Friends of Hillside Gardens & Palace Road Nature Garden Meeting
Monday 23rd March, 2026
The Hive Cafe, Palace Road
Present
Nick Peacock – Chair, Robert Doyle – Vice-chair, Evan Lerwill, Tom Stanbury, Tony Emerson, Eleanor Clough-Delaney, Dilara Bakare, Ian Peres da Costa, Pamela Dean, William Palau
Apologies
Nigel Duckers, Melodie Everett, Alan Walker, Christine Mukasa, Stephanie Charalambous, Andreas Kappes, Dino Skeete, Rosena Robson
| 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 LAST MEETING RECAP See Report 1 · Vice Chair (Robert Doyle) congratulated on being nominated for a Lambeth Civic Award under the Climate and Green Spaces! · Recaps from the last meetings (25th Jan – 20th March) → birdwatch, hedge building, tree planting days, toad patrol, copse planting day, Streatham Wells Seed Planting (getting young people involved with nature in a positive way) · £702,000 in cuts to park budgets in managerial/supervisory level redundancies, but not front-line staff being made at risk. · Consultation on the park byelaws with assistance from Friends groups – things like opening hours (7am – dusk). Is it possible to engage enforcement officers at the parks to make sure the parks are locked? There is a concern for the dogfighting happening on the tennis courts – identify a pattern and gather as much intel about it. · Some park owned buildings to be put on the market as a test to see how much they’d get at market value, etc. This may affect plans to turn the depot into a tuck shop to sell hot drinks/snacks from. · Generic PIL to be made available to Hillside Gardens/PRNG – approximately £5,000 + £1,000 for benches/bins, with the Wishlist to be completed by May. · Green Roots Funding Application – getting a portion of this funding to be used for: o Re-landscaping tarmac area outside the depot o New planters, searing, possible lighting of slope o Level areas for events/picnics o Improved accessibility o Rainwater harvesting/climate friendly planting (SUDS) o Addressing judges’ feedback from London in Bloom o First application will cover feasibility study (28th May), second application for work in Winter 2026 |
| 3 | WISHLIST & PARK ISSUES See Meeting PPT We need to reach the £5,000 mark – ideas please! Palace Road Nature Garden · Replacement bins/benches (~£1,000) Hoses/Rainwater storage · Green Flag Award signs · Interpretation Boards, Pond liner (for small mosaic wetland area) · Signage for both parks for the general public Hillside Gardens · Additional planting · Biodiversity improvements (nest boxes, beetle hotels) · Planters with benches around them (or timber to build them) – to cut erosion on the desire line between open air gym and Kingsmead Road gate. · Bowsers · Natural logs (to replace sleepers around raised beds in growing area) Park Issues · Dog fighting, damages to trees, stakes, hedges · Appearances of bolt cutters, damaged bike locks, helmets · Graffiti on mural, depot building and garages · Fly tipping at Barcombe entrance · Court 3 gate not closing · Damaged/missing bike racks · Depot sink leaking · Expired first aid kits (palace road & hillside) · The fence collapsing – top of the allotment area |
| 4 | BIOBLITZ & SUMMER FETE · BioBlitz – Friday 24th April 9am – dusk (species identification) · Schools (1-hour at a time), scouts groups (evening), any other groups – · Helpers/enthusiasts needed! · Summer Fete – Saturday 27th June 1pm-5pm o Bar o Food o Music o Stallholders o Charity/community stalls o Helpers needed! |
| 5 | GARDENING AND HORTICULTURAL UPDATE See Report 2 · A bigger turnout because of the great weather – we were able to plant tree and copse & whips · More young people with the inclusion of D of E volunteers · Still trying to get rid of the non-compostable (green) waste in the white sacks – possibly putting in stakes and creating some dead-hedging |
| 6 | TENNIS UPDATE · Courts 3 & 4 are losing their paint & forming potholes, however the official who takes care of the courts said they weren’t due a re-painting until 2027. Unlikely for action to be taken as it’s not high-priority |
| 7 | COMMUNITY GROWING AREA UPDATE See Report 3 · Low waitlist · Maybe using natural logs instead of sleepers in the allotment area · No progress on the noticeboard |
| 8 | FINANCIAL UPDATE See Report 4 · Recent donations: £100 (Incredible Edible), £190 (Sports Day), £50 (Gift Aid), ~£93 other · Possible unreceived/uncashed grant of £135.92 — to be chased. · Current balances: ~£2,661 general fund, plus restricted funds — total approximately £4k. · Formal fete budget and outlay decision agreed as needed |
| 9 | AOB · Tony Emerson raised the issue that the Hive Cafe are struggling for staff and customer numbers. NP to meet with Alice to discuss ways in which the Friends and the Hive can collaborate in future |
| 10 | DATES OF NEXT MEETING (Mondays) June 8, October 5, November 16 (AGM) |
Friends of Hillside Gardens And Palace Road Nature Garden 