Friends of Hillside Gardens & Palace Road Nature Gardens
Present – Nick, Robert, Eleanor, Pam, Ian, Tony E, Evan, Andreas, Tom, Steph, Melodie, Dilara, Marcia, Dino, Rosena
Apologies – Nigel
| 1 | WELCOME, APOLOGIES, MINUTES The Chair welcomed attendees; introductions were made; and the Minutes of the previous meeting were agreed. |
| 2 | CHAIR’S UPDATE Nick reported on the summer’s achievements, current challenges and priorities for the coming year.Hillside Gardens was awarded Gold in London in Bloom, up from Silver Gilt, and Palace Road Nature Garden received Silver Gilt. The Chair thanked all the volunteers who made the summer programme possible, including the fête, sports day, film screening, butterfly walk and tuck shops.The meeting welcomed Ruth Davis’s return as Parks Development Officer. Progress is being made on restarting Partnership Board meetings. Updated management plans for both parks are expected through the Board, along with a new Nature Recovery Action Plan replacing the Biodiversity Plan. Members can put forward their priorities for the next five years. Depot building – Lambeth has said we need a licence to carry on occupying the depot, with a legal drafting cost of £1,200. We hope to reduce this by using a template with help from a property solicitor. The agreement should make clear access, permitted uses, electricity costs, maintenance and liability. A building inspection raised concerns about electrical safety, heaters, stored materials and fire risk. The meeting discussed treating Eduardo fairly, while recognising that it is for the council to address any licensing or safeguarding requirements. Surveys – Members were encouraged to complete Lambeth’s parks survey before the deadline on the 30th, reporting concerns such as fouling and antisocial behaviour and acknowledging the contribution volunteers make. The Friends also plan to run our own survey of park users to inform future events, volunteering and improvements. Andreas offered to create and analyse it. It could be shared online and by QR code, alongside conversations with clipboards, including at Halloween. ‘Take Pride in Hillside’ – This slogan was proposed to promote shared responsibility for the park, and could feature on publicity and signage. Broader participation among different ethnic, socioeconomic and disability groups was suggested as a priority for 2027 and for future funding applications. Tuck shops – Refreshment sales are permitted provided the proceeds support the parks. Regular opening times, a volunteer rota, branding and explaining where the profits go could all build demand. Preparing food such as pizza was discussed as a future possibility, which would need hygiene and safety arrangements. Halloween activities may carry a charge to cover materials, although last year’s decorations and supplies can be reused. More planning is needed before any of this is firmly committed to. |
| 3 | Financial Update See Treasurer’s report from Evan (shared drive). The meeting reviewed income from the summer events and refreshment sales:Profit is calculated by counting only the cost of items actually sold; unsold goods are kept as stock.The depot licence carries a legal drafting cost of £1,200, which we hope to reduce.The Treasurer role is now vacant and needs to be filled at the AGM. |
| 4 | Gardening and Horticultural Update Robert reported that the Saturday sessions continue to go from strength to strength, with more people each week, and are as much a social event as a maintenance session. Robert thanked everyone who has helped over the last four months. Drought: The extended drought has been the main challenge. Volunteers concentrated on keeping trees, whips and borders watered. The wildflowers in the copse could not be kept watered, and the spring display went over quickly. Water: Second-hand water bowsers have been acquired – thank you to Nick for the long drive to collect them. We still hope to get access to water from the Children’s Centre. Failing that, one option for next summer is a hose line along the boundary behind the garages, running from the depot. Planters and borders: The large planters behind the benches at the top of the park are dilapidated and will probably have to go, with a new home found for the fig tree and the compost and wood reused. One border has been damaged by people taking sticks from the wattle fence for their dogs. It needs a permanent metal fence, and will then be replanted with perennials rather than annuals. Trees: Poppy, Lambeth’s Tree Planting Programme Officer, has left, and there appears to be no agreed council budget for tree planting this winter. Ruth is still waiting to hear about this year’s budget. We would like to keep planting five or six trees a year; the Committee will consider funding this from events and donations or through dedicated fundraising. Dead hedge and compost: Work has started on building new habitats in the dead hedge on the railway boundary, next to the MUGAs and tennis courts, which also uses up green waste from the depot. The compost bins are now producing usable compost, and separate bays for leaf mould are being considered. Hedges: Lambeth Landscapes gave many of the hedges a late-summer cut as well as the trim in May. Regular maintenance has dramatically improved the look of the park and, with clearer sightlines, perceptions of safety. Volunteers still need to keep on top of bramble. Litter and fouling: Regular litter picks continue; the volume of bottles and cans at the end of the school term was extraordinary. This quarter has also seen a disturbing new trend of dog and human fouling, including on the tennis courts and MUGAs. Particular thanks to Pam for her fearless work in clearing it up, and to our unknown midweek ‘phantom litter picker’. The yard: Lambeth pest control have dealt with the wasp infestation, which allowed the green waste sacks to be removed and a wider tidy-up. Thank you to the donor of some pre-loved garden furniture, which has made the sessions more sociable.It was suggested that reports like this should be shared on the public WhatsApp group and the website, so that people can see the work being done. |
| 5 | Tennis Update See report from Dino and Rosena. Lambeth Move event (September): Lambeth’s active strategy meeting with sports providers. The borough’s population is getting older, which is something for the tennis programme to consider. The aim remains to offer a wide range of affordable, inclusive courses. High-achieving players: The coaches now train and mentor three Surrey County Squad players – one 8 & under and two 12 & under. One is in the GB National Squad and is a Four Nations 12 & under champion. Lambeth squad: Hillside remains the training location for the Lambeth squad, which trains every Sunday, 12 to 1.30pm, on court 3. A meeting is planned with another Lambeth park coaching team to discuss developing more high-level players. Surrey doubles leagues: The men’s and women’s teams have both finished their seasons. Results: Men’s team, Women’s team. Sports day: A great turnout, with about 30 children and 8 adults on court. Daytime social tennis: Continues on Tuesdays and Thursdays at 12 noon. Social tennis Academy: Now extended to adults as well as juniors, with sessions at half price. http://www.seriousabouttennis.com > Adult Coaching Funding: None has been sought for a while, but the coaches are going to look at a new fund, Cash4Clubs. Court maintenance: Court 3 has been kept clean and work has been done to clean up court 4. Fouling is a regular problem on all the courts. Another leaf blower would be useful for keeping the courts clear of leaves and seeds this coming year. |
| 6 | Upcoming Events Pond dig – Thursday 8th October, 10am to 4pm, Nature Garden. A second pond liner is ready to go in and two tonnes of soil have been ordered to weigh it down. Seven Froglife trainees are coming from Peterborough, and Rose is running sessions with a dementia group. All help welcome, even for an hour at lunchtime. Parks Forum – 14th October Halloween Fiesta – 31st October, Nature Garden. Similar format to last year. Join the Halloween planning WhatsApp group to get involved; planning meetings will be arranged. AGM – 16th November Halloween is the first event we have run together with The Hive and we are talking to them about doing more, including making use of the function room, which is meant to be available to the community once a month. Ideas include: A quiz with food and drink before Christmas; jumble sales; a film clubA screening of the Emergency Briefing climate film, as suggested by Tony (the Chair is looking into this). A Christmas event, which would be a first for us. The Hive would support it and could cater. The organisers of the markets in Balham and at Merton Abbey Mills had planned one in Streatham, but their venue has fallen through. Rather than compete, the Chair has suggested working together and is meeting them next week. One possibility is a Christmas market at Hillside, with stalls on the hardstanding as at the summer fête. An event application would be needed. |
| 7 | Looking Ahead to the AGM Under the Constitution, changes that may be voted on at the AGM on 16th November need to be announced in advance. Committee – We have lost our Treasurer, and Andreas is stepping down as Comms Officer. Possible candidates have been approached, but anyone interested in either role should let the Committee know before the AGM. Alan has agreed to become Safeguarding Officer, a new role needed for funding applications and for volunteers’ wellbeing. The safeguarding policy will be revised in the next couple of weeks. Trustees – The Charity Commission lists only four trustees. (Melodie was proposed and seconded according to earlier minutes, but is not on the register.) It was felt that everyone involved in managing the charity should be a trustee, and that people no longer involved in decisions should not be kept on. The proposal is that the committee elected at the AGM become the trustees, rather than having a token number. Trustees are effectively the charity’s board and are legally responsible for its debts. Separate trustee meetings should be held, and decisions currently made informally over WhatsApp and email should be made by the relevant people meeting together. Charity structure – The charity was set up before 2013 and is unincorporated. Many parks groups now use the Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO) structure, where the charity is its own legal entity and trustees are not personally liable for its debts. The downside is that we would have to close the existing charity, including the bank account, and start again. This also affects the depot. An unincorporated charity cannot hold a lease or licence in its own name, so individual trustees would have to be named instead. We will ask whoever advises us on the agreement whether to do that for now or to incorporate first. It was noted that a licence gives few rights and can be ended at short notice, whereas a lease gives security of tenure, with costs depending on the terms negotiated. Lambeth’s property department sent us a draft lease some years ago, which will be passed on if it can be found.The pros and cons will be set out before the AGM so that members can decide whether to go ahead. Membership – Many other Friends groups have a formal membership (some with around 400 members). We have none – only the WhatsApp group of about 200 people. A small annual subscription (£6 was suggested) would give predictable income and an easy way to donate, and might give members more of a stake. Friends of Norwood Park, Tooting Common and Streatham Common all charge. Members were keen that meetings stay open and free, and we would need to decide what members get that the public does not. This will be looked into further. Doodlebug – It is proposed to amend the Constitution to include Doodlebug Garden as one of our sites, so that we can raise and receive funds for it. The meeting was mostly in favour. |
| 8 | Issues Around the Parks & AOB Lime bikes – More and more Lime bikes are appearing around the park and being ridden dangerously; the Chair has raised this with Martin Abrams several times. Some parks are geofenced so that e-bikes cut out when ridden in. Given the speed and gradient, Hillside was felt to be a prime candidate, and the meeting agreed we should push for this. Litter, vandalism and antisocial behaviour – All the parks are seeing more litter and vandalism, and possibly more out-of-hours antisocial behaviour. The Chair will feed these issues back at the Parks Forum on 14th October. Toilets – The toilet doors were only meant to be temporary, as the first stage of fitting automatic locks; the electrical work ran into problems and has not progressed. They look uninviting, and keeping them closed makes the smell intolerable and the toilets feel less safe. Ruth has said the council will look at what can be done, including a way of keeping the doors open. Painting the doors was suggested and supported. Drug use in the women’s toilets was also reported, and members asked why the toilets are locked while the park is open (thought to be because of vandalism). |
