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At the beginning of 2016 we launched a campaign on this website and on our Facebook page to collect letters of support from the public to be used as supporting documentation in the City Councils second atempt to obtain a grant to clean and repair Paddy Freemans lake. We were really pleased so many local people sent emails of support. The campaign also generated a lot of interest in the condition of the Park in general. The intention was to resubmit the bid to the SITA Trust early in 2016; however things did not go to plan. The bid needed updated quotations from the 3 contractors who bid to do the work and it took the city council months to obtain the new written quotes. The bid was finally submitted in October 2016, and the result will be known in January 2017.
During 2016 SITA changed its name to the "Suez Community Trust" and the maximum size of the largest grant has reduced. However it seems that if and when the application is approved the shortfall can be made up from other sources.
Please click here for updates on the progress of the 2016 bid.
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During the middle of the summer the lake suffered from threadweed which threatened to stop us sailing. Its rate of growth was prodigious. With council permission the club purchased a food safe blue dye designed to block out the light to the weed and so stop it growing. This was quite succesfull and we hope to repeat the process in 2017. Adding the dye to the lake was an interesting experience and the colour was quite noticable was first added. However after a few hours the colours merged changing the water from muddy brown to a rather nice shade of muddy blue.
The thread weed in all its glory
The dye we purchased and used
After adding the dye before it all mixed in
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We all know that in the last few years the City Council have cut the "Parks and Countryside" budget until almost nothing is left. There are hardly any staff and they have almost no resources. As a result Paddy Freeman's Park has been sliding into the abyss. The lake has become silted up with leaves, litter and branches, and the banksides are collapsing into the lake due to weed growth and failing foundations. It’s no surprise that the Park has now lost its hard earned Green flag status.
The city council officials are now using their favourite new word, "volunteers", at every opportunity when talking about the city parks in the hope that the public will take over large parts of the maintenance work for free. The Boatclub decided to remove the accumulated rotten leaves and branches which had collected in the bottom corner of the lake by the east lodge. The pictures on the left and below show the work in progress. Two sessions were completed in early 2016 and two skips filled. The club was assisted by a couple of local residents.
In addition to this work a number of local residents decided to heed the councils call for volunteers and joined the "Friends of Paddy Freemans Park and Castle Farm Playing Fields" group. They have been hard at work picking litter and generally tidying up the park. There have also been other volunteers from a variety of sources, organised by the remaining city park rangers, who have completed various weeding and tidying jobs around the park which has made a noticeable improvement.
If you would like information on volunteering to tidy up the park then look at the "Friends" Facebook page for information. Click here
Park volunteer leaflet put out by the Park Rangers
Some of the litter picking group volunteers
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In other news, the club had another successfull charity regatta weekend raising a total of £101.80 for the RNLI.
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