2012 Review

small bordered logoThis was the year when the work of the previous friends’ group was reviewed with the intent to update and better maintain the green spaces in the area and rejuvenate interest in community gardening.

The initial aim was to gain Green Flag status by generally caring for the park and other open spaces, including previous proposals for the Dog Exercise Area and the Wildlife Area.

Plans were made for involving residents in the improvement and maintenance of the Wildlife Area so that local school groups would have easy access to an interesting and educational area.

We took the opportunity of the Queen’s Park Garden’s Festival to incorporate a Wildlife Area Open Day to give residents an chance to see the potential of joining a working party and to supply more information by sharing the Community Council  event table.

It was hoped that the Friends would ultimately be able to include the Harrington Allotments, and the two open spaces along the Harrow Road.

Ulla Johnson brought her expertise to the Wildlife Area, planning the initial clearance routine with a view to uncovering existing plants and suggesting ideas for a replanting structure. This had to be done in tandem with negotiations to gain access to the area from the Westminster Parks Department.

By mid-September , volunteers had cleared the overgrown areas but the lack of rain during the summer made the root system removal of more invasive weeds hard work so it was postponed for a couple of weeks.

The bird and bat boxes were taken down for repair and maintenance and plans were afoot to re-sink the Stage Beetle Loggery and repair the willow dome.

One last push before Christmas readied the area to make more formal invitations to schools for their involvement.

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