The Royal Platinum Pudding Competition is an important part of our celebrations inspired by the national competition involving Fortnum and Mason and the Palace. You may have seen it on BBC1 last week. If you missed it you can catch up with the programme using this link to the show in the BBC iplayer
Entries will be judged at the Street Party and awarded on the basis of taste, appearance and a memorable name.
The good news is that there is still time to enter. All you need to do is send an email to webmaster@parknews.co.uk stating your intent to enter by 27th May and then make the pudding or the cake ready for the big day, June 4th.
We have a first prize of a meal for 2 at MemSaab with 2nd and 3rd being champagne and Prosecco. For the main competition.
So why not use and show off your baking skills to create something fit for a Queen with an email of intent by 27th May
Thanks to all who attended the AGM at the 2nd Sunday Social on 8th May. We were blessed with glorious weather and had great turn out. Below you can find the minutes from the meeting.
NOTTINGHAM PARK RESIDENTS ASSOCIATION
MEETING NOTES: ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING, SUNDAY 8TH MAY 2022
Present: M Siebert (Chairman), A Clark, C Brown, V Hyde, D Lucas, P Hempstock, D Simpkin,
A Hagues, D Hill.
45 NPRA members/residents.
1. Welcome: the Chairman welcomed members and residents at 1pm to the outdoor AGM in Newcastle Circus.
2. Apologies: none.
3. Minutes of AGM: Minutes of the AGM held 25/3/2019, available for inspection. No matters arising.
4. Officers: The Chairman confirmed 3 new members had joined the NPRA Committee: Vicky Hyde, Tony Hagues, now maintaining the website, Helen Gibbard, now moved to the NPEL Board.
5. Statement of Accounts: unaudited accountsas distributed for inspection. The Chairman commented that the current bank balance was £35k derived from NPRA membership fees and events which were designed to break even, not lose moneys and the ‘war chest’ was available for when agreed spending projects arose. That the Accounts Statement be accepted proposed by D Hill, seconded by V Hyde.
6. Memberships: totalled 345, which the Chairman estimated, assuming 2 per about 80% of households, totalled 620 members, that is roughly 20% of Park residents, which was probably high for comparable communities, but with a target of 33% to aim for.
7. Events: the Chairman summarised events since the pandemic, for which NPRA set up on line support for residents initially. Boules have continued, with the next event Saturday 16th July. The Shakespeare Performance Company will appear on Sunday 17th July. The Safari took place after lockdown eased, but Farmers Markets had been replaced by Second Sunday Socials. The Spring and Autumn Talks were booked for the year. The Jubilee Street Party was scheduled for Saturday 4th June, with entrants to the Pudding Competition requiring to be registered by 15th May. There will be no more fireworks due to the tennis courts being resurfaced.
8. AOB: Park Bowl. The Chairman gave a brief update on the future of the Bowl area, since the EBA had moved out and the lease taken by Active Ace a company now having ceased operations. The NPRA were waiting to hear from NLTA, current operators of the area if terms can be agreed for NPRA to take on the lease and by so doing protect the Bowl. As part of this, an ACV application had been submitted and ratification was awaited. If terms are agreed NPRA will share funding and usage with the Tennis Club and funds raised either through membership increase or possibly a fee increase. NPRA existing funds could be used to cover any capital costs at the outset, but not without prior discussion with members.
Bay of Biscay. The Chairman gave an update on options for taking over this area on the edge of The Park, for which fund raising would be required, possibly via crowd sourcing and with local community inputs. In response to residents’ queries, the Chairman confirmed that the NPRA would be working with the Park Tennis Club, NPEL and the Conservation Trust; that the sort of uses could include a kiddies playground and small allotments; and that if the project went ahead the NPRA would need to become incorporated as a more formal body – a limited company or a CIC – to take on the lease.
A further resident query was whether the NPEL could move into one of the 4 pavilions in the Bowl area and sell the Office. The Chairman confirmed that much of the site was currently underused and comprised 17 tennis courts and had 3 leased plots each with a rental value of around £6k per annum. Access to part of one of these, known as The Paddock may also be an issue with badgers present. A further query was whether there could be a playground.
Dan L, Conservation Trust, commented that it was doubtful that the NLTA had a serious intention to sell, and to sell a Park asset, the Office, to fund a lease would be contentious.
A Clark, on behalf of NPRA members, proposed thanks to the Chairman for all the work put in, which the meeting endorsed.
There being no further questions, the Chairman welcomed and introduced Martin Orrell, a Park resident, who outlined his proposal for an Arts Network based in the Park, including existing groups and individuals from the arts world and asked for NPRA support to start the network. Ultimately there could be a Park Arts Festival. There was positive interest for the project from the meeting. One query was raised about possible conflict with U3A, but the creative network groups would not compete. The Chairman agreed to send an email inviting members to indicate their priorities as to where to start the network.
A resident, Christina JB, proposed thanks for the work of the NPRA, which the meeting endorsed.
The Chairman acknowledged the input from local Councillor Angharad Roberts in completing the ACV application, and closed the meeting at 1.45pm.
No one wants an online AGM, so we’ve missed a few – 3 in fact. I’m not sure what the excuse was in 2019, but we’re about to make amends.
We did announce this in January, but it’s now less than a week away, so time for a reminder. We’re holding it on Newcastle Circus as part of the Second Sunday Social, which runs as usual from 12 until 3pm.
So, if you want to find out what’s been happening behind the scenes, and about to hit you between the eyes, please come along and we’ll start proceedings at 1pm. Chairs will be provided but hopefully no tent.There are some issues we’d like your opinions on, so please come if you can. Memsaab Curries, Doh Pizza and the little Coffee Van will all be there throughout to sustain you.
Following on from the success of the fundraiser last month we thought it worth posting links and information on how you can continue to support Ukraine
Detailed information on how you can support Ukraine
The Ukrainian Institute London has set up a separate page with useful links, information and guidance for UK hosts looking to support Ukrainians and for Ukrainians arriving in the UK. It includes details on :
The government has a scheme to allow UK Citizens to host Ukrainians who have been forced to flee their country, you can find out more and apply at the link below. https://www.gov.uk/register-interest-homes-ukraine
Tickets are now on sale for the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee Street Party. This year you can either buy them online or contact one of the committee members listed below who will be more than happy to organise a ticket sale for you. Picnics are welcome and a range of food and drinks will also be available to buy.
We’d also like you to consider joining the NPRA first, so that you can claim your drinks voucher – and get a better deal on all future events. Find out more about the benefits of joining and sign up for just £10 per year. Join Now
Tickets cost just £7 per person & family members under 18 go free.
The NPRA has recently submitted an ACV (Asset of Community Value) application to Nottingham City Council relating to the area known as The Park Bowl. ACV status is something created by the Government in 2011, allowing people to register sites or buildings that contribute or have contributed to the social wellbeing of the local community. This includes cultural, recreational and sporting uses. You can read more about this on the Government’s web site here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/assets-of-community-value-policy-statement–2
ACV status provides a safeguard for a local community in the event of an amenity valued by local people being at risk.
Although The Park already has various additional levels of protection, including its Conservation Area status and the Park Plan, these sorts of protections may not always be inviolable, and it was decided that ACVs might be worth applying for on certain sites.
The decision to apply for ACV status for the Park Bowl was prompted by the site owner asking if the NPRA would be interested in purchasing or taking on the lease for the middle part of the site, which until recently was leased by Active Ace for tennis and sports coaching. Those with long memories will remember a similar situation arose around ten years ago, when the future of the site was uncertain for some time, after the EBA bowling club ended their long standing use of that site. Being potentially back in the same position again prompted the NPRA to look at all the options available to secure the future of The Bowl in general for use by the community, and reduce the risk of it coming under the control of some other party over whom we would have little influence.
The ACV application is supported by details of existing and recent community use, and includes a map with some suggestions for how this site and the rest of The Bowl could potentially be used were it to become available. They are clearly suggestions, not decisions. The whole point of seeking greater control is to be in a position where we could decide what we might want to use the sites for should the opportunity arise, so nothing could or would happen without full consultation with Park residents, and no doubt some considerable fund raising activities. The application can be viewed here: https://publicaccess.nottinghamcity.gov.uk/online-applications/applicationDetails.do?keyVal=R5K2SULY01B00&activeTab=summary
Reference: 22/00062/ASCMVL Request for the Park Bowl to be included on the List of Assets of Community Value. The Park Bowl – Tattershall Drive, Nottingham, NG7 1BX
We will update this information when the City Council has considered our ACV application, or if there are other developments to report. Meanwhile, if residents think there are other sites in The Park that may benefit from ACV status, please let us know.
We have added a new page which will hold details of all new planning applications. You can quickly navigate to the page through the header menu or by clicking the link below
The intent of this page is to group together all planning applications that are registered within The Park and applications of interest in a close proximity to The Park. If you wish to read and comment on any of the proposals, links are provided for you to be able to do this on the Nottingham City Council planning portal.
An update on our Ukraine crisis tea and cake event on Saturday.
The total amount raised was £5096. Of this, the Children’s cafe raised £240 on Saturday morning and the raffle raised over £300. We have cheques which are being paid directly to the Red Cross & cash raised is being put with electronic payments and then sent to the Red Cross.
In a while we should receive acknowledgement of our donations. We had hoped to raise around a thousand pounds. We were donated many, many more cakes than we were promised and the cash collection surpassed our wildest estimates. Huge thanks are due to the team who cooked, baked, made tea and (wonderful proper) coffee, set up, washed up and cleaned up.
Thank you all very much.
Thank you also to those who gave envelopes of cash, cheques, and electronic funds. What amazing generosity and what a terrific community. It is hard to imagine how dreadful it is to lose so much in such dreadful circumstances. We have seen it before in Ethiopia, Syria, and other places. Let’s hope our contribution will make a small difference to the people of Ukraine.
Lastly, by requesting enveloped donations we offered anonymity to those who made donations. Despite donations being largely in cash it appears we are able to forward names and addresses of those who pay UK Income Tax for the Red Cross to claim Gift Aid.
If you pay little or no Income Tax this is not relevant to you. However, if any of you feel you can do this, you can download a form here to apply gift aid to your donation.
Ann is happy to receive the form electronically (ann.priest@aol.co.uk) or in hard copy to the Park Tennis Club.
Thank you all so much, Ann, Beth, Pam, Barrie, Maggie, Sharon, Jean and our team.
The orange-coloured Park Card for 2022 is now available to all NPRA members and will be being delivered over the next week.
The new Park Card is free to households who are NPRA members. Additional cards for other family members are available on request for £5. If you are a Park resident and would like to join the NPRA you can find more details here.
The local businesses that are offering discounts currently are:
Shop Zero
The Roundhouse
The Castle
MemSaab
Chino Latino
The Cumin
Hart’s Kitchen
Crafty Sparrow
Gray & Bull Styling Opticians
Little Way Periodontics
Nottingham Squash Rackets Club
Alison Hurry Yoga
Little Wickets
Urban Escape Spa
To find out the discounts being offered and an up to date list of the businesses supporting the Park Card then please visit the Park Card page. We will be adding more businesses as we go through the year. We will keep the page updated and will also email you with any additions.
