Please find below the minutes, written as usual by the wonderful Nigel Duckers. And here is a link to the report for the Saturday Volunteer Group and activities in the Palace Road Nature Garden (thanks to Tom Stanbury for writing the reports).
Friends of Hillside Gardens & Palace Road Nature Gardens
15 July 24
St Simon & St Jude Parish Hall
(The planned meeting in the park had to be moved indoors due to bad weather)
Welcome and Apologies
The Chairs welcomed attendees and introductions were made.
Minutes of the Previous Meeting
The Minutes of the previous meeting were agreed to be a true and accurate record.
Mess Renovation
Lambeth are renovating the two-room mess/depot; mainly fixing the roof, windows, walls and generally making it fit for purpose. While this was welcomed they have done so without consultation with the Friends. A particular concern is that there appears to be no plan to reopen the serving hatch which limits the feasibility of a café/servery in the building (which the majority if members would like). There appear to be no plans for a kitchen. The use of one of the rooms for sports changing was also discussed; again this would be a very basic facility under the current assumed plans. Lambeth/Meredyth (Parks Officer) asked at the Partnership Board for the Friends to make a proposal about their use of the building. At present there is no firm agreement on FOHG access and we want to see this; it was agreed that a ‘foot in the door’ approach would be a way to proceed. The Chair will try and influence LC to open up the hatch under the current renovation. Tom – along with Dino and Rosena – have kindly volunteered to develop a proposal for a café to put forward at the Partnership Board; this would need to be sufficiently commercial to fund itself/make a profit for the charity. Meredydd has made clear that the FOHG would need to cover running costs for their use of the depot; however, LC will not charge us rent.
Reflections on Sports Day
The Sports Day was generally agreed to have been a great success, with increased attendance and a wide range of activities for all ages. The siting of the refreshments by the allotments worked well, as did the allotment nature trail. Andreas suggested that ‘one-or-two’ more local sports could be added in next year. Lee responded to a suggestion that he might develop an Autumn programme of yoga/Tai Chi. Dino expressed thanks to the organisers on behalf of the Friend and this received a warm round of applause. Rosena floated developing wildlife boards with some £400 of funding available and various suggestions were made as to places with similar (eg Centre for Wildlife Gardening). Information could also be displayed on the history of the park. Rosena will research with a view to developing an affordable proposal with local people.
Film Festival and Halloween
We have submitted an application to Lambeth to screen a film as part of the Streatham Free Film Festival, on Sunday 15th September; this included selling food. We are waiting on them to process the application. SFFF will choose the film; Jurassic Park is a contender. Halloween: we are planning a similar event to previous years for Halloween on 27th October. A working group will be formed in the Autumn to organise this.
Feedback from the Partnership Board
Presently, the only regular support Lambeth provides to the park is bin collection, toilet cleaning and mowing, which is a significant reduction from recent years. Cllr Atkins stated that the Council faced another challenging budget this year and that resources were scant.
The last meeting of the Partnership Board was in May; Meredydd was given (by the Friends) a list of things to fix eg the noticeboard, benches etc. It was discussed that the Friends might re-turf the worn-out area near the playground/Kingsmead passage, with us providing the labour and LC providing the materials. The next Partnership Board is in September.
Opening Hours and Anti-social Behaviour
The park and nature garden are now not being locked; this is on a trial basis. It was felt that this had not led to an increase in antisocial behaviour. However – not necessarily linked – we noted an increase in littering in the park, with our volunteers doing a great job litter-picking. The graffiti on the new mural was raised; Static coated it with an anti-graffiti surface but the chemicals needed to clear it are expensive and toxic. We are asking LC to undertake this.
Gardening
Report for the Saturday Volunteer Group, submitted by Tom
Palace Road Nature Garden
Report for the Palace Road Nature Garden, submitted by Tom
Allotment Report
A verbal report was presented based on written notes; these are awaited. The Lambeth Parks presented the Friends in June 2024 with a draft document on the “Partnership Agreement between Lambeth Council and Friends of Hillside Gardens to maintain a Community garden on a given portion of Hillside Gardens and Palace Rd”. The growers group discussed the draft document in their meeting and sent back feedback to the Friends. The proposal is generally uncontroversial. Evan Lerwill will communicate this feedback to Meredydd. The growing area should be referred to as “community garden” (rather than “allotment” which is a specific legal term that is not appropriate the growing area at Hillside Gardens).
Tennis
Dino submitted the following report:
Competition:
2) The Lambeth Secondary School London Youth Games Team closely missed out from getting to the Finals. Playing Vs Hounslow, Merton, Hillingdon, Ealing.
4) Two teams playing in the Wilson Surrey doubles leagues. 1 men’s and 1 women’s team.
Junior Development:
1) Surrey County Junior 11&U girl. Sura and Rorisa Jatto are county level juniors.
3) We’ve had help from a tennis leader level 1 Coach,
5) Hitherfield Primary School came 2nd out of all the primary schools in the Lambeth trials competition.
10) Waiting to hear from Lambeth if Hillside will be the home venue for the LYGs team in 2025?
Maintenance:-
9) Courts 1&2 have been repainted.
6) We need to replace or repair the nets on court 3 and 4.
7) Weeded removed seeds from court 4, now planning on removing old blossom, dusty silt from courts 1&2 and leaves at the back of 3&4. 8) Enquired about having a storage shed for tennis in the depot
Treasurer’s Report
The Treasure was unable to attend the meeting but submitted this report, with notes.
Meeting Dates (2024)
- 23rd September
- 18th November AGM
Present
Nigel Duckers – Minutes Secretary
Evan Lerwill – Co-chair
Stephanie Charalambous – Co-Chair
Dino Skeate
Rosena Skeate
Andreas Kappes
Alan Walker
Catherine Walker
Tom Stanbury
Tim Wilton
Lauren Smith
Indigo Wildgoose Bullocch
Marie Karl
Nick Peacock
Eleanor Clough-Delaney
Lee Berwick
Beatrice Njoroge
Scott Keyser
Apologies
Melodie Everett
William Palau – Treasurer
Cllr Rezina Chowdury
Tony Emerson
Friends of Hillside Gardens And Palace Road Nature Garden 