Minutes for Meeting 24 April 23

Friends of Hillside Gardens & Palace Road Nature Gardens

24 April 23

Crown & Sceptre

Present

Stephanie Charalambous –Co-Chair, Evan Lerwill – Co-Chair, Tom Stanbury, Nigel Duckers – Minutes Secretary, William Palau – Treasurer, Andreas Kappes – Comm, Martin Goffe, Caroline Goffe

Apologies

Cllr Rezina Chowdury, Cllr Liz Atkins, Leon Jones, Dino Skeete, Rosena Skeete, Christine Mukasa – Allotments

1	Welcome and Apologies
2	Minutes of the Previous Meeting   Agreed
3	Chair’s Report – see document – Steph   Step reported that she had met Mered – the Parks Development Officer – for a walk around. She had helped draw up an invitation to tender and Mered had sent that to 3 selected artists/groups. It was unclear on what basis these had been ‘lined up’. It is likely that tenders will be received in May with completion around October.   It was felt that there was little sense of direction or of a development plan. Tom commented on the need for a proper gardening plan, which the Friends could support.   Martin Goffe raised the outstanding issue of railway sleepers promised by Lambeth to the allotment.   Steph mentioned the playground fence and Evan the lack of a clear snagging list.   The tennis nets need replacing; the new ones are believed to be in storage.   The depot block would need an estimated £41k to put back into good order and full use.   All these issues were to be raised at the upcoming Partnership Board meeting.   Progress has been made in agreeing the siting and working of the memorial plaque for June Hyde: Nigel is waiting on final wording from Mered and an invoice.
4	Bank Account   The £5k or so in the HSBC account has still not been transferred to Metro Bank, despite many attempts by Tom, Evan and others to get the account up-and-running. Evan has drafted a letter of complaint which, after some debate, we agreed to send.   Will broke down the £5k as: £900 football fundAllotment fund: some members are due repayment of out-of-pocket expenses; assets currently £1150£75 tennis fund£3000 in the general fund£190 June Hyde MemorialThe PRNG fund was £400 in deficit   There was some debate about whether we should ask for the £40k grant for the playground to be paid to the Friends and then paid out again by us. On balance it was thought that the throughput would be useful. Evan to chase.   Martin Goffe raised the question of authorisation of monies from the bank account and it was agreed that – when the account is up-and-running – all amounts to be paid out should be run by the Treasurer by email in advance.
5	Events and Gardening   There was discussion of what to run on May 8th – the Big Help-out day associated with the coronation. We agreed to run a community clear-up and gardening event in PRNG. Tom to liaise with Gerry about tools and tasks; Steph volunteered to do a poster.   Tom reported that Good Gym have regularly been assisting in gardening tasks on a Saturday morning; and now might do do in an evening. He would like to get more people involved in gardening in the park. In particular he would like to see more engagement from community groups and a more radical approach to low-income families growing their own food. Martin mentioned that surpluses from the allotment are donated to the local food bank; also that asylum seekers and people in social housing are given priority in terms of lettings.  Tom expressed some disappointment at the pace of change and involvement in growing; others felt it was early days and he and others had established a firm foundation for future growth.   The sports/fun day is Sept 9th. Steph is going to approach Dr Bike and she will register the event with Lambeth as required. Public Liability insurance needs renewing; Steph and Evan to pursue.
6	Comms   Andreas wants to purchase a new web address; it was agreed to do this when we have a fully-functioning bank account. He has established a Google Drive for shared documents; he will attach this to the Frends’ Google Account, rather than his personal one. This worked well for the deposit of reports for the current meeting.   There are reports from: StephChristine Mukasa (Allotment)
7	AOB   The issue of women’s safety was raised; this is a concern following incidents, including to members of the Allotments who work in pairs. Lambeth had said they would be prioritising lighting along the central path; Steph will pursue.
8	DONM   19th June; likely in the park. 11th September 20th November AGM