For those of you who couldn’t attend, here is a summary of the business part of the meeting.  The talk by Andy Brockman that followed it  was very interesting  and brought up questions for discussion. He has forwarded links for those of you who’d like more info …

Chair’s welcome by Kris Inglis

Kris ran through the year’s events so far and thanked all who had taken part or been involved in the organization

Maintenance of bird and bat boxes by members has been completed due to natural wear and tear as well as damage by other birds and squirrels. All ladder work is done in partnership with the council.

Kris mentioned a tree identification walk that local Beavers group have taken part in. It is hoped that Beavers, Cubs and Scouts will help with some grounds maintenance in the park and which will in turn enable them achieve badges to recognize their efforts.

A Brighton parks group had heard about our water fountain installation and have been in contact to find out about the fundraising aspects and process.

Kris ended by asking that Friends of the park continue to respect and appreciate the space and encourage others to do so.

The management committee was introduced. All agreed to re-stand and were voted in unanimously*. If anyone is interested in joining the committee they are welcome to come along to a meeting and decide whether they’d like to contribute.

Treasurer’s Report

Sonja O’Sullivan circulated and spoke to the annual accounts, taking questions at the end. A Parksfest grant from the council for the summer festival helped pay for a number of things but the underspend will be returned in due course.

A discussion covering the promotion of the event and the need for a generator followed and the management committee agreed to take the feedback on board.

New activities for next year were detailed and welcomed.

The committee will canvass opinion on the next improvement project for the park via email.

The business meeting over, our guest speaker Andy Brockman spoke on addressing heritage crime locally.

This is the Police UK Crime statistics site which will show what is going on in your area.  Just enter the post code you are interested in.

https://www.police.uk/search/?next=policing%3Aforce%3Aneighbourhood%3Acrime%3Aindex

This is the page for the Shooters Hill Neighbourhood Team [As you can see they cover Shrewsbury Park, Eaglesfield, and Oxleas].

https://www.police.uk/metropolitan/E05000227/

This looks at the issue of Heritage Crime in broad terms,