John Padmore has provided this helpful leaflet to explain why we went to great trouble to ensure that all 17000 bluebells planted at last Saturday’s bluebell planting bonanza were English.
Pics from the Bluebell Bonanza
Bumper bluebell-planting bonanza!
The Friends of Preston Park and Cityparks present a Bumper Bluebell-planting Bonanza! on Saturday, 30th October, 11-3pm at the Rock Garden, Preston Park.
Young and old are welcome to come along and make a difference to the beautiful Rock Garden at Preston Park by planting NATIVE ENGLISH BLUEBELL BULBS. We have a huge number of bulbs for you to plant in artistic swathes in the woodland area at the top of the garden.
We’ll have food available including hot soup, as well as live entertainment from the KJO Radio Band and DJ Simon Reid. If you can, bring a trowell and a mug for the soup. And make sure you dress appropriately for the weather!
Note that, because the area is at the top of the Rock Garden, access is restricted.
The event is kindly sponsored by David & Co Estate Agents, Brighton International Summer School (BISS), The Preston Park Hotel and the Co-Op, Baker Street.
Our questionnaire – the results!!!
We received 121 completed responses to our questionnaire. Below is a précis of the results. Note that the responses shown are the top four comments for each of the categories.
(The numbers shown should not be taken as percentages as not everyone completed all of the questions.)
The most popular answers to:
What do you most dislike/would want to change about the park?
Parking-related (22)
Cafe-related (14)
Dog-related (12)
Disposable BBQ’s (7)
There are 2 decommissioned bowling-greens. What would you like to see them used for?
Boules/petanque (14)
Pool (paddling/swimming) (14)
Plant-related e.g. allotments (13)
Volleyball (7)
What sort of events would you like to see being held at the park?
Fairs/fetes (30)
Open-air concerts (17)
Open-air theatre (8)
Open-air cinema (5)
The results are due to be discussed with councilors and park staff at the next committee meeting and the outcome will be posted.
Report on the operational de-brief for Pride 2010
We have received the following report from Ian Taylor, Events Manager for Brighton and Hove City Council, from the operational de-brief on Pride 2010 which occured on 31st August:
We have now had the Pride operational de-brief with Pride and all of our partner agencies – Police, Fire, Ambulance, Environmental Health, City Clean, parks, licensing etc. All aspects of this year’s Pride (see a copy of the agenda below) were discussed and without doubt the single biggest criticism was that of the clean-up operation. Pride admit that the company that they employed proved to be wholly inadequate – the police, fire brigade and Council all put in representations to the future use of this company.
We ran through a host of technical and logistical arrangements but the key outcomes of the “ bigger picture” issues were:
1. To do nothing is not an option – Pride cannot continue in it’s present format. The emergency services have made it very clear that they have a number of major concerns – overcrowding, drug and alcohol abuse and widespread anti-social behaviour – that would lead them to object if the event was presented to them in a similar format for next year. We would never go against police objections and would therefore not grant consent for the event to take place.
2. Pride are going to go away to consider their options, which they are to report back to the ELT (Emergency Liaison Team) in November 2010. These options include:
- to not have an event in 2011
- to use a venue other than Preston Park, most probably Madeira Drive
- to hold the parade but not the park element of the event
- to continue to use Preston Park but in a far more controlled environment i.e. a fenced, ticketed event with a set capacity
Ian Taylor
Events Manager
AGENDA
Full Multi-agency Meeting
Tuesday 31st August 2010 at 10:30 in Committee Room 1Hove Town Hall
1. Introductions
2. Parade
– Form up
– Route/Traffic Management
– Arrival at park
– Dispersal of Floats
3. Park
– Overview from Pride
– Police
– Fire Safety
– Medical
– Production
– Stewarding
– Licensing
– Food safety
– Noise Management
– Health & Safety
– Access
– Traffic Management
– Waste Management/Recycling/Cleansing
– Reinstatement/Grounds Maintenance
– Planning Process
4. Campsite
5. Post Event/St James Street
– Other Events
6. Pride, the future?
7. Any Other Business
A further comment on Pride 2010 from Jo Osbourne
We received the following response from Jo Osbourne to our letter to the Argus about this year’s Pride event:
I have been passed your concerns regarding the condition of Preston Park following this year’s Pride event. Please be assured that we very much share your concerns. The responsibility for the clean up operation is Pride’s. Despite numerous assurances the company they employed, which came with impressive ‘green’ credentials, were not capable of cleaning the park at the speed and to the standard we require. As a result, the Council intervened to return the park to its usual condition as soon as possible.
Many of the parties involved in Pride (Council, Police, Ambulance Service etc) and indeed Pride themselves, agree that the event cannot continue in its present format. Either extensive control measures – i.e. a fence and an admission charge – must be put in place to manage access to Preston Park, or a new venue, probably the seafront, should be found.
There is an extensive debrief for the event on August 31st when we will be reviewing all aspects of this year’s Pride, and in particular the clean up operation, and looking at the future of the event.
Jo Osborne
Events Officer
Sport & Leisure Services
Brighton & Hove City Council
See also the responses from Citypark’s Alan Griffiths, Cllr Kevin Allen and Cllr Juliet McCafferty.
A further comment on Pride 2010 from Cllr Juliet McCaffery
We received the following response from Cllr Juliet McCaffery to our letter to the Argus about this year’s Pride event:
I spent three hours at Pride on the Saturday afternoon and saw what a wonderful event it was, but I also saw how crowded it was. Perhaps Pride has grown too big for Preston Park. Also there were insufficient toilets and this led to inappropriate behaviour at least in the bushes near the Church.
It was particularly disappointing to go down to the Park with my dog on Monday morning around 9.00 and see the appalling mess – a sea of paper, cans, bottles and glass right across the park and even a burnt out structure. It looked like nothing had been cleared. I immediately phoned Cllr Mears, the Leader of the Council and she told me that though clearing up was part of the arrangement with Pride, Council workers were now clearing up the mess. They did a really good job, but considering how many families and young children and dog walkers use the park, it was very worrying still to see them on Tuesday on their hands and knees painstakingly picking up small pieces of glass.
The event made the park virtually unusable for a week in the school holidays. I told Cllr. Mears that this was not acceptable.
Cllr Juliet McCaffery, Labour
See also the responses from Citypark’s Alan Griffiths and Cllr Kevin Allen.
A response to our letter on Pride from Cllr Kevin Allen
We received the following response from Cllr Kevin Allen to our letter to the Argus about this year’s Pride event:
I strongly agree with the points you make in your letter.
It is clear from your letter that Friends of Preston Park is set to play a crucial role in reclaiming Preston Park for families and other regular park users. You can count on my support.
My own view is that Pride has now outgrown Preston Park, even when the event is better managed than it was this year. At the very least they need to charge for entrance, thus limiting numbers. The council for its part needs to be tougher in its negotiations with the organisers, more effectively holding them to account. But I want to press for a change of venue, certainly for a rotation of venues. Why Preston Park every year? What about Stanmer Park or East Brighton Park? If Pride were held in Stanmer Park the parade would be within the park. If in East Brighton Park the parade could be along the seafront, rather than through the London Road, where trade is badly affected because regular shoppers stay away.
This won’t make me popular in some quarters, but I do feel it is time to ask some pretty fundamental questions about Pride and Preston Park.
Yours sincerely
Kevin
Cllr Kevin Allen, Labour, Preston Park
See also the response from Citypark’s Alan Griffiths.
The results of our community questionnaire
Over the past few weeks we’ve been conducting an extensive survey of the views of users of Preston Park. Our questionnaire asked: ‘What do you most dislike/would want to change about the park?’, ‘There are decommissioned bowling greens in the park, what would you like to see them used for?’ and ‘What sort of events would you like to see being held at the park?’
We have now collated all the information – there were 121 completed forms altogether. Your responses have been recorded and we are now in the process of acting on those issues that were most commonly stated. To find out more, come along to our general meeting on Wednesday, 1st September at 7pm in the men’s bowling pavilion.