Projects
Lake Station Community Garden
Lake Community Station Garden
This area has long needed a tidy up and make over, bringing it in to line with improvements at Shanklin, Sandown, St Johns and Pier Head. (Best not to mention Esplanade at the moment) Therefore a bid is being written by Bobby Lock at the moment for plants etc needed to improve the area below.
Looking down from the platform
Kirbside to the garden which will be opened up
Just a fraction of the litter problem
More brambles!!
Further more a partnership approach with the CRP, Island Line and the Youth Offending Team (YOT) to look at the area seems a good idea with a planned programme of;
- New fencing
- Tree trimming
- Rubbish and weed clearing
- Digging over
- A weed killing programme over the September
- Painted shelter with the new TravelSafe posters
- Planting/turfing programme in the Autumn
Autumn 2009
Spraying completed, it was time that the trees were thinned and one had to be cut down to give a little more light and space to make a community garden. This was completed by Groundsels contractors on a lovely day in September, ready for the really heavy hard work to clear, re-fence and plant in October.
September Start....
Pollarding the trees....
One down resulting in more light....
October Youth Offending Team start….
October 27th….
Day 1
RDO Bobby Lock was onsite first thing to meet Chalky from Groundsels and Tesni Challis from YOT. With Tesni were part time volunteers Troy Keasling and Claire Whittaker who were there to help YOT ensure their ‘team’ turned up, did the work and stayed to complete their hours.
The rest of the Groundsels team were already hard at work with their digger to scrape the top layer of thick tangled bramble that covered the area that had been sprayed some weeks back. The first two arrived to work and certainly one of them was keen to have some long lasting input into an area he will have worked hard on for a restoration in a run down area next to this station in creating a community garden to be proud of.
Fence posts in between the old sub station were removed and the tree trunk dug out, all making way for a large flower bed, tubs and benches to be put in place……and will be once all this work is completed.
Tesni Challis from Catch 22 with volunteers Clare Whittaker and Troy Keasling doing a morning ring round for the Youth Offending Team
Some of the Youth Offending Team preparing for their reparation work....
Still more brambles
The Chalkster!....
October 28th….
Day 2
Groundsels, Catch 22, the volunteers and the Youth Offending Team worked so hard today on preparing the garden for the work to be done week after next. The area had been completely opened up and cleared of the massive amount of brambles and weeds that have clogged the site for many years…..making the whole area look and feel neglected and uncared for.
The work that was done was hard physical work and rewarded with thanks for a job well done…..but more importantly fish and chips from Sandown for all!
The team are already looking forward to the planning day in Newport when Chalky will have a plan for the young people to work on and fill in. That will be the plan that is used, again giving total ownership over this project to the young people involved.
Whilst working, both of the YOT had came up with some really good ideas to take the project forward which would then involve more of the community. RDO Bobby Lock is looking into all of these proposals with the view of an on going project well into the New Year. Good job guys….really well done. Thank you
Looking forward to fish and chips!
Unrecognisable!
November 4th….
Day 3
Planning in Newport
November 12th….
Day 4
Preparation
Work continues to progress with Lake Station Community Garden and young people from the YOT programme managed by Catch 22 came today to lay the webbing and plant the plants.
Recycled concrete planters, donated by IWC are also in place ready to be filled, cunningly positioned over the redundant sub station which SE Electric need to have access to should they ever need to use it again.
The whole area is now really starting to look like a garden rather than a neglected piece of land which was only used as a dumping ground for all sorts of unsavoury rubbish.
LAKE Beat Office Sgt Baxter with one YOT
November 13th….
Day 5
PlantingStorms cancel play!
It all got a bit close for comfort this last week when the weather put pay to any work at the station and the fencing suppliers on the Island had a delay for heir delivery. Unfortunately the invitations had already gone out for the opening of the station and to cancel was going to be tricky given that some had been posted to those who are not on the internet.
Groundsels put the pressure on and came up trumps on Thursday with a shipment of posts in order to open up the enclosed space into the planned community garden.
Taking out the old fencing
Friday saw them work through awful conditions, which we could not expect the young people from YOT to endure. Saturday saw the RDO at LAKE to see the nearly finished garden, which looks such a difference to the original mess that was there in August.
Old Grass verge New grass verge and opened garden
The Groundsel Team...BIG commitment....much appreciated especially on a Saturday!
Monday 23rd at 12 noon see’s the official opening with the Chair of Lake Parish Council doing the honours at the station.
Finished
