With the fantastic news of a successful outcome to the Clissold Park Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) bid, and £8.9 million coming to Clissold Park, YOUR views are needed more than ever! Consultation will continue throughout the redevelopment.

The meetings of this group are the main forum for airing public concerns about the way the Park is funded, managed and developed in the future. Whatever your main interest in the Park (playground, children, trees, wildlife, fun, football, tennis, running…) you can influence future developments.

Next Meeting:
Saturday 11th September 2010
11am, St Mary's New Church Rooms

Meeting Minutes of 10th July 2010

Apologies
Mark Forsyth, Cllr Karen Alcock, Michael Dixon, Barbara McFarlane, Yvonne Hill, Lorraine Walker.

Minutes of the last meeting
Apologies: Ken Worpole, Cllr Karen Alcock, Michael Dixon, Yvonne Hill.

Minutes of the last meeting were approved.

The Olympic Cycle path
CPUG are having an ongoing dialogue with the Council regarding the proposed Olympic Cycle route that will run through the park.

There are concerns about the volume of cyclists that this will generate and the impact this will then have especially at certain pinch points in the park.

This then led to a general discussion on cycling in the park with a feeling that levels of dangerous and irresponsible cycling are seemingly on the increase. Suggestions were made to John Wade of Hackney Council: the Council could address the issue with an education programmel on safe and responsible cycling in the park; Park Rangers could be more vigilant and ensure that there is a safer level of cycling in the park.
Action: The issue of cycling and the Olympic route are ongoing and will continue to be revisited at the next CPUG meeting in September.

A discussion on events followed. There was concern that the recent Anatolian festival overran, seemed to exceed noise limits and created parking problems for residents who live near to the park. John Wade reported that there was a Council Officer at the event measuring the noise and that the event did not exceed environmental limits. The Officer also reported that the event finished on time. John Wade said that he would look into a possible breach of the finishing time and report back. There was also concern about the size of the Lolibop site and cost of tickets.

A musician asked about performing some jazz in the park at the area of the old bandstand to add some atmosphere. The consensus around this was positive and the musician was asked to approach the Council to discuss the matter further.

Upcoming events were discussed and there was firm opposition by all users present to the proposed return to the park of Manning’s Funfair in August. This was noted by John Wade of Hackney Council. The view of CPUG will also be communicated via email to the Council Events Officer.

The presentation of events information was criticised and the Council was also urged to consider only those events deemed suitable for a park of Clissold’s size, design and use.

There was a strong feeling from those users present that more organised activities in the park and fewer events would be welcomed.

Project / Park update
John Wade provided feedback. Simon Biss, the previous Project Manager, has now moved and been replaced by Hyder Ajmi who has previously worked on the project.

New Project Manager
Comment was made that Simon Biss has, during his tenure, done a good job and was excellent at providing information regarding the project to park users and CPUG officers and at responding to requests and queries. It was stated that this excellent level of communication should continue with Hyder.

Lakes works nearly complete
John Wade reported that the lakes are almost completely finished (there is a planting programme and some minor work still to be done) and work will now focus on the New River. Work has also started on the Aviary and the animal enclosures.

John Wade reported that work in the park is currently one week behind schedule. There has been no more slippage with the house restoration.

Recruitment of House and Park Manager
The position of House and Park Manager will possibly be filled by an internal secondment from the Council and it is scheduled that the person be in post by September of this year.

The point was raised that the individual for this role needs to be of very high calibre, enthusiastic and creative. Should the Council not be able to indentify such an individual via the internal secondment process, or should the person not prove to meet the level of performance that the job requires, then the Council should look further afield for suitable candidates.

Tenders for new cafe in the house
John Wade also reported that they are now looking for tenders for caterers to run the cafe in the house and the kiosk on the Green Lanes side of the park. CPUG requested to be involved in the process. They want to discuss this involvement, and the needs of park users, at the September CPUG meeting. Once this meeting has taken place, CPUG expects to be involved in the tender process.

Refuse issues
Issues were raised concerning the ongoing problem of refuse, especially when the park is at peak use during the summer. There do not seem to be enough bins, or large enough bins, to cope with the volume of litter. John Wade commented that he has been trialling a scheme in London Fields to deal with high levels of refuse during the summer and that this maybe something that can be introduced to Clissold.

Suggestions were made that more recycling bins be available as well as signage on existing bins suggesting users take their rubbish home or recycle it. As part of the project there will be 63 bins in the park next summer.

Should the park be locked at night
A secret pilot was recently run for four days where the park was not locked at night. This was not something that the public was aware of. According to John Wade, feedback received by people who had discovered that the park was unlocked, and had then directly contacted the Council to report this, was about even in terms of positive and negative comments. It was not revealed how many people contacted the Council. A paper is being written by John Wade about the pros and cons of the park being locked and will be presented to Cllr McShane, the new Cabinet Member responsible for park, for consideration. It was decided that further discussion of this issue would be needed at the September CPUG meeting.

Park Rangers' service
John Wade is also putting together a proposal regarding the Park Rangers Service to be submitted to the Mayor. The outcome of this meeting will also be fed back to CPUG at the September meeting.

Park signage
Caroline Millar and John Hudson had, as part of the stakeholder group, attended a meeting regarding the signage that will be used in the park. The design team working on this will have something to show the User Group at the 11 September meeting.

Residents opinions sought
Local residents have been invited to attend a meeting to discuss how to make the entrance on Green Lanes and Church Street safer.

Dog-free area
It was confirmed that the dog-free area, which had been omitted from the project park maps, will return.

Trees
The point was raised that soon the tree planting and felling stage of project will start. This is a concern for some users. It was felt that the Project Manager needed to make sure that as far as possible users were fully aware of what is happening and why.

It was stated that there are less than 50 trees being removed and over 300 planted as part of the project and some trees that are healthy, such as the Silver Birch, will be relocated.

The Tree Musketeers have been involved by the Council already and are aware of the felling and planting programme. It was suggested that a user friendly diagram be provided of where the trees are being removed from and where they are being planted so people can gain a quick understanding of the plans. It was also suggested that an updated pamphlet/booklet of the ‘Trees of Clissold Park’ could be compiled and published.

Planning applications
Three Queen Elizabeth Walk: This application is being considered on the 28.07.10.

Tennis court floodlights: there is not yet an update regarding this proposal on the Council website, but the planning application will be made in September.

AOB
CPUG has applied for some funding from East End and City Grassroots Grants. Ideas for activities that CPUG could use the funding for were canvassed from those present. It was felt that some organised tours of the park, especially during the restoration, could be a good activity.

CPUG meeting dates: Saturday 11th September and Saturday 13th November at the Church Rooms.

Contacts
For HLF Project issues contact: Hyder.Ajmi@hackney.gov.uk
For Park Management issues contact: michael.dixon@hackney.gov.uk For Council issues view: nargis.khan@hackney.gov.uk

To join Clissold Park Users Group
Contact clissold@googlemail.com and browse this website - or join our Facebook Group - or just come to the meetings!