Minutes of meeting held in person
Present
| Hazel Glenister (chair) | Helen Goodsell | Paul Hurst | Cllr Liz Dixon |
| Gill Close (minutes) | Mark Cummins | Lia Colacicco | David McClements |
| Cllr Tariq Dar | Francine Lawrence |
Apologies
| Fitzroy Lee | Owen Plummer | Sajjad Dar | Bassil Elnaiem |
Actions are shown by initials in bold.
Approval of minutes
- Minutes approved with “bulbs” amended to “plants”, and “new Continental Landscapes officer was” amended to “Continental Landscapes staff were”.
Litter
- Council will have a litter campaign. Helen to write to Sam Haines that information about taking your own litter home should also be provided in Arabic.
- Hazel to follow up with Sam Haines contacting Network Rail about clearing the litter alongside the railway line.
- Link for reporting uncollected litter given in the agenda was https://report.brent.gov.uk/,
enter “Gladstone Park” in the search box, select one of the listed locations “Gladstone Park …” which will open a map, enlarge the map to show the location you want, click the location on the map of the park, click “Parks and open spaces”, then select from the items listed under Parks and open spaces e.g. Park fly-tipping, Park litter bin needs emptying, Park littering. - Agreed that FoGP group of community litter pickers would meet outside the rickyard for 3pm-5pm Saturday 3 August tour of picnickers asking them to clear up their litter. FL to lead and LD to inform Continental Landscapes. Spare fox litter flyers will also be stuck onto bins on that day.
Gladstone Centre
- LD had spoken with Cllr Mili Patel, the deputy leader and cabinet member for finance and resources, and Tanveer Ghani, the director of property and assets, about our request to use the current space while future plans were under consideration. They were considering its use as a “meanwhile space”. They would soon visit to do an assessment and were expecting to invite the Young Brent Foundation to the site visit as they already ran venues for youth activities. LD to inform trustees about the site visit date and invite Mili to a FoGP meeting. GC to invite Cosmos. LD to contact other groups that may be interested in leasing space.
Public meetings
- The next two public meetings were planned for October and January. Trustees agreed the Gladstone Centre as the topic for the next meeting. GC to ask SD which Saturday afternoons in October were available for public meetings.
Maintenance by Continental Landscapes and wildlife update
- Helen said that Sam Haines had asked for community members to report to the council that grass was not mown, to inform the monitoring of the delivery of the Continental Landscapes contract. Helen had put this request in the newsletter. Helen to share with FL an Ordnance Survey map showing the meadows so FL can put it on Facebook and ask people to specify unmown areas that are not in the meadows.
- The design of the meadow signboard for one area has now been completed but the other one has not. Helen has provided input. Hazel will ask Sam Haines for a delivery date.
- Hedge areas impeding walkways have now been cut back.
- Mulgrave Road entrance flooding have ceased.
- The next pond meeting will be at 9am on 18 July. Thames21, which has a base at the Welsh Harp Environmental Education Centre, can train volunteers to work in the water using waders. Hazel will ask Leslie Williams about possible community involvement in pond clearance and PH will check if the public liability insurance covers it. Leslie said that reeds should be cut only in spring. Dean from Continental Landscapes is now doing a visual check of the pond.
Constitutional matters
- Trustees wanted to slow down the process of becoming a trustee, so interested persons attended at least three meetings and identified something they would take responsibility for, such as the pond. Suggestions were made, including schools.
- The constitution states: ”A charity trustee ceases to hold office if he or she: (b) is absent without the permission of the charity trustees from all their meetings held within a period of six months and the trustees resolve that his or her office be vacated.”
- Hazel to contact BE to find out if he still wants to be a trustee.
- Revision or clarification of matters agreed at the 6 February meeting was held over until there was enough time to discuss them.
Focus of our work
- Discussion of our goals and who would lead on them was held over until next meeting.
Finance
- Treasurer’s report: balance £2,550.37; £449.07 of the £1000 gardening group budget remaining.
Actions for trustees from 4 June meeting not elsewhere on the agenda
Carried forward:
- BE offered to set up a Friends of Gladstone Park social media account.
- FL will print a small notice about StreetLink to fit into the noticeboards.
- FL to draft and circulate wording about FoGP and how to become a friend for a small notice to display on noticeboards.
- FL and GC to write wording for Facebook on how and why to report Public Spaces Protection Order (PSPO) breaches.
Any other business
- Helen said that Dr Barbara Warnock would be giving a talk about Fred Kormis and his work in September at the prisoners of war sculpture in the park as part of the Fred Kormis exhibition at the Wiener Holocaust Library in Russell Square from 20 September to 6 February.
Date of next meeting
- 6.30pm to 8pm Tuesday 10 September, amended to 17 September, 2024 at Pakistan Community Centre, Marley Walk NW2 4PU