Relaunch of Friends of Hitherbroom Park

A few years ago local residents contacted me because of their concerns about the state of Hitherbroom park in Hayes. The park is a small but lovely piece of open space behind Minet Junior School, with a stream running through it and ornate brides across the water. At its entrances it has owl statues on the entrance posts. At that time the park was looking a mess and the stream was blocked with debris and fallen trees, causing flooding in nearby homes. I convened a local meeting and we set up a local Friends of the Park Group. Despite all our frustrations with obtaining co-operation from the local council we did some good work, including litter picks and the renovation of the bridges and unblocking of the stream. Groundwork the environmental charity helped us.

At my local community conference for the Townfield ward a few months ago some residents mentioned that the group was no longer meeting and the park was not looking as good as it should. I agreed to see if we could set up the Friends of Hiltherbroom Park once again.

I convened a meeting of local residents last Saturday and I am pleased to report that a group of about a dozen volunteers agreed to serve on a new Friends Committee. We also agreed to seek a meeting with the Council to review the management contract for maintaining the park and to undertake a community litter in the autumn as we had done in the past. The aim is to meet three or four times a year to ensure the upkeep of the park and to encourage its use by the local infants and junior schools.

Anyone interested in joining the Friends of Hitherbroom Park please do contact me because you would be very welcome to join us.

submitted by John on 24 Jun 2008 at 20:43