Friends of Quarry Park
| Summary of Meeting | By: – | Tony Wallace | ||||
| Location | ||||||
| Time | 19:00 | In attendance | Distribution | |||
| Date | 16th September 2024
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Erica Oulton (Chair)
Mark Brewer Caroline Brewer Allan Druce |
Robin Oulton
Margaret Sheppard Lesley Steers Julie Strutton Tony Wallace |
Quarry Park Friends
Ward councillors Our parks contract officer, Sarah Fowler |
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| Action | ||
| 1 | Apologies for Absence | |
| Erika and Alan Hodgson, who are moving to Kent. TW to thank the Hodgsons for all their contribution over the years. MS suggested a thank you card and would circulate one. | Note | |
| 2 | Minutes of Previous Meeting | |
| On 20th May 2024 were agreed. | Note | |
| 3 | Financial update and Neighbourhood Fund grant | |
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RO advised that the bank balance was £3340.83, including the Neighbourhood Fund grant money. The Council had not yet requested payment for the tree pruning work. After that was settled around £800 of grant fund remained. Donations at the Tea Party amounted to £155, good considering the lower turnout with the partly wet weather. The renewal of the annual public liability insurance with Zurich had been paid. Around £300 was due from the Council grants for the PL insurance and The Tea Party costs, once paid the QPF general fund would be around £1200. |
Note |
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| 4 | Neighbourhood Fund Grant for Tree Pruning and Planting | |
| TW had produced a list of proposed further planting, revised slightly after a meeting in the park on 7th Sept to discuss and agree. A sketch plan was also made for approximate locations around the park. The total cost was around £500 and the list was agreed. TW would order the plants in October. Some would be for delivery in the spring, 2025. MS suggested seeing if some plants could be purchased from Yourspace and TW would check that out and buy there suitable plants available. | TW | |
| 5 | Work in The Park | |
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Proposed to have a gardening session from 10am on Saturday 28th September. TW to send out an email invitation. This would help prepare some areas ahead of more planting. TW to request cutting and clearance of the embankment and wildflower area by ID Verde. Twice yearly cutting is recommended for wildflower areas including early autumn. MS was concerned about the spiky Yucca leaves especially near to the path. We have requested 100 Allium and 200 Tête à Tête daffodils for this year’s autumn planting. RO noted the need to have more people actively involved. He suggested a social at their house inviting Friends and would prepare an invitation to be sent out. |
TW RO |
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| 6 | Green Flag Award | |
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Following the meeting with the Green Flag inspector on 17th May Quarry Park has been awarded Green Flag status. This is a national scheme that applies to ‘Any green space that is freely accessible to the public and has a site [1] specific management plan is eligible to apply for a Green Flag Award’. The judging assessment gave importance to the activities and work of the Friends of Quarry Park. |
Note | |
| 7 | Dogs in The Park | |
| It had been observed that a couple had brought a bully type dog, not necessarily the banned breed, into the park. It ran loose and behaved aggressively to another dog outside the railings. It was not felt comfortable to approach the owners that the park is No Dogs. Following that TW put an additional note on the noticeboard although the sign on the gate is quite clear. (Post meeting – following another sighting a registration number was reported to the parks police. They replied that they would follow this up with the owners and advised people ‘to continue not to put yourselves in a position of confrontation with the owners’ .) |
Note |
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| 8 | History including Walk | |
| The Oulton’s had taken part in the History Walk of Seear’s Park and Quarry Park with local historian Andrew Skelton on 7th August. It had been very interesting. Dawn Fielding of Parks Dept had then asked if she should collate Andrew’s research as the base to create a history board for Quarry Park. They would prepare draft text and photos for submission for a Neighbourhood Fund grant application. This was agreed to be a good idea and EO would reply accordingly. This would add to the work previously done by MS. | EO | |
| 9 | Quarry Park Event 6th July | |
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There was rain in the morning before the event and during setting up and this was probably the cause of a lower attendance than last year’s fine day. However, there was a very pleasant atmosphere and people enjoyed the conversation and food. TW had submitted the report on the event after which our grant funding for costs and insurance should be received. The Safety Advisory Group this year required that electrical equipment should be Portable Appliance Tested. Even just the 3 items, tea urn, extension reel and RCD would cost £80. TW called in to Smith & Byford in Cheam and they agreed to do it without charge for the Friends of Quarry Park if the items were brought in and later collected. TW did this and a certificate was duly provided. |
Note |
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| 10 | Police Matters | |
| There had been no meetings since QPF last meeting. MS asked if there had been any response on the issue which she raised at the Sutton Local Committee meeting on 15th Feb that the Met Police call centre had Cheam Road in Surrey outside their area, whereas the Met area became co-terminus with London boroughs many years ago. TW to follow up with Cllr Woolmer. (Post meeting note: Cllr Woolmer had a reply from Det Supt Lewis Collins – Insp Liz Turner has liaised with our call handling centre at Lambeth in order highlight and rectify the issues of the areas such as Cheam and Worcester Park. The centre have confirmed that this has been rectified.) | Note | |
| 11 | Sutton Local Committee | |
| The meeting on 16th July was cancelled because of the General Election. The next meeting is 7th Nov and EO hopes to attend. | EO | |
| 12 | 147 Cheam Road, Accumulated Waste | |
| After a lengthy legal process in which the occupant tried to stop clearance by the Council’s contractor under the Environmental Protection Act a Warrant of Entry was granted and clearance is planned for tomorrow, 17th September. Local people had provided information to the Council’s legal department to assist with evidence. (Post meeting note: the clearance started on 17th Sept, taking more than one day to complete.) | Note | |
| 13 | Annual Friends of Parks meeting 24th Sept | |
| No-one available to attend. EO to inform Dawn Fielding | EO | |
| 14 | Next Meeting | |
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Set for Monday 20th January, 7pm. It would include the AGM. TW advised that he would not continue as Secretary, after 15 years. Would continue to help with gardening. |
All |