Author: Lizzie O'Grady

Work is finally underway in the Rookery to renovate the beloved Streatham Rookery Cascade and Rock Garden using elements of the Edwardian horticultural exotic style. 

The total project will cost £148,132, of which £84,600 will come from the Heritage Lottery Fund. The lead project partners are SCCoop and Lambeth Council, who will contribute most of the other funding. Other partners are Friends of Streatham Common, Streatham Common Community Garden and Streatham Society. 

Work started in early January and is hoping to complete by Mid March 2018.

The cascade and accompanying rockery were originally installed in around 1912 as part of the newly created Rookery public gardens. The Cascade stopped working a few years ago, and the gardens have been neglected following years of budget cuts.

Read here for more info on the Rookery

The Friends of Streatham Common relies very much on its army of volunteers. And we are always recruiting. We had many great days out on the Common in 2017 organised by our volunteers, and we are always keen to look at new events that will raise the profile of our wonderful space. 

We need your experience and your enthusiasm. From supporting Kite Day, to helping with security or fundraising, all our events are steered by our local Streatham Common lovers. There are of course, lots of backgroound meetings that go on, with members busy working with partnerships and individuals all in the name of making the space a better place for us all. Ordinary people with ordinary and extraordinary skills that make our Common one of the jewels in Lambeths crown.

You can of course be a silent member, all  those who make the effort to contact us and join us is always appreciated. But as we all know, green space is under pressure from all elements, environmental and financial, so now and again, we may call on you to lend us your voice.  Take a look at all the great events we had in 2017 – is there something you might be able to help us with?

If you came to any of these great events – a big thank you! We look forward to seeing you again in 2018

As epic perhaps as a new Star Wars film, and as hotly anticipated…the new Streatham Common Playground after many years in the planning finally launched on Saturday [16th December 2017]

There was balloons, there was playdoh, there was cake! And all opened with great propriety by the Mayor of Lambeth, Marcia Cameron. Also in attendance, local councillors John Kazantzis‏, Malcolm Clark & Clair Wilcox who backed the project all the way, as well as members of Friends of Streatham Common  who worked hard on bringing the plans to fruition.

Thankfully the early part of the day was wonderfully sunny and lots of kids gave the pieces a good going over! We appreciated everyone coming out on such a cold morning to give the place a well deserved opening. [There was even children playing in there on a very rainy Sunday!].

The Friends of Streatham Common’s volunteers working with Lambeth Council were integral in realising this project, with discussions starting way back in 2013!

FoSC commissioned LUC to put together draft plans [they had previously worked on the very successful Brockwell Park, and Horniman Museum playgrounds]. A cafe will follow soon, the idea being that the original scheme needed the playground to pay for its own repairs and upkeep.

Read the full summary of planning here in our newsletter back in August 2015.

In spite of not being 100% finished, [around 75% there!] it was felt an early Christmas present to our local community’s kids was in order. There will also be some fine tuning with feedback from the community on any adjustments that need working on. Workmen are finishing the landscaping in the week leading up to Christmas.

With this in mind – we do ask that parents who want to be involved in ensuring Children’s needs are included in the future of the Common, please join us.  We need input, and we need ideas. Ideas can only be put in place by the community and this playground is a fine example of people coming together with the council to make it happen. You can make a difference!

We are sad to announce that we have had to agree to fell the large Willow tree in the play ground. It has come to the end of its life span. Tree experts have told us it’s dangerous to keep the current one there as the trunk is losing its strength.

Unfortunately we cannot have a dangerous tree in the play ground with so many children playing underneath it. They are incredibly tempting to climb and we just can’t risk anything happening to our younger community should sudden weaknesses arise in the future.

These trees only last for around 50-70 years, having a shorter life span than many trees, but the good news is they do grow quickly. FoSC plan to replace it with another Willow as soon as we can. They can grow 10 feet a year so within a short few seasons, we hope to have to soft shade covering us throughout the summer months again.

Be assured there are no plans to destroy any healthy trees and FoSC is constantly looking at the future conservation and planning of trees on the common.

We sold out the seats at our recent fun-draiser, the annual Christmas Pub quiz which took place on the 23rd November 2017. 64 seats sold and we couldn’t fit anymore in at the door on the night!  The good natured crowd raised over £500 in ticket and raffle sales, with money most likey going to support the ancient Well in the Rookery Gardens.

The raffle saw prizes ranging from wine, hampers, brandy and the consolation prizes of day passes to the local gym…which strangely enough were not the most popular items. The Railway Pub were the perfect hosts and the quiz master set some incredibly difficult questions based on general knowledge, with some great outtakes from films to identify. 13 teams sweated it out for the prize-less gift of being the smartest arses in Streatham!

 The event was organised with huge efforts by two of Friends of Streatham Common volunteers, Tracy Williamson and Camilla Ray. Thank you for coming and supporting our very important fundraising event, making it possible for future generations to enjoy our local treasures.

News just in about the nature of the works being undertaken in the woodland by SCCoop and the London Wildlife Trust as part of the Great North Wood project.

The project is now up and running with a dedicated team and project manager, Andrew Wright. You can find out more about the project here, and sign up for their newsletter too http://www.wildlondon.org.uk/great-north-wood .

 You will remember that one of the plans was to fence off an area of the woodland to allow the severely eroded soil level to regenerate. The fencing will help this by discouraging pedestrian traffic allowing vegetation to build up and replenish the soil level. There may even be the opportunity for some woodland planting! Well the first stage of the project is underway. The attached diagram shows the location of the area to be fenced off. As you can see the area is adjacent to the ride. It has an approx. 180m circumference. The reason this area was chosen is that the tree canopy above is still fairly thin and will allow light into the site and also that there exists at least some soil presence. The fencing is sensitive – chestnut paling with sturdy stakes and was delivered today.

SCCoop and LWT held an information drop-in session on 18th October to present some of the planned works and although numbers were low, people understand the reasons for the work.

The work is planned for 20th, 21st and 23rd November this will be led by LWT and SCCoop so do please come along if you can!

Contact dominic.leary @ sccoop.org.uk

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