Author: chris sanders

Note of Meeting 23 July 2025
Several members of the Friends’ committee attended with Council officers, a local Police officer and a local business representative.
The purpose of the meeting was to explore further the proposed protection measures for the Park put forward at the residents’ meeting on 5 July. Particular focus was placed on the preferred proposal for boulders combined with wooden planters.
The discussion identified the following:

1. No planning permission is required for the placement of boulders
2. FoVP has several pledges of financial contributions to the cost of protection measures
3. Wooden planters would need maintenance and could be set alight. They were discounted on these grounds
4. Boulders would need to be ‘installed’ rather than simply placed. This would involve digging
   hollows in which they would be placed on a bed of cement/concrete.
5. Any measures, and their installation would need to be compliant with regulations pertaining to green spaces and play areas
6. Subject to ‘5’ above we, FoVP could go ahead if we were able to meet the full cost of materials and installation
7. As an add on to boulders the Council offered tree whips to provide hedging and wildlife habitat in the longer term
8. As a temporary measure we could make use of some more of the ‘portable’ concrete blocks to make some vulnerable areas more secure
   
   

Actions agreed

• Committee to conduct a survey to identify how many boulders would be necessary. The survey to draw upon and build upon some preliminary work undertaken by a local surveyor
• Council to provide specification of boulders to meet compliance
• Committee to calculate cost of boulders based on results of survey and specifications
• Committee to advise Council of number of boulders required in order that Council can calculate and provide a quote for cost of installation
• In addition to ‘3’ above and to take account of the possibility of the work being fully funded by FoVP and residents, Committee to cost out a package of supply and installation by the quarry
• Council to investigate and advise on the provision of additional temporary concrete blocks

All agreed to stay in contact to be able to clarify issues as they arise.

Friends of Vinall Park

AGM Notice

Wednesday 11^th June at 6.30pm (sharp) on the park

Book in to join your committee by emailing us at 

info@vinallpark.org

You are invited to the Halloween Fancy Dress competition organised by the Friends of Vinall Park

There will be prizes for the best dressed

Please come to Vinall Park on Thursday 31st October at 6pm and join in the fun

Please join us for this years Summer Picnic on the Park

It will be on Sunday 7th July – starting at 12 midday. There will also be a free raffle

Please bring a picnic and all your family and enjoy a wonderful time on the park – we look forward to seeing you all there

You will recall that in October last year FoVP invited members, residents and Park users to share memories of their usage of the Park over a number of years and related to a range of activities.  The purpose of this was to provide supporting evidence for our application to Medway Council for Village Green Status. 

Thank you for your responses.

Since October we have collated that information and provided it to the Council who, initially, undertook to make the application on our behalf.

Unfortunately we have recently been advised that although the Council is supportive in principle of our application it will not be in a position,  because of financial, staffing  and other resource restraints, to take this forward.

Whilst this is disappointing it does not prevent FoVP from pursuing this ourselves.  Having discussed the situation at its meeting on 10 June the FoVP Committee agreed unanimously that rather than delay matters further we  would make the application, and bear any costs, ourselves.

As set out in the original message asking for your memories of the Park success in securing Village Green Status will offer additional protection against any proposed development of the Park.  

We are optimistic for a positive outcome.

What a fantastic response we got for the Carols on the Green event.

It was such a lovely atmosphere with the dozens of people who attended and everyone had a great time singing along with the Wigmore Voices – who were excellent.

With all the positive feedback we received we are hoping this may now become an annual event

Thanks to everyone who was able to attend and special thanks again to The Wigmore Voices

Please come and join us for Carols on The Green on Vinalls Park.

We are hoping you will be able to join us on Sunday 17th December from 6 till 6:45 to sing some Christmas carols with us. We will be at the Cecil Avenue end near the children’s playground.

We are lucky enough to be accompanied by the Wigmore voices so it should be a great evening.

Come along and join in!

There was a great response to the Halloween Fancy Dress competition held on Vinall Park last night

There were all ages in the competition and the judges had a very difficult job to decide the winners.

Our councillor Hazel Browne was in attendance to present the prizes to the lucky winners

We had a great variety of costumes and it was great to see some adults taking part too – we even had a lion!

Thank you to everyone who attended and we look forward to doing something similar next year

Dear Members, residents and park users,
After careful consideration of a number of options open to us the Committee of the Friends of Vinall Park has agreed to seek to obtain Town/Village Green status for the Park. We will be supported in this by Medway Council.
The reason for pursuing this course of action is to put another layer of ‘protection’ on the Park against future building development. We hope you will support us in this aim to keep the Park as a Green Space for the benefit of residents and local users.
To take the application forward requires us to collect evidence of the ways in which the Park is used and has been used in the past. This is where we would like your help please. You will see below a set of questions which we hope will prompt you to share your recollections of how you and your friends and family have used the Park.

We have posted copies to everyone in the streets surrounding the park but if you would like to download and print your own copy click below

If you prefer an on-line version can be completed here

Please don’t feel that you have to answer all of the questions in detail – anything that you are able to provide will be helpful.

If you wish to email your response please copy and paste the questions below and send your response to membership@vinallpark.org

Vinall Park memories

1. Name – optional
2. Address and Contact details – optional. Useful for the Committee to be able to follow up for more details
3. How long have you lived in the area?
4. How long have you been using the Park?
5. How often do you visit Vinall Park?
6. How long do you spend there?
7. What are your reasons for visiting the park?: Please tick all that apply

 walk
 exercise
 children/grandchildren
 meet friends/relatives
 dog walking
 picnic
 sports/games – organised or ad hoc
 other – please define

8. What memories do you have of organised events?

 when?
 who organised?
 what type of event?

• social, sport, charity, family, community,
   duration?
   how many people attended?

It would be helpful if you could submit your responses by Friday 10 November.
Thank you in advance of your help.
The Vinall Park Committee

There will be a Halloween Fancy Dress competition on Vinall Park on Tuesday 31st October at 6.30. It’s free to enter and there will be a prize for the best costume