The park is taking on its spring colours with delightful crocuses and daffodils and the few warm days we have had brought many people out into the park. The dogwood seems peculiarly good this year.

Environmental health have reported that unlicensed emissions into the stagnant ditch under the footbridge have been dealt with, but I am not sure this is the case. I have seen recent traces of effluent and will raise the matter with them again. The situation was made worse by a dead trolley this  morning!

Joy and Margaret have spoken to Lee Hayward about the shrubs in the more formal rectangle above the swings area, which are in poor condition. Lee is to plant some new shrubs in spaces and is requesting a review of its management.

One space that I am sure will have attracted your attention is the north pond and the very bare ground around it. There has been little or no regrowth since the clearance last summer. Part of the reason for this is that the desilting works shifted all the topsoil from this area onto the steep banks leading down from the main path. So all that was left was clay, which is holding water and producing algal growth. The good news is that this unsightly situation may be temporary. There are signs now of some grasses and other wetland plants beginning to shoot. So soon it might be green again. I have wondered if this area would benefit from some wildflower seeds being sown?

Finally the new season of work on the orchard begins this week, If any new folk would like to join us, we tend to do 2 hours on a Saturday morning once a month through the season, and this year we are kicking off with some willow planting in a particularly damp area of the orchard. If you would like to join us we should be there from 10am this Saturday 14th.

Some of you may also have seen our new puppy Holly making her first rounds of the park and really enjoying herself!

Freezing mornings and beautiful days. The park is surely at its winter best. On Sunday the swings were packed with families enjoying the cold outside.

The birds have raised the volume a notch and are about to set their nests, while the first bulbs are getting ready to burst forth in colour. Spring will soon be upon us.

With nest boxes in mind – I am pleased to report a new initiative related to the ‘Wildwood’ Development adjacent to Dibden Lane allotments. There is a plan for a range of nature engagement activities this year, starting with ‘Boxing Clever’ on Tuesday 17 February from 9am to 12noon, assembling nesting boxes and bird feeders, then positioning them with a tree ranger. Booking essential go here for more details.

I am also pleased to report that the pollution problem in the stagnant stream by the footbridge has been dealt with. There were some rogue drainage systems and they have been put right.

There have been some truly beautiful dawns over the winter. Here is a pic taken early January.

I look forward to seeing you all as we emerge from hibernation!

As the autumn colours appear in the park, we come to the end of an eventful growing season. Much has been accomplished in the park this year with considerable credit to those involved in the Friends group.

At our initial meeting with South Glos and councillors, we highlighted a string of concerns, many of which have now been dealt with. Here is the latest update.

I am delighted to report that Joy and the litter team’s campaign for a new regime on the bins has been successful and there is now a collection three times a week.

The second attempt at desilting works was completed with great efficiency and we now have our ponds back, complete with moorhens and mallards. We can expect the ground around the north pond (Langley end) to recover over the next few months.

Our concerns about the depth of the culvert near the footbridge have been met by placing stones at the mouth so that there is no slack water and there will be no further erosion here. I have asked South Glos to remove the orange fencing.

Simon pointed out that the bridlepath West of the orchard had overgrown and horses were going round on the main path. I had a go at this at one of our orchard sessions. I hope it is now satisfactory.

I have also heard on the grapevine that some investigations have been made about the waste that was finding its way into the water under the footbridge. This issue may now have been dealt with. I hope to receive confirmation of this.

It seems to me that it is a already proving a good thing to have a team of friends looking out for what is happening in the Park. Enjoy the autumn!

And finally, a researcher from UWE, Glyn Everett, is looking for some people to take part in a survey about parks and how they interact with flood water defences. If you would like to talk to him , he would be very pleased. Contact him by email to Glyn.Everett@uwe.ac.uk . I have done it. It is just a phone call of about 15 mins and is not intrusive in any way.

Chris Sunderland October 27th 2014

This morning (Sept 1st) a large digger made its way up the lane by the Langley to begin the next round of desilting works. No doubt we shall all watch its progress with interest. It should be moving to the South pond next week. Many people will welcome getting these ponds back.

We have also seen the placing of ‘dragons teeth’ posts as a means of demarcating the community orchard.

The orchard is just beginning to mature. Gooseberries and jostaberries have been good this year and, if you know where to look, you can even find some red grapes just now! They are called Triomphe D’Alsace.  Next year we might see some fruit from the apple and plum trees.

We are very pleased to report the removal (at last!) of the offending bollard, so that the council officer should no longer drive his van across the grass and cause the deep rutting

The top area between the ponds has been cut again and is now looking good, as has a similar area on the West side of the South pond.

The litter bins have been a major problem over the summer with Joy and Margaret despairing at times of the service the council have been able to offer. A new regime has been agreed for September, which will be satisfactory if enacted.

John Morris is planning a meeting with a landscape architect to consider the overall situation regarding planting round the ponds. Everyone will be aware that substantial regrowth has occurred this year, with the stumps forming coppiced wood at higher density than before they were cut. We look forward to hearing the plans for the future.

I am thinking we should call a meeting in the autumn to hear South Glos on these longer term plans. It might be to our benefit now if we were a formally constituted group with bank account etc that could receive funds. What do you think? We could vote that into place at our autumn meeting if there was interest to do so.

Finally, to reassure those who are concerned, plans are now in hand for the works  to the deep culvert near Emersons Green Lane and I hope they will be made available to us soon. Also the sludge should be removed from the footbridge area as part of the desilting work.

I hope you all had a good summer. Those of you who knew my dog Bracken might be sad to learn that she died last week. She was a great friend and loved the park.

Chris

Hallo everyone,

I am sure that, like me, you will be enjoying the park this summer. it feels a great privilege to have such an interesting and diverse space so close to our houses. With the wonderful summer weather, there has been substantial growth in all the areas that were close cropped over the winter. In fact in some places I am beginning to wonder whether there was any real point doing the ‘attentuation works’! The regrowth does continue to ask questions about the future management of the space. These are questions we shall pursue with the council over the coming months.

Here are some photos recently taken of the North Pond

and the South Pond

Thank you Sue and Victoria, for your ideas about developing  community responsibility around litter. I gather some Guides are offering to get stuck in. I have also heard from Joy that she has been lobbying to get the litter bins emptied on a Friday so as to  make sure the bins have enough capacity over the weekend. This happened for a few weeks, but last weekend they were not emptied on the Friday and the bin outside the library was set on fire. There was also some other minor vandalism with tree branches being ripped down, spray painting and the surface around one part of the swings being damaged. Disappointing.

Other news in brief:

• The desilting works to the ponds is set for mid August, so this is when to expect our next major upheaval.
• I gather that investigations are continuing about the stagnant stream under the footbridge but have received no news of plans. This area will be desilted in any case, which will help in the short term, but not solve the underlying problem.
• We are still awaiting plans for the culvert where the temporary orange fencing has been placed. The willow is regrowing well around the potentially deep water. It is a pity it was ever removed!
• We are still waiting for the removal of the bollard that causes council vans to foul the grass despite an undertaking that it would be done a fortnight ago.
• The orchard group meets next Saturday July 19th at 10am. We will be laying more membrane and woodchip in preparation for autumn planting

Best wishes for a good summer

Chris Sunderland
July 2014

Hi All,

Summer is truly here and you can almost feel the plants growing! It is delightful to see some regrowth in the bare areas of the park and we have at least some progress to report regarding the issues that have been raised.

Firstly, thank you to Lee Hayward and his team for taking down the nettles that had grown to 3 feet high on the upper surface above the exit from the first drainage pond. One idea is that this area might eventually be planted with fruit trees. It is above the flood catchment.

One very unfortunate happening over the last few weeks was inadvertent mowing of an area of the community orchard with loss of several young trees, including one apple that had been carefully nurtured from a graft two years ago. Profuse apologies have been followed up by a promise of ‘dragon’s teeth’ posts (like upturned logs) along the path on the western side of the footbridge to deter over zealous mowing gangs in the future.

Many people have expressed concern about the deep culvert now temporarily fenced off with orange plastic and the stagnant drainage ditch under the footbridge. Plans are being developed for this area and we have met with the engineers responsible for this work, who have promised to consult us prior to implementation.

The stagnant ditch is also being actively investigated, as to the cause of the pollution there, and will in any case be desilted as part of the wider desilting works set to happen in Mid August.

Lastly – I am assured that the unnecessary bollard on the path near the formal garden is to be removed within the next two weeks  ( message dated 11th  June ). As a result council vans should stop cutting over the grass and gouging great ditches in it. The grass should be reinstated as part of this work.

For your thoughts, comments and action:

• I have seen elsewhere some small, smart-looking signs that say ‘Cyclists, please give way to pedestrians’. I reckon they might be good for the park. Shall I look into getting some for us?
• The hot weather makes for a fun and busy park but produces an enormous littler problem. Any ideas for increasing our sense of community responsibility for this would be much appreciated.
• The Community Orchard Group meets this Saturday 21st June 10am – 12. Come and join us if you would like to.

Chris Sunderland June 2014

Wow it has been a stormy few days! Winds have been howling through the trees and I am not surprised to see one of our small birches having fallen across the North pond.

Since our meeting last month the council have erected a temporary fence around the culvert at the south end of the park near the footbridge. The fence is now splitting a little and no longer a deterrent to access. South Glos have been told about this. South Glos are working on plans for this area of the park and have promised to consult us as soon as they have a proposal. Concerns have been expressed by Friends that we might lose the old established trees along the original stream.

I have heard no further communication about any of the other issues we raised at our meeting,

Currently outstanding are:

• the removal of the bollard (council vans are continuing to drive over the grass as before)
• the stagnant and polluted water at the footbridge
• a litter sweep through the area including removal of tractor tyre
  

At our meeting we also pointed to the fact that removal of the undergrowth would make way for a dense crop of nettles especially on the high ground to the west and just downstream of the first pond. These nettles have indeed grown and are now three feet high. Some might think that they make a poor substitute for the diverse saplings and shrubbery which were there before. We are looking forward to discussing management of this area with South Glos.

Finally, to end on a positive note – the bluebells have been really good this year, and have been made visible by the clearance work.

The Orchard group meets this Saturday  May 17th at 10am. (the ground West of the footbridge) Come and join us if you would like to.

Friends of Emersons Green Park

Record of meeting held in the Jefferies Room, Village Hall at 6pm, 8th April 2014

Present:

Martin Cooney, Tony Flood, Joy Flood, Margaret Boon, Julie Braybrooke, Brian Braybrooke, Cllr Dave Kearns, Cllr Colin Hunt, John Morris (South Glos), Simon Penfold (Arboriculturalist), Lee Hayward (Groundsman) Neville Wooding, David Barker, Sue Andrew, Chris Sunderland (Chair)

Minutes: Chris Sunderland opened the meeting by saying that the recent works had caused many people to think about the park. Many different types of people used the park and various opinions had been expressed. The Friends group was being set up to ensure that the park is maintained as a place of natural beauty which all its varied users can enjoy, to keep people in touch with what is going on in the park, to provide a means of consultation with South Glos about developments in the park and to generally encourage community life in Emersons Green. These aims were accepted without discussion by the group. He then invited John Morris to explain the rationale behind the recent work.

John Morris said that 25 of the Council’s parks were maintained by the Council with the help of Friends of the Parks groups.  He then explained that, in Emersons Green original development, the attenuation ponds were incorporated as part of the drainage scheme. The ponds were designed to deal with a 1 in 100 year flooding event.  Maintenance of these areas had not been done consistently, resulting in silting up of the channels.  The recent major works had been necessary to remove vegetation, but unfortunately completion had been stopped by bad weather.  The Council plan to restart the work in late July (this will include the pond area behind the garage). The area once re-established will be subject to twice yearly conservation cuts and a 10 year maintenance cycle regarding silt removal.

It was queried why stumps had been poisoned where trees had been removed.  Simon Penfold said this was to prevent regrowth below anticipated water levels.

Chris questioned the nature of the work that had been done, whether it needed to be quite so drastic and felt that the trees and vegetation would have a minimal effect on water levels.  There had been a lack of real consultation regarding the nature and extent of the work.  Certain trees had been removed inexplicably near the wooden bridge.

One issue that had been raised by several people concerned the stagnant stream running under the wooden footbridge. A former resident of Emersons Green lane had told Chris that the now stagnant stream had flowed well before the original Emersons Green development took place and wondered if alterations to drainage have occurred since that time. There appears to be foul water entering the system. John Morris has flagged this to be investigated by the Environment agency.

The adjacent culvert and ditch carry a lot of water in times of heavy rain and the bank is deeply scoured. SGC have also identified this area as a health and safety risk and fencing work will be carried out in the next 2/3 weeks.

Future management issues

There was an original plan for areas of wild flowers in the park, which was never properly executed. It was proposed that this be reinstated, but it may be that the soil is not currently suitable. The substantial regrowth of nettles and docks already taking place indicates a soil that may be too nutrient rich for wild flowers.

Consultations between the Friends and the Council would be very important to select areas to be improved which would not be damaged by future de-silting. Some areas could be seeded with wildflowers and others with bulbs – or a mixture, and planting carried out at the edge of the ponds. It was pointed out that rushes would need to be controlled as they slow the flow of water and encourage silt deposits (one Friend immediately declared herself willing to don waders).

In the future it is hoped that children/schools can use the ponds for pond dipping and nature walks.

Friends will be covered by SGC insurance when group is formally constituted. Chris said he understood this process and could take it forward.

Councillor Hunt said that grants were available for Friends organisations.

Other issues

Martin Cooney raised the issue of council vans making ruts in the grass. The principle cause of this is a bollard placed without consultation as part of the new cycle track works, meaning council maintenance vehicles go over the grass. The bollard is to be removed shortly. Lee Hayward explained that some parking on grass occurred because it was necessary to leave space for pushchairs and wheelchairs on the paths. David Barker suggested the possibility of hardstandings for this purpose.

It was pointed out that the muddy tracks encouraged youngsters to take motorbikes ‘off road’.

It was queried whether the dog bins were going to be removed. Councillor Hunt said that the responsibility for dog bins had been taken over by the Parish Council.

Signs on the dog bins have worn away and new clear signs were requested – it was suggested that Friends contact the Streetcare Dog Warden for signs.

A request was also made for an additional litter bin at the Langley Arms end of the park.

It was felt that cyclists ride too quickly in the park and are a hazard to other park users. Various types of signs were suggested to address this but nothing agreed at this stage.

Sainsbury’s trolleys have been dumped in ditches in the park. Councillor Hunt said that Sainsbury’s hire a company, Trolleywise, to collect escaped trolleys each week. Trolleys can be notified to Sainsbury’s directly for them to arrange collection or to StreetCare.

Post meeting note: The litter pickers feel that Sainsbury’s should be responsible for their trolleys. They have an excellent trolley gatherer named Clive who regularly patrols to remove stray trolleys. Please inform Sainsbury’s and Clive will retrieve trolleys or Trolleywise will be notified.

During a brief post meeting walk around the park Lee Hayward agreed that the area exposed by the tree and shrub removal required a concentrated litter pick and agreed to arrange this.

Hi All

This is to confirm that our meeting this Tuesday April 8th is going ahead. We shall be joined by officers  and at least one Councillor from South Gloucestershire Council, including a tree specialist and groundsman. The meeting is at 6pm in the Jefferies Room of the Village Hall, Emersons Green

The proposed agenda is:

1. Introduction and welcome (Chair)
2. Recent works in the park, rationale and practice – John Morris, Simon Penfold, Lee Hayward, from South Glos council and Councillor Colin Hunt
3. Questions and comments from members regarding recent works,
4. Future management of the park, John Morris, Simon Penfold, Lee Hayward, Councillor Colin Hunt
5. Questions and comments about future management
6. Current and potential initiatives regarding the park that members are interested in pursuing
7. Any other items that members would like to raise
8. Walk around the park with the officers for those who would like to ( approx 7pm)

 Also for those who might be interested:

Our Emersons Green Community Orchard Group meets for our first work session this coming Saturday 12th April at 10am. If you would like to join us and find out more about this venture, please come.

You can see more details about the project and its history at http://www.emersonsgreencommunityorchard.wordpress.com

This is to announce that we have decided to hold an inaugural meeting of the Friends of Emersons Green Park on Tuesday April 8th at 6pm in the Jefferies Room, Village Hall.

We have invited John Morris and other South Glos officers, who have a particular role in maintaining the park, so that we can ask questions about recent work, put our various points of view and get a better understanding about plans for future management.

We may also take a walk around the Park together with the South Glos folk at around 7pm if people would like to do this.

Please come if you would like to, but feel under no obligation. If you prefer just to be kept up  to date with what is going on by these messages, that is all good. The more people that know and care about what is going on in the Park the better.

On that tack, it is great to see the mud at the North end of the Park being removed so speedily. We should now see some regrowth there as Spring sets in.