Minutes 19th January 2026

Friends of Hillside Gardens & Palace Road Nature Garden Meeting

Monday 19th January, 2026

The Hive Cafe, Palace Road

Present

Nigel Duckers – Minutes Secretary, Nick Peacock – Chair, Robert Doyle – Vice-chair, Eleanor Clough-Delaney, Stephanie Charalambous, Tony Emerson, Andreas Kappes, Dino Skeete, Rosena Skeete, Tom Stanbury, Jeremy Isaacs, Diana Wallace, Stuart Hearne, Dimitry Grechka

Apologies

Melodie Everett, Alan Walker, Christine Mukasa

1	WELCOME, APOLOGIES, MINUTES The Chair welcomed attendees and introductions were made. The Minutes of the previous meeting were agreed.
2	CHAIR’S UPDATE AND OWL See Report 1 We are still pursuing having a lease on the depot and now have permission to sell tea, coffee, soft drinks and pre-prepared and packaged snacks in the park. We are one of 9 parks on the borough who are bidding for money under the OWL project (Oaks and Woodlands in Lambeth). The leads on this are Mered and Helen Firminger; and we have written a letter of support for the application. The project aims to improve woodland management and – if we are successful – we would focus on PRNG. EVE: stands for Environmental Visual Evaluation tool. Essentially it is a means of surveying the opinions of female park users, with a focus on improving safety and wellbeing. Melodie, Liz Atkins, Steph and Eleanor are involved; other female users are welcome.
3	Feedback from London in Bloom and Green Flag Judges See Meeting PPT We have been awarded Silver Status for London in Bloom and the Green Flag Awards and would like to achieve gold this year. One area for improvement is in regard to the idea of a rain garden/improved water management and the Chair suggested this could apply to the area impacted by surface water near the playground.
4	Gardening and Horticultural Updates and Planting Day See Report 2 Tom Stanbury made the point that newly planted whips – especially a new copse along the wall next to Court 3 – would need the protection of a fence to thrive. We have a tree-planting day on 7th February. Steph suggested contacting Good Gym to assist in the works and Tom will follow-up on that. There continues to be damage to hedges caused by dogs. It is hoped that the extension of PCNs to parks may have an impact on anti-social behaviour regarding aggressive and poorly-controlled dogs, dog waste and littering.
5	Tennis/Sports Update See Report 3 There was discussion regarding fox-damage to the tennis nets. Lambeth have said that revenue from the courts is £42648 pa.
6	Community Growing Area Update See Report 4 The Community Growing Area agreement is about to be signed. There is a plan to train apple trees and to better publicise how to apply for a plot (only two are vacant at present).
7	Financial Update Will Palau will be asked for a report. At the request of the meeting he will be asked to provide information on profit/loss for events in 2025. It was agreed that the Chair be a signatory on the bank account and Andreas will be taken off.
8	Events Birdwatch: 25th Jan, 9.00-13.00 RSPB bird count in PRNG Planting Day, 7th February Bioblitz: 24th April species recording in association with the Natural History Museum and others Quiz: Eleanor still planning Summer Festival: since the Lambeth Country Show is not running this year the Chair suggested that we might have a mini-festival in the park. This would be small-scale and not a substitute for tor the LCS but it could include live music, vegetable carving and other activities. We would help with coordination but PRERA, The Hive and other would be involved. The proposed date is 27th June (3 weeks after the usual Show date). The idea was enthusiastically supported by the meeting. Sports Day/Film Festival: date TBC Halloween: date TBC Tennis Centenary: ideas still developing. 2026 is centenary of tennis in the park
9	AOB Rosena: is planning a girls’ tennis tournament. Comms: Robert has picked-up some of Andreas’s role. We would like to improve poster-designs, have a more consistent identity, use Instagram, have regular newsletters throughout the year. Volunteer support would be very welcome.
10	DATES OF NEXT MEETING (Mondays) March 23, June 8, October 5, November 16 (AGM)