Street meeting - 14th Nov

Our first street meeting was well attended yesterday - thanks to everyone for turning out and showing interest!

Stef chaired the meeting and prepared an agenda - great for keeping everyone focused! We discussed the background to the community garden idea and talked about how we have contacted the trustees of the Christian Centre. We want to create a more welcoming entrance to our street that has plants and flowers, rather than the scruffy concrete area we currently see. The trustees are keen for us to go ahead and beautify the plot and are happy to contribute to the costs of the project. Their only concern is that they would want residents to look after the garden on a long term basis.

In our brainstorm session we discussed the need for the fence around the area, and concluded that it is probably going to have to stay as it is private land. It does mean that litter collects easily in the area and we agreed that we can all take responsibility for clearing this on a day to day basis.

In terms of preparing the ground, the general feeling was that it would be best to dig up the tarmac. Alex and John volunteered to take charge of this and before our next meeting will find out what sort of a job that will be. Rose reckons its very easy and she has a sledgehammer. They will find out the cost of hiring a skip.

There was some discussion about having a bench in the garden, though we decided that perhaps with a fence and locked gate this would be less popular! Members of the public would not be able to get in, and people felt that they were unlikely to sit in there themselves ...

Malcolm suggested that we ask the Brownies, Girl Guide and Girls Brigade groups which meet at the centre, whether they would like to have a section of the garden to maintain. Kathleen will approach the group leaders and find out.

We all agreed that whatever we choose to go in the garden needs to be low maintenance. There is currently a splendid rowan tree in the centre and we may have to keep some tarmac around this because of the leaves and berries that fall from it. Evergreen shrubs requiring effort to keep were a popular option for the rest of the area and some people would also like to see flowers in there. Andrea is going to ask the landscape architects in the office next to hers to suggest some plants for us. We can then look at prices for these and come up with a more definite fundraising plan.

In time we would like to raise the sign for the centre so that we can plant beneath it and we would like to have a litter bin on the street.

Stef is going to run a table top sale in February to raise funds, and we will have a raffle at our Christmas house-to-house party in December. Al has already contacted Riverside Garden centre requesting their support, and has been in touch with the Pigeon free magazine who are happy for us to run an editorial. Stef has been in touch with the Best Garden Group who are looking for streets to support as 'flower streets' this year. She has also spoken to the Greater Bedminster Community group who already have a Patchwork group involved with tidying up the area. Jon and Al will organise a pub quiz and Alex said he would talk to local businesses about supporting the project. Rose agreed to be treasurer for the group. In the event that we raise more funds than we need for the garden, we will use them to buy window boxes and hanging baskets for the rest of the street.

Malcolm suggested that in the meantime we get on with tidying up the area, perhaps putting in a few temporary pots of plants and a sign to let passers by know what we are doing.

Al will contact the trustees to request a key; to find out about changing the padlock on the gate for a combination lock; about running a table top sale one weekend in February; to gain permission to dig up a section of the plot to test the tarmac and about holding our next meeting on Sunday 28th November.

If you were unable to attend yesterday, and want to be involved in the Churchlands Community Garden project, send us a message!

Become a follower of the blog and please do post comments with your suggestions and ideas.
Cheers!

The Churchlands Community Garden Team

Action plan:

Al to phone trustees with queries and get hold of key asap Monday 15th Nov
Stef to run table top sale Feb 2011
Jon & Al to prepare pub quiz Jan 2011             
Malcolm to organise tidying up the plot as soon as we have key
Kathleen to talk to the leaders of Brownies and Guides groups by Sun 28th Nov
Alex to speak to Graham at the Carpet shop about donating by Sun 28th Nov
Alex & John to test the tarmac and find out about skip hire by Sun 28th Nov
Andrea to find out about best plants and possible design by Sun 28th Nov