Ashbourne Fishpond Meadow Improvement Group.
For up-to-date information and events, please visit their Facebook Page: Friends Of Ashbourne Park Group | Facebook
Background The Ashbourne Fishpond Meadow Improvement Group (AFMIG) was formed in early June 2021 to help make the park in Ashbourne a better place for the families living and visiting the town. The group set up a Facebook group which already has over 400 members.
In late July Derbyshire Dales District Council, who own and manage the park, invited the members of the group to a meeting where officers spoke about the proposed work to be carried out over the next year or so. The District Council also spoke about their plans to apply for Green Flag status for the park which would provide a mark of quality for the open space. Officers also told the meeting that they would like to see a Friends of the Park group set up to help maintain the park and support their application to Keep Britain Tidy to get the Green Flag. The Council also need to write a Management Plan for the park.
A second meeting was arranged by the AFMIG in early August but was attended by only a handful of members. It nevertheless provided an opportunity to pull together the ideas for improving the park and a response to the District Council’s request for a volunteer group.
A third meeting was held in mid September to ask Derbyshire dales District Council about their plans for the bandstand and to ask them to delay decisions on the rebuild until AFMIG had carried out some consultation with its members.
At this meeting the District Council outlined its plans to replace the bandstand and shelter (£70,000 budgeted) and to replace the bridge over the brook with a road bridge that would help their staff enter the Memorial Gardens (£43,000 budgeted). CCTV was also being looked at within the Memorial gardens.
Thank you to all those who took time to complete the survey.
AshCom is proud to have helped the Ashbourne Fishpond Meadow Improvement Group to move a step forward to making some much-needed changes to the park.
This survey was completed by 304 members of the Facebook group and represents an overwhelming vote of confidence in the proposals suggested. The report provides the number of people who agree and disagree with each of the suggested areas, as well as a reminder of what the ideas are.
Such a response has been great to see and allows the group to move forward with confidence to talk to the District Council, but we would like to give the members of the group a week to look through the report and offer further views and opinions.
Please see the attached document which provides a summary of the results.
