All posts by Sue Britton

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Volunteer Day 9 Sept 2020

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Following approval by CWaC for the resumption of activities, FoWP are planning to hold a Volunteer Day on Wednesday 9 September (10.00-14.00).  We will meet on the patio outside the cafe at 10.00, applying social distancing and hygiene protocols, to initially agree the division of activities amongst ourselves.  There are a lot of tasks on our current list including tidy up of pathways and flowerbeds, cutting back overhanging branches and hedges, undertaking repairs to some of the park benches.  We’d welcome any additional suggestions from members – please advise either Steve Telford or Sue Britton before the meet up if appropriate.  Be sure to bring along any equipment that you think would be useful (eg hoes, secateurs, loppers).

If you plan to attend, it would be helpful if you could advise Sue (brittonfamily@btinternet.com) as we need to manage numbers.

We look forward to seeing as many of you as possible on the day.

Regards, Steve Telford – Chairman FoWP

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Volunteer Day ………. Wednesday 25th March

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Calling all FoWP volunteers!

We are arranging another FoWP Volunteer Day for Wednesday, 25 March from 10.00 to 15.00. This date will coincide with the planting of a number of trees across the park by a group of Lloyds Bank volunteers in association with the Woodland Trust.

Our FoWP volunteers, working in small groups, will provide a Spring tidy-up to the park, including clearing some of the pathways, cutting back overhanging branches and bushes, litter picking and “painting” the balustrade around the patio area by the café.

If you could help, would you let Sue Britton know, and on the day bring along any appropriate tools (wheel barrows, hoes, clippers, secateurs etc.).

Look forward to seeing you then. Initially we’ll meet at the Golf Shop/ Cafe but drop in any time and find us working in the park.
Thanks in advance,
Steve Telford

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Hedge Cutting

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CWaC have an opportunity to do the hedge lowering around the park. This is to advise residents and users that cutting may start as early as week commencing 10th February and the height of the hedge will be 8 foot. This will make for easier future maintenance.

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Volunteering Update

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Many thanks to those who attended our second Volunteer Day on 15th March.  Although we managed to achieve our main objective, the removal of the brash from the coppiced area next to Glan Aber Tennis Club, it was clear that this activity involved far too much heavy lifting for our volunteer workforce.  Accordingly, we have had some discussions with our Park Development Officer, Andy James, and the FoWP committee and we have agreed that we need to better target the use of our volunteer resources in the future.  For example, we might look to set up our next Volunteer Day for tidying the flowerbeds at the back of the car park and in front of the cafe.  This activity is much more in line with our successful inaugural Volunteer Day when we tidied up the Lache Lane and Cliveden Road entrances.

If you have any ideas or questions on volunteering, please do not hesitate to contact me.

Kind regards, Steve Telford (Chairman, FoWP)

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Volunteer Day

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Many thanks to all the helpers who turned up for our FoWP Volunteer Day on 13 January and put in a tremendous amount of effort. There were 40+ volunteers in attendance during the 3 hour period and a lot was achieved including the clean-up of the Lache Lane and Cliveden Road entrances, removal of the nettles within the young children’s play area, clearing of the pathways next to the play area and the fence which protects the young children’s football pitches, and planting of a large number of daffodil bulbs. As a result of this tremendous response we shall be planning a further Volunteer Day later in the spring.

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FoWP December Update

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In the last newsletter I mentioned that there were increasing comments and complaints about a noticeable decline in standards of upkeep in Westminster Park with grassed areas being cut less frequently and looking untidy, weeds spreading across paths, the children’s play area and BMX track, and damage from vandalism. We have been discussing these issues with Council officers who recognise that standards have declined this year but are under increasing pressure from constraints on public spending. They have undertaken to clarify and define standards and implement them more rigorously next year. Some damage from vandalism has been repaired and there were also a couple of volunteer events late in the season to catch up on a backlog of work. However, financial constraints are unlikely to be relaxed and a greater contribution is going to be needed from local volunteers to uphold standards in the future. All of us greatly value the park and its facilities so if you are able to contribute some of your time to help with tidying the park, do please get in touch with our secretary, Sue Britton, at brittonfamily@btinternet.com .

We have also been discussing improved preventative and security measures against incursions by travellers and vandalism. One possibility has been installing a height restriction barrier but a traffic survey has shown that a large number of taller vehicles come to the park entirely legitimately. In addition to the inconvenience caused, a barrier could result in detering visitors or unwanted parking in front of houses on adjacent roads. Other possibilities include reinstating CCTV cameras, installing internal barriers to prevent vehicle access to the sports pitches, and closing the park gates at night. These are still being considered.

Refurbishment of the changing room area in the central café block is still in hand and, with no additional funding available, the Council is seeking to establish working arrangements with potential user groups to look after opening and closing, regular cleaning and replenishment of supplies.

On the positive side, the café now being managed by Golfstorehouse has been offering a much improved range of food and refreshments and is being used by an increasing number of visitors to the park and groups including mother and toddler, Scrabble and ukulele. We have also been most grateful to receive the donation of another seat in the park making a total of four this year in addition to two picnic benches last year. And once again, the wide variety of trees in the park have been showing their delightful autumn colours. 

David Guyton