Friends of Preston Park

The latest news from the rock garden staff is that the finishing line is in sight. The photograph shows the old fibreglass removed, with the new fibreglass due to be laid in the next few days.

If all goes according to plan, the pond will be filled up, with waterfall on, on the Friday before the next Bank Holiday (6th May) weekend.  The very first fish will hopefully be put in the pond during week commencing 22nd April.

Interesting new planting will be created around the perimeter and planters will be installed in the centre of the pond, all of which will be great for dragonflies and other insects.

The work taking place over the next few weeks should also put a stop to the use of the pond by skateboarders!

 

Two unused bowling greens and an area around the demonstration garden in Preston Park will become wildflower meadows this spring in a bid to makeover the spaces, provide shelter and food for wildlife and a spectacular display for park users and local residents.

Come and join the wildflower sowing and learn how  to create a wildflower area. Native wildflower experts will be on hand to show you how to attract wildlife into your food growing area, garden or allotment. A community picnic will then follow to celebrate the start of spring.

Wednesday 17th April, 10am-1pm. Free, all welcome. Meet outside the Rotunda cafe at 10am.

 

The Preston Twins (probably the oldest Elm trees in Europe) had a pruning session last week. The tree surgeon said that the trees were in a very healthy state and that there was no reason why they couldn’t live on for another hundred years.

 

Winner for the best drawing in the 8 and under category was Maizy

In spite of the cold weather, well over 1000 mums, dads and children participated in this year’s event. Here are some pics of the event:

The contract for repairs to the pond has been awarded, and subject to the weather, will commence in the first week of April. Once the work has been completed, a small number of fish will be introduced and monitored, to ensure that the water quality is healthy. After that, the remaining fish will be returned to the pond. A target date for completion is around the last week of April.

Please find links below to a notice of proposals and statement of reasons for a new traffic regulation order.  This is for a proposed reduction in the periods of operation for pay and display parking in Preston Park.

Notice of proposals

Statement of reasons

These documents plus the proposed traffic order and plan may be viewed online at www.brighton-hove.gov.uk/tro-proposals  (ref.TRO-8-2013).

The project manager is Fiona Stokes and if you have any questions about the proposals you can contact her on (01273) 29 4737 or by email to Fiona.Stokes@brighton-hove.gov.uk by 20^th March.  If no response is received it will be presumed that you have no objection to the Order as proposed.

Unfortunately we have been told by the organisers that this event has been cancelled due to bad weather.

  

You may have seen the article in the Argus and the item on BBC TV regional news about the problem with the fish in the Rock Garden. Apparently the storage of the fish during the renovation works didn’t go according to plan. We asked the council for their comment about this and received this reply:

‘The pond started leaking at such an alarming rate that we decided that we couldn’t wait for funding to be found, and we didn’t want the fish to suffer, so I got funding from elsewhere and got this project under way. A lot of thought was put in to the programme, with the fish’s welfare the top priority.

The pond was electro-fished by a specialist aquatics company (Mayfly Aquacare of Lewes), on Tuesday 15th January. The fish were put in to three insulated and lined skips which were filled with water from the pond. We decided that by keeping them on site, it would be less stressful for the fish. Skips were used as they are totally vandal proof, and we didn’t want to find that someone had slashed a plastic pool, which was part of our original thinking. They were fenced off and covered over to prevent people throwing things in.

Aeration was considered, but after assessing the risk of having a live cable running to water and having evidence of people getting in to the site, even though we put security fencing all along the front of the garden for safety reasons, I decided against this.
Everything was fine, until the freezing spell of weather arrived. This meant that we couldn’t refresh the water in the skips, as the overflow of water would have gone on to the pavement and cycle lane, causing a real hazard. On Monday 28th January, I had a phone call from the RSPCA who were on site. I postponed a meeting I was just about to go in to, and met them. They had discovered that some fish had died. We don’t know exactly why and nor did they. There could have been several reasons. Because all was well when they were last inspected on Thursday 24th January, and we were all busy with the contractors, we didn’t get around to checking them on Monday which is why the RSPCA discovered them.

The RSPCA took the dead fish away, (no more than 30), and they gave me until mid day on Wednesday 30th January to get the fish in to other accommodation. I arranged this immediately, and by the deadline, all the fish, (hundreds of them), had been taken away by Mayfly Aquacare, where they are getting the best possible care. I’ve since been told that they are doing very well.

Hindsight is a wonderful thing, and we sincerely regret losing any fish, but I can assure you that we did everything with the welfare of the fish paramount at all times.’

Our thanks to the council for this statement.

Because of the bad weather and the extent of the crack in the pond it looks like the Rock Garden will be closed for longer than was anticipated. We’ll keep you posted.