HAVE YOUR SAY ON MONDAY 25^TH OCTOBER 2010

FPF & a representative from Waveney Norse will be in Fen Park on

Monday 25^th October from 10am -12noon.

TOILETS / PLAY AREA

This will be an opportunity to discuss these matters and a chance

to find out more about the community group at the heart of

Fen Park

We hope to see you there.

This is your chance as a community to have your say there is a questinnaire to fill in and an opportunity to meet a Waveney Norse representitive and Fen Park Friends.

Foe people that dont know already the results of the Toilets/play area  not to open the toilets was the decision of the general public and if money became available to be spent on new play equipment.

Chair was disappointed but relieved by the decision as we would have had to find the money to update and repair as well as maintain and unlock/lockup daily this would have put a great strain on resouces as we have only 8 on the committee. I was disappointed that alot of mothers with toddlers kept on asking about toilets and were not there on the day to put there vote for or against.

We still live in hope maybe oneday one of our wishes will come true and that would be to have a small cafe with built in toilets so havnt totally give up as yet.

In March 2010 after the final work had finished, we let the water settle first before we put in 2,500 fish a mixture of Roach, Rudd and Skimmer Bream supplied by Quiet Sports Fisheries. After letting the fish become acclimatised to their new environment they began to spawn. Fishing began in August, it was going really well over the summer months as both   children and adults were fishing and although catches were not large; it was enough to get them interested. If we saw any children struggling while on the park we would help them out and give some advice; enquiries were coming thick and fast so we had to come up with an idea of how to make the pond/lake sustainable as Fen Park is a public park to be enjoyed by all so fishing is still free.

As a small group we came up with an idea to start having adult and junior fishing matches so we could put some money in the pot for the future restocking of both fish and plants in the pond, and any repair work that needed doing. This has had to be put on hold as we have been beaten by the wildlife. We have ducks and seagulls and Little Grebes (dab chicks). Seagulls were a problem until our latest visitor the cormorant showed up!!  It started with one then two, we have also had reported to us that three were seen.  Anyone that reads this probably realises  that the cormorant is a sea bird and can consume up to 15lb of fish daily. I will and have put this to people that have had a go at me for trying to scare these birds off ( if you put  £1,000 in the bank and somebody was removing £10 a day how would you feel if you could not do anything about it) this is the reason we have held back on the fishing matches as its very hard to catch fish at the moment. We have on order some Tench and they should be delivered soon; if you are wondering why no carp,we have been requested by the local council not to stock  carp as this would then turn the ponds into a carp fishery and we and the council did not want this; so agreed to keep it just for pleasure fishing. 

A new problem has occurred just recently on the pond which we had pointed out to us by a member of the public, they had noticed what looked like oil or petrol on top of the water, our first thoughts were it must have come off the willows that surround the pond as they due tend to weep a bit, but after more investigation we found out that somebody has been trying his model boats out on the pond; and these are spewing out fuel into the water. We are not against model boats being used on the pond but when they are causing pollution this is a different matter; most model boats are electric so these are no problem. I do have a contact with the local boat model club if not the the environment agency just another problem for the group.

That’s the moaning over, now on a more positive note the pond levels are now holding and looking  good; a lot of the vegetation around this area has grown considerably quicker than we thought  around the pond area. To the back of the pond there is now a figure of eight walk around the  fishing platforms or stands which ever you like to call them, this area is covered in chipped bark and the middle area has been planted with trees curtesy of Waveney Norse. People who have visted the park recently have said what a differance we have made, to what was a once neglected park in Kirkley. If you are visiting South Lowestoft please come and visit; not only can you have a days free fishing you can have a picnic on the park or bring the kids as we have a good play area too, dogs are allowed on the park but we do ask that you keep them under control and pick up after them thanks.  To find us, look up Tom Crisp Way on the map, if you are coming from the sea front you have three ways to find the park; it’s situated on Southwell road, off  Carlton Road, South Lowestoft.

                               Fishing Guidelines

To keep fishing at Fen Park sustainable 

Please adhere to the following guideline

·       Soft baits only, no seafood, cat or dog meat

     ·      Acceptable baits, maggots, luncheon meat, sweet corn & worms

     ·      Small amounts of ground bait only

     ·      Barbless hooks only

     ·      No keep nets (except on a match)

     ·      A valid Environment Fishing Licence is required by Law

     ·      Fishing Licences will be checked regularly

     ·      Fishing dawn to dusk only

     ·      Please take your litter home

   ·     Fen Park Closed Season is 1^st April to 31^st May

First of June is approaching and fishing on Fen Park can start  we have been feeding the fish weekly in the closed season and a lot of young fish have been spotted during the closed season.

If you are interested in forming a Fen Park fishing club please  let me know by contacting me through the website all names and contact numbers will be kept in a confidential file by me .

When/if I receive enough names I will have to inform the local council for them to give us the go ahead and then arrange a meeting with you all.

All that are fishing the Fen Park  do so at there own risk and making sure others are safe too where possably.

Fen Park friends would like to recomend that all childran 12yrs & under who are fishing are acompained by a responsibly adult this is to insure their safety and your peace of mind.

We would also like to remind you that anybody over 12yrs of age have to have a fishing liecence day or full liecenes can be purchased at your local post office we do not like to have to ask people to stop fishing.

 Picture of part of pond in Fen Park on a sunny day in May 2011 

Well here we are in March 2012 and still have a story to tell, which broke our hearts in 2010. We will soon be publishing the story about the pond; which has left  the group devastated. We are still trying to proceed but lack of funds are holding us back,  after all that we had accomplished  over the few years we have been together as a group.  Plans had been coming together to involve  the community in this area of the park. Those responsible for the devastation in the pond have to hold their hands up and come forward with compensation .

We are still liaising with different agencies to get this wrong righted; but we know nothing as yet about what they are going to do for us .  

Will keep you informed!!!!!!!!

Hi All

Just to update you the Lowestoft Journal done us proud this week one full page explaining our predicoment as most of you will have read the story and thanks to all who have responded with good wishes and now reliase why the fishing has died off .

Anglian Water have responded and the good news is that the pumping station will be put right in the next 3 months or sooner then we can talk to them about re-stocking later this year so things are looking up at last.

A friend of a friend helped us out with a lot of lilles for the pond, most have been planted still a few to go in so a big thanks to them for there help. this will give the fish some cover for the future.

We do have our AGM this wed at the bowls club,Carlton Road, Lowestoft start at 7 pm if you are interested you would be more than welcome. (beers cheap)haha

The night was great and we had a full attendance on the night money that was donated was £560 towards replanting of the pond area and to all who made a donation to the raffle a big Thanks from FPF.

Also a big Thankyou to John Hales for allowing us to use the Seagull Theatre and a special thank you to Marion Small who organised and MCd the night  and all the cast who sang there hearts out and entertained everybody on the night once more a BIG THANK YOU from FPF.

   Please come along, you will be made very welcome and also catch up on the latest news about the pond regeneration project, and all other issues concerning  Fen Park. We are about to  start the planning for new planting on the Islands.

A big thank you to the geo-cache members on the Fen Park clean up day; they as a group did litter picking, spread wood chip bark around the Nature walk area while others helped with planting. Also from this we may have gained some new members. (Tried to load some pics will try later)

 The AGM will be at the Railway Bowls and Social Club ,Carlton Road on  Wed 21st April 2010 start time 7pm.

All welcome

Just to bring you all up to date, re-stocking of the pond has started with Roach,Rudd and Bream  but at this time due to the fish settiling in there will be no fishing until further notice.  The fish that have been put in are very small and need some growing time so please be patient. Fen Park Friends had to pay for the fish out of funds for this part of the project which leaves us with very little left in the pot. The fishing platforms were also paid for by us and were made and fitted by local youth from the Yard Project; a job well done. The wooden bridge repairs are nearly completed and £2000 of funding for this came from Cllr. Deanna Law SCC. Waveney Norse has supplied the bark and trees in the figure of eight at no cost to us. Daffodils we planted on the Islands in October with the help of a few volunteers are now coming into bloom. We know have a post just for fishing  will try to update when things happen.                          

For further information please come to any of our meetings.

Future meetings   I would like to thank all who attended last nights meeting 13th Oct and the last meeting this year is 8th Dec at 7pm  same venue. 

Hi here we are 2011, AGM went well same people were voted back in pity not any new faces to join us. We looked back over the year and still felt proud of what we have achieved re-stocking of fish,some planting on the Islands and more to do,the feeding of the fish over the closed period. One or two problems during the year that were sorted out very quickly by the right people.

To see further information about the fishing please go to ( Fishing on Fen Park.)

The next meeting for FPFriends  is on Wed June 15th 2011 at 7pm Bowls club ,Carlton Road

 ALL WELCOME

CLEAN UP DAY

SATURDAY 24^TH MARCH 2012

START 11AM - 2PM

WE HAD A REQUEST FROM GEO-CACHE MEMBERS WANTING TO HELP OUT ON A CLEAN UP DAY. IT’S TAKING PLACE ON THE ABOVE DATE WEATHER PERMITTING. YOU MAY OR MAY NOT KNOW WHAT GEO-CACHEING IS ALL ABOUT, IF YOU WANT TO KNOW MORE, COME ALONG AND HELP OUT TO FIND OUT.

A DISASTER IN THE POND AREA LAST YEAR HAS AFFECTED THE POND AND FISHING, TO GET THE TRUE STORY JUST ASK THE FRIENDS! EVERYONE VERY WELCOME.

FEN PARK FRIENDS AGM

   WEDNESDAY 18^TH APRIL 2012  AT 7PM

BOWLS CLUB, CARLTON ROAD, LOWESTOFT.

ALL WELCOME

 These are photos I took at the weekend, of the work which has just commenced on the park, the main work has been delayed until after the  half term holiday; and should start on or around 23/2/09.

Dredging of the pond and the stabilisation of both the pond and islands has been been talked about for the last two and a half years; now with the help of various agencies such as Waveney Norse , WDC,  SCC, Suffolk Wildlife Trust, The Environment Agency and also Lowestoft Together who gave us the Grant Funding for this project; we are now able to go ahead. 

It will begin with the clearing of trees, then pumping out some of the water before the removal of fish, then the piling will be put into place around the pond and islands followed by dreging; silt will be used as infill on site; this work will cause a bad smell around this area for a while, also as I have mentioned before  half of the park will be fenced off while work is in progress; this is for Health and Safety reasons.

In the picture bottom left you will notice that the three Islands at the back of the pond will become one large island; when this has dried out after a reasonable amount of time has gone by; this area will include a Nature Walk and fishing places will be created on the bank facing the pond.

The pictures at the bottom of the page are an example of the completed work that Fen Park Friends hope will be achieved.

Fen Park friends are looking for future funding for the planting of trees, re-stocking of fish and extending the nature walk around the back of the small pond, two volunteer groups have already shown an interest in creating this area; if you are also interested please make contact with us through the web site. Thank you for your time in visiting our web site.

Hi all, Work on the pond is going really well; hopefully this should be finished by the end of August ’09; a lot of work has gone into this project and when you  visit the park you may think (Oh my !!). Please don`t worry the silt has been laid on top of the Islands because removing it from site was too costly. After approx. a year we can re-plant as the silt will have dried out, it will also be a very good  fertiliser for these  areas. We have had many a concern about the trees that had to take down;  but we’ve had  professional advice from all the various agencies  before, during and also  this will continue even after the work has finished.                        

Reports from the contractors have been very informational; they have seen a Muntjac deer & her young, both ducks & moor hens  have  had babies. The Heron was seen pulling something out of the mud, one chap thought it had caught a snake but then realised it was a large eel.

These pictures that I have added were taken about a week ago when the piling was nearly finished; the regeneration of this area has certainly made this more open and will make the pond deeper which will help the wildlife and fish when we restock.

We are planning a Family Fun Day to be held on the park, on Sunday 24th August 2008 from 11am to 4pm, the reason for holding our fundraising event on a Sunday was from the publics request after last year`s event. On the day Music, Grand Raffle, Arena Events, community stalls and more.

We are also looking for local volunteers to help out or run a stall for us on the day . Donations of good quality books, bric-a-brac and toys will be gratefully received. Contact Linda Jolley on 01502-515628.

We have still got a long way to go with the regeneration of the park; so If you would like to come on board as a member or even join the committee please contact us through this site. We are not asking you to give up your social life, just a few hours now and again and you will be surprised what a difference this makes! You can meet and make new friends and at the same time have your say as to what could happen on the park.

The Family Fun Day in August was opened by Local business man Gary Bennett of Gary Bennett Driving School. It started as a miserable rainy day and we thought it would be a complete washout, but it started to clear about 2pm when a few more people started to appear, on the park.  A lot of fun was had by all who attended and at the end of the day  many people were rewarded with a raffle prize for supporting us, over 40 prizes were won.

Lowestoft dog display team/ Jumpin Jax dance group/   Junk funk entertained the kids

We also had many community stalls join us and had a few stalls ourselves eg. raffle,  card game, tombola and white elephant, also on site were First light catering and Dinky Donuts. K-Syl-R  Roadshow kept everyone  entertained as did Andy the Clown and Megan and George comedy act. Lowestoft Together who have funded and supported us were on site promoting themselves and us too.  If you are a local community group who are struggling, don`t be afraid to approach Lowestoft Together as they could be the answer to your problems; you can make contact by using the web; just go to our main page and you will find their website it`s well worth the look.

We as a group would like to thank all our sponsors for kindly supporting our raffle this year. Many thanks also to everyone who volunteered their help on the day as without you we wouldn’t be able to hold an event

]]> http://www.fenparkfriends.org.uk/2008/05/summer-fete-2008/feed/ http://www.fenparkfriends.org.uk/2008/04/hello-world/ http://www.fenparkfriends.org.uk/2008/04/hello-world/#comments Tue, 22 Apr 2008 17:43:35 +0000 admin http://www.fenparkfriends.org.uk/?p=1 Welcome to Fen Park on the web! Here you’ll find all the latest news regarding the development and preservation of Fen Park. Please feel free to comment on any of the posts listed on this site or talk further in our forum. If you need to contact us for any reason, a contact form is available on the Contact Us page of the site.