Friends of Cockington Country Park
Minutes of meetingheld at Drum Inn, 15th Feb 2016, 6.30
Present: Neil Stanlake (NS) Chair, Jill Read (JiR), John Read JoR), Olwyn Barker (OB), Trevor Barker, Nicole Amil (Torbay Council), John Van Kuyk, Ray Faux (RF), Angela Tatchell (AJT) , Arthur Tatchell (AFT), Nicky Baker (NB), Damian Offer (DO) TCCT, Hannah Worthington (HW) Greenheart, Carol Collins, Gary Collins, Andy Baker, Barry Williams, Chris Bradley, Guy Tucker (GT), Janet Hayes, Rita Jackson, Bob Tremayne, Rosemary Dunnet, Elizabeth Bennetts, Richard Bennetts,Rob Dickinson
Apologies: Mardie Short,Pauline Baker, Margaret Carson, Marissa Wakefield
Neil Stanlake, as Chair, welcomed Friends to the meeting
Minutes:The minutes were read and accepted
Matters arising:
Fish in the lakes are to be moved in March, should be completed by Easter.
Arboretum Group- if interested, contact GT; tours and leaflets are also planned – contact HW if you want to be involved; AFT & DO to discuss digital mapping.
Commercial signage in Village and Park – DO to monitor quantity
Agenda items:
1 Update from Damian Offer on work in Park
Work started before Christmas, Gamekeeper’s cottage work is on track: thatch, plumbing and electrical work is done. Should be completed with a formal opening in July.
Linhay is approximately 4 weeks behind schedule because of running flood water (now resolved.) Work is now due to be completed in May. Workforce was redeployed to GK and no increase in cost was incurred by delay.
As the new Visitor Centre will not be open in time, a TC&CT branded gazebo may be provided for the Easter holiday.
The walkway by the Linhay into the Drum grounds is to be refurbished with a wheelchair and pushchair friendly surface. This surface will be extended over time to other areas of the park to improve access.
It was pointed out that the gravel in the Rose Garden makes wheelchair access very difficult. DO will consider using the new surface to create an accessible path through Rose Garden to the Stableyard shops.
Paul and Karen Lloyd have taken on the lease of the Mill. This was warmly welcomed by those present, withvery positive comments about the improvements already made. It is hoped that the kiosk servery at the Mill may be open for Easter, with further work ongoing to refurbish the Mill building, millpond and wheel.
GT raised complaints made by Stableyard traders about the rose garden gate being closed by wedding photographers. (Nobody present at the meeting had seen this happen.) DO pointed out that the traders are business tenants of the Trust so any issues should be raised either directly with the Trust, or through their representation on the Cockington Forum. A Friends of CCP meeting is not the appropriate place for this.
Work on the Lakes has been to a second stage tender, offering a price that is ‘do-able.’ Contractors are now offering a pumped method rather than using diggers so no need to drain the Lakes down in March. Extracted material will still be stored in lagoons in the valley and land later returned to cultivation. Work will start in September, with extraction starting on top lake from mid Sept.
2 Green Heart Appeal – Hannah Worthington
The Bake and Craft event on Feb 14th raised £80. Hannah thanked volunteers for their support.
Find My Shift is now up and running, enabling volunteers to look and see what’s going on and sign up for full or part sessions. Hours can be logged retrospectively. (You can still sign in on paper if you don’t do high tech!)
Barry Williams has a keen TA working party lined up to do some heavy work on a major project – details to be confirmed.
Volunteers hut is now located behind estate office (by cricket nets) Tea, coffee and biscuits available for volunteers, as well as boots and waterproofs to borrow. Hut can be locked so property can be left while you’re working.
Tuesday (working on gardens) and Thursday (clearing undergrowth) groups are continuing.
Other volunteer groups will be: Helping to plan and assist at events; Researching, planning and running tours of the park.
Let Hannah know if you’d like to be involved (at any level.)
Forthcoming events: Dog Day on 29th May – lots of dog related activities, stands and events.
Reminiscence evening 0n 15th March.
If you don’t get the newsletter, let Hannah know.
3 Park and garden volunteers – Neil Stanlake
Ongoing work for gardeners (directed by Mardie) is the Rose Garden 9-1 on Tuesdays
Volunteers have worked with Chris Lingard to place benches along Water Meadow and around the park – especially where there’s a view. Barry Williams led the team to make them, using wood from a fallen tree. More will be done in autumn.
Volunteers also doing another litter pick at Hope’s Nose after Easter. Let Neil know if you want to join. It’s fun (honestly!)
Nick Bye, Councillor for Wellswood, is very supportive and is trying to use legal powers to prevent littering and fly-tipping.
Hannah responded to requests from Barry and others to set up separate ‘practical tasks’ volunteer group (ie not gardeners) to take on jobs like the picnic tables at Occombe.
Damian and Hannah responded to question from John V K about media advertising and requests for help/new volunteers. Trust does not pay for advertising; press releases and editorials submitted to press also generate free promotion of events.
General question – do we need more specific appeals with ref to tasks volunteers will do? (Eg the very successful Radio Devon appeal for help in Rose Garden)
4 Venue of future meetings
Meeting in the Drum has been great (many thanks to Kes) but it will be busy in summer.
Marissa is happy for us to use the resources room at the Craft Studios, so possibly summer here and winter back in the pub! Damian pointed out that the Linhay may also be available by the summer.
Next meeting confirmed as 16th May, 6.30 in Resources Room
5 Any other business
The National Trust has 470 volunteers at its 4 Torbay attractions, who contributed 39,000 hours last year. Damian has a new database and has calculated that the Trust has far fewer volunteers but they each contribute a higher average number of hours!!
Janet asked if Trust would make volunteering opportunities available at weekends when younger working people are free. Damian confirmed that this is always under review as volunteers are a highly important part of the Trust’s future.
Damian responded to a complaint from Guy that paths are muddy. Park needs a balance between mud and excessive ‘suburbanisation’ with tarmac everywhere. Some main routes through park should be clear but needing boots elsewhere is appropriate. The cycle trails have proved invaluable to walkers this winter as they offer an all-weather route. Many present agreed and noted much higher numbers using these routes. Bob T pointed out that we have had 9 storms already this winter, and all that water creates mud!
Volunteers’ work contributes to a long term plan so can’t just tackle problems that arise ‘on the day’ (eg clearing mud from paths) without disrupting programmes. Barry suggested that a couple of volunteers at each session might form a ‘rapid reaction’ team.
Meeting closed at 7.45