Autumn 2023

Chair’s report - Councillor Graham Leonard www.sandridge-pc.gov.uk 4 AUTUMN 2023 A ll too soon the ‘summer’ appears to be coming to an end, and holidays are something we reminisce and talk about among friends and colleagues. Your council is no di!erent. O"cers and members have been away, hopefully recharging their batteries for the coming year! The summer months tend to be a little quieter than the rest of the year, for obvious reasons, but nonetheless the Council’s work continues, as you will see… Playgrounds One of the most visible aspects of the work the Council does is the care and improvement of the many playgrounds in the Parish. These are looked a#er by the Sports and Recreation Grounds Committee, which relies heavily on e!orts of the Project, Amenities and Community Engagement O"cer, Rebecca Pannese, to ensure that ideas come to fruition. Damson Way open space playground has had improvements to the surface so that the equipment is more accessible during the wetter months of the year, and the replacement of the wooden steps to the slide are in hand. The adventure playground on the Jersey Fam Open Space is a popular spot, and we have just added some new climbing poles to challenge the younger generation. The wooden surrounds/steps for the slides at Spencer Meadow and William Bell open spaces have both been renewed and are back in action. There are also plans to install a basketball hoop and dribbling area at Sherwood Park, and an outdoor table tennis table at William Bell, and these should be in place in September. Jersey Farm Woodland Park Maintenance of the woodland park is a year-round activity and our volunteers and councillors have been busy. The Time Capsule site has been cleared and refreshed with a ground cover membrane with a dressing of stones. There are a number of benches dotted around the park and the trees around some of these have continued to grow (unsurprisingly!) and now their branches overhang the seats, leading to bird droppings dis$guring the seats and making them an unpleasant place to sit. The overhanging branches have now been removed and the benches cleaned. There were two successful bat walks led by Councillor Jenny Roberts, the second in response to the interest in the $rst walk! More are planned for the autumn. Finally, I cannot end this update without announcing that for the 12 th year in succession the Woodland Park has received the prestigious Green Flag award – well done all those who worked hard to achieve this honour.