April 2014, Issue 51 Now Is a Critical Time for the Future of the Common and Rookery
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1 Common Knowledge From the Chair April 2014, Issue 51 Now is a critical time for the future of the Common and Rookery. In April 2016 we will see Inside this issue huge cuts to the budget. Despite the best efforts 2. New Trees on the Common of the council and volunteers, it’s hard to see 3. 50 Common Knowledges how to avoid a decline in standards unless we do 4. Orchard Revived something different. 5. What’s Up? 6. & 7. Politicians Speak As Chair, I see all the work so many of you are 8. Dates For Your Diary doing right now that’s really helping. The Rookery Centenary project has brought in new Common Knowledge, the newsletter of the funds and is helping to restore the Rookery. The Friends of Streatham Common, is edited by Green Flag award and declaration of the Local Peter Newmark: tel. 020 8679 2908; email: Nature Reserve help set the standards and goals [email protected] for the future. The partnership with the London Wildlife Trust is putting woodland management back onto the agenda. The Community Garden has transformed the old Rookery Nursery Gardens and returned fruit trees to the Orchard. The Park Watch scheme is feeding problems back to the police or council. The Youth Facilities project will provide new opportunities for young people. Working with partners such as the Challenge Network has brought in more resources. And then there are all the Friend’s events. We need to build on all this, which is why we have established SCCoop (Streatham Common Co-operative) to manage the Common more efficiently and effectively and put partnership and community at its heart, with a manager on-site making the decisions and working with people who want to help. We need to work harder to promote what we have, and the vision of the even better place it can become, and then secure the funding to build it. We want you to be part of this by buying a share for just £1 at www.sccoop.org.uk, or by filling in the application enclosed. Richard Payne 2 New Trees on the Common The project launch was attended by During February and March, over 700 new Environment Secretary Owen Patterson, trees and shrubs were planted on the whose department announced proposals Common, mostly adjacent to Streatham for biodiversity offsetting in 2011 and Common North. You may not have noticed instigated some pilot studies to test them*. them because they are just whips – very He spoke briefly on how biodiversity young trees that are less than a metre tall offsetting could provide a net gain for both – but in years to come they should grow nature and business and then proceeded into fine copses of native species, to plant a tree whip or two near the car although the eventual density and height park. Proper planting started in early of the trees have yet to be decided. February opposite the junction of Leigham Court Road and Streatham Common North The trees have come to and subsequently continued down the the Common as part of a latter, with substantial demonstration project of plantings on either side what is called of the paddling pool, biodiversity offsetting, a opposite the junction with relatively new and rather Valley Road and opposite the memorial controversial scheme . * garden. Planting for the In this case, the trees spring finished on March are being planted largely 7th with a cluster of trees to offset (make up for) opposite the builder's the loss of about two yard on Streatham acres of disused railway Common South. sidings at Thameslink's Selhurst depot. The land In addition some bramble has been colonised by clearance has been scrub, grass and silver carried out with a view to further planting birch trees for some years but has now next autumn, when some work in the become part of a new train storage facility. woodlands is also being planned. The The new trees on the Common have been Friends hope to round up some volunteers planted by the London Wildlife Trust (LWT) to assist with some of the autumn work. and its volunteers and LWT will be looking after the trees for the next three years. The The new planting has generated a certain scheme is funded by Network Rail, which amount of local friction. Part of this was is responsible for most of the UK's rail because the initial planting was not infrastructure. Brockwell Park will also be a altogether according to plan, although this future beneficiary. Planting had the has now been remedied. Some of the approval of both Lambeth Council and the press releases from the various partners Friends. involved also created difficulties. Statements in one that 10,000 trees would All of the new trees are native species be planted – a gross exaggeration – and relevant to the locality. They include that a part of the ancient Great North hawthorn, field maple, guelder rose, hazel, Wood would be created – which was pure rowan and silver birch, which have been 'spin' - led to unnecessary concerns that planted in mixed clusters of at least 100 the whole of the lower Common would be whips. Between them, these species will turned into woodland. Peter Newmark provide wildlife habitat, shelter and food sources that are otherwise rather scarce * the online version of this article at on the Common, which is currently streathamcommon.org/new-trees-common/ dominated by oak trees. has more on the scheme and controversy. 3 50 Common Knowledges Looking back through the 50 With the previous issue of Common issues, the origins Knowledge having been the 50th to have of some of the appeared*, it is worth a little look back at current activities the history of our newsletter. The first issue and projects are was published in April 1997, before the evident. Take Kite Friends of Streatham Common had been Day, now in its set up as an offshoot of the Streatham 16th year. It started Common Management Advisory life as March Wind Committee. The second issue mentioned Day in 1998 and the idea of setting up a Friends group, although kites were a major attraction, primarily to raise money for the MAC. And Aeolian harps, wind chimes and mobiles by April 1998, the fourth issue of Common strung from trees also featured. By 2001, Knowledge had become the newsletter of kites had become so predominant that the the Friends of Streatham Common. name Kite Day was adopted. Write ups of the day over the years record some Kite Up until issue 10, Common Knowledge Days that have been more or less washed was edited by John Cresswell and was a out, some that have suffered from too single, double-sided A4 sheet, published much or too little wind, and a number that more or less quarterly. Gerry O'Brien then have been blessed with perfect weather. took over as editor and it increased to four pages, while maintaining more or less Some themes crop up over and over quarterly publication. In spring 2002, after again. Take, for example, facilities for issue 20, Gerry handed over to an interim children. In 1997, “an imaginative series of editor and publication stuttered, with only adventure experiences made in one issue published before Nick McAdoo wood...was voted as the preferred option” took over in summer 2003. Under Nick, to replace “the decaying system presently Common Knowledge doubled again in size at the lower pool”. The winter 2003 issue to eight pages but was only published reported the setting up of the Parents 4 twice a year. In December 2006, Nick Play group “aiming to improve the safety handed over to Peter Newmark, the and quality of the facilities” in the current editor, who increased publication to playground. New equipment and fencing three times a year but decreased the have been installed over the years but number of pages to six. From the start of Common Knowledge has recorded last year, colour was introduced and the instances of vandalism, the inevitable wear number of pages became eight again. and tear and, on several occasions, the need for more up to date equipment. The * While assembling a complete set of latest initiative to redevelop the playground Common Knowledge, both for the purposes was reported in last December’s issue. of this article and at the request of Lambeth Archives, it became evident that two Or take dogs. Early issues had frequent consecutive issues were numbered 43. As a result, although the issue previous to this comments about the need for better one was numbered 49, this one has been behaviour of dogs and their owners, the numbered 51 to restore the proper provision of more bins and the possible numbering. So although we can celebrate designation of some areas for dogs while the publication of 50 issues, there is in fact others remained dog-free. To judge by the no issue numbered 50! Thanks to Fiona decline of such coverage, most dog Price of Lambeth Archives for pointing out the error and to John Brown for supplying us owners must have improved their with many of the early issues. We are still behaviour, perhaps because many more missing issue 10, so if anyone has one, bins have been provided. please let us know. 4 At first, the Friends of Streatham Common Orchard Revived were without a logo but in June 1999 The Rookery Orchard is believed to have Common Knowledge announced that been an orchard since the 1800s but in “Desmond Masters, one of the Vale Artists, recent times has not contained any edible has kindly contributed a logo for the fruit varieties.