footfall figures

 

2012

Quarterly

2013

Quarterly

% on previous year

2014

Quarterly

% on previous year

2015

Quarterly

% on previous year

Jan

 

 

14675

 

18133

 

13163

 

Feb

 

 

12092

 

17626

 

17474

 

Mar

 

 

12144

38911

 

24503

60262

+ 35

19891

50528

 -19

Apr

 

 

19012

 

28012

 

27093

 

May

 

 

26325

 

24733

 

23254

 

Jun

10347

 

27906

73243

 

25971

78716

+ 7

20472

70819

 -11

Jul

18509

 

32277

 

 Data missing

 

3326

 

Aug

25461

 

38100

 

 

 

 

 

Sep

20268

64238

23070

93447

+ 31

 

 

 

 

Oct

20745

 

18605

 

 

 

 

 

Nov

19296

 

15869

 

 

 

 

 

Dec

13255

53296

13767

48241

- 9

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Total

127881

117534

253842

253842

 

138978

138978

 

124673

0

 

until 6/7/15


Elephant House

The Cobtree Sheds group have started on the Elephant House renovations. The Elephant House is to become a hub for volunteering in the park and will provide an excellent facility for community projects. They hope to make bird boxes and other small items that could be sold. The building now has water and electricity connections and the sheds volunteers have started with tidying out the inside of the building.

Cobtree golf course

Roundage figures for the golf course are below. These show the roundage is up each month on the same period the previous year, except for December 2014, the change in figures are relatively minimal with 2154 (14%) more rounds over the 6 month period. Whilst foot golf is not included in the figures the addition of a new facility at the course may have attracted new players to the normal course.

December 2014     1832                              December 2013     1975

January 2015        1439                              January 2014        1118

February 2015       1567                              February 2014      427

March 2015           2429                              March 2014           2365

April 2015             3849                              April 2014                       3552

May 2015              4036                              May 2014              3561

Total                    15152                                                        12998

 

Westfield Wood

New fencing has been installed at Westfield Wood to try and reduce the problems of 4 x 4 vehicles, quad bikes and motorbikes accessing the site. CCTV has also been installed with those caught on camera being prosecuted. Regular police patrols are also continuing in order to try and catch cyclists. The natural environment of the site is highly sensitive, pedestrians are welcomed but significant damaged can be caused by those accessing the site with vehicles.

Kent Life

Kent Life continues to perform well with an increase in profits on the budgeted figure and a higher than budgeted predicted year end. The attraction continues to have excellent customer satisfaction scores in comparison with the Continuum group as a whole. In April 2015 Kent Life was awarded best in Customer Service at the national Museum and Heritage Awards beating many of the large London Museums.

 

 

Young Farmers

Following a meeting with the Young Farmers group concerns regarding the Heads of Terms have been resolved and the lease for them is being drawn up in line with the report brought to the committee on 12th November 2014.

Friends of Kent Life

The Friends of Kent Life have drawn up Memorandum of Understanding (MoA), which is currently being discussed. This document is to form the basis of an agreement between them and Cobtree Manor Estate Trust (CMET). They are looking to build on the new volunteering policy that has been introduced by Continuum. The MoA will enable them to have a secure basis in the attraction thereby ensuring that funding can be applied for and helping them continue their support of the historic collection held at Kent Life. Once the document has been finalised it will be brought before the Committee for approval.