FRIENDS OF MARYON AND MARYON WILSON PARKS
Minutes of Meeting, November 2023
Venue: Kinveachy Gardens, SE7
Date: Thursday 16 November 2023
Present: (14) Christine (chair) Steve (secretary), Natalie (treasurer), Catherine, Alan, Mickey, Gulle, Hazel, John, Pauline, Alex, Edmund, Alice, Carol.
1. Welcome : Christine welcomed our largest gathering for some time.
2. Apologies : (1)Vanessa.
3. Minutes of previous meeting and matters arising:
As the scheduled September meeting had to be postponed because of ill-health, the minutes of the 15 June meeting were approved with updates:
a) anti-flytipping notices requested on the Thorntree Road hill have still not appeared and more flytipping continues to take place there
b) a Green Flag was awarded again to Maryon Park though some of the inspectors’ criticisms (eg dead trees) have not been addressed
c) Paul Martin apologised for the top gate to Maryon Park not being opened on time, because of a rota problem
d) the broken bench near the Cemetery Lane entrance to MWP was quickly replaced
e) replacement stencils re dog fouling are required as the original ones have worn away
f) the Picnic in the (Maryon) Park in June and sheep-shearing in July were both successful and our stalls raised small sums
4. Proposals for derelict toilets in MWP
A Greenwich resident, Josh Rouse, contacted us about his interest in developing the old toilets that have been rotting away for at least 35 years.
The Council have said there is no money to do this, so Josh has suggested crowd-funding and grants, which an organisation called the Onion Collective would take on for a fee of £10,000. Piers Taylor, a leading architect (worth googling) would do provisional sketches for £5,000.
Josh, who unfortunately was not well enough this week to attend our meeting and has not yet met any of us, believes that local businesses like IKEA might also be interested. He believes that an education centre/ community space (first investigated as long ago as 2011) rather than a small café with toilets, has the best chance of attracting funds.
When a feasibility study for something similar was conducted by the Council in 2017, the estimated costs were £220,000, which they updated in 2021 to “anything up to £350,000”.
The meeting discussed this at some length and came to a general agreement that
1) The single most important aim should be to have working toilets
2) Anything more than this was probably too ambitious
3) The support of local councillors was critical
4) The Friends would support a proposal for new toilets but could not run it, (which might need to be done by a Trust) or raise the amounts needed even for initial fees
Some members are known to want the original building preserved; others would happily demolish it. Some said that a modern two-storey building would be out of keeping with the park and spoil views and site-lines.
5. Other parks updates:
a) The Council’s consultation on a payment system for the Maryon Park tennis courts has finished and views are now being collated.
b) Thanks to those who manned our table at the St Thomas Church fayre, where we made £37.50
c) As part of National Tree Week the Council will plant a new tree in every ward. One will be planted in MWP at midday on Monday November 27 and all local residents are welcome. The chosen site is close to the path down from Thorntree Road (near the Kinveachy Gardens junction) to the animal pens.
6. Community Garden report: (attached in full):
Plot holders are planting winter crops including salad and garlic.
Windrush School have rebooked the Forest School space for six sessions for the 2023/4 academic year. 180 early years pupils will have outdoor nature education lessons in the space each week.
The photographer Max Reeves visited the Community Garden this week to photograph the scarecrow as part of his scarecrow book project.
The Green room is available for group hire, for meetings, therapy, and counselling sessions at £5 an hour.
New Wednesday volunteers would be welcome.
We are saddened to hear of the sudden and unexpected death of Vougar Mamadova, at the age of 48, one of our original plot-holders from 2012. Vougar was a graduate builder who helped to construct the Community Garden. He built the Green Room, the orchard cage, one of the shelters and the 20ft high peacock sculpture. He was an extraordinary gifted and intelligent man and will be greatly missed especially by this wife and three children.
7. Treasurer’s Report:
The current balance after making £37.50 from the recent table sale is £531.68.
8. Any other business:
a) Alex and Pauline pointed out serious flooding caused by blocked drains in MWP next to the bus stop opposite Thorntree School.
b) Natalie has become the Friends’ representative on the Safer Neighbourhood Panel for the Charlton Riverside ward and Mickey is attending meetings of the Woolwich Dockyard ward.
c) We will consider approaching David Willoughby for a new walkabout in the parks, as this has not been done for a year.
9. Diary dates:
Tree planting in Maryon Wilson: Monday November 27th, midday.
Clear-Up and Litter-Picks: First Saturday of every month from 10am. (December 2nd, January 6th, February 3rd.)
Next Friends meeting: Thursday February 8th at Kinveachy Gardens, 7.30pm.
Steve, secretary
Friends Of Maryon Park and Maryon Wilson Park 