Bohemia Village Voice

BWGA committee: Bob Hart, Susan Thomson & Judy Clark

The Bohemia Walled Garden Association (BWGA) had its second meeting on 9th March 2009.  The purpose of the meeting was to put the BWGA on a firm footing.  The draft constitution was read through and unanimously accepted.  Committee officers were proposed and elected.  As a result, Judy Clark is their chairperson, Bob Hart is treasurer and Susan Thomson is secretary [above].  Also discussed were the merits of different banking institutions as they will need an account for their future financial transactions. After some deliberation, an account was opened with the NatWest bank. At the moment, the account only holds £12, which represents a donation of £4 from each of the officers.  “We now need to actively seek funding from various charities and organisations”.        [Abridged report from the BWGA]

Minutes of the BWGA meeting, 9th Mar 2009 (abridged)

Attendees: Judy Clark, Bob, Hart, Susan Thomson, Michael Mulkerrin, Lesly Bruce, Emma Frankish Law, Sue Jones, Sophie Jones, Lewis Nicholls, David Phillips, Delia Cattell, Gemma Haywood. Chairperson: Judy Clark.
Website: Bob Hart suggested using the new Yahoo Group ‘Bohemiawga@yahoo.co.uk’ as a point of contact and resource for all present documentation.
Draft Constitution: a brief history for choice of name of the association was given and no objections were made to keeping ‘Bohemia Walled Garden Association’. All were given time to read the draft constitution.  A brief explanation was given by Judy Clark of the main objectives and powers. The draft constitution was adopted, with all votes in agreement to accept.
Membership: it was agreed that there should be no parameters for membership and that all members should be openly encouraged with all interests welcome. It was agreed that a subscription fee (as per the draft constitution) of £5 per person per year should be paid, this giving the right to vote.
Election of Committee Members: all voting was unanimous: Judy Clark (chair), Susan Thomson (sec),  Bob Hart (treasurer).
Bank account: Overall a building society account was more favourable than a bank account, and was agreed that Nationwide would be the preferred option for the immediate future. Judy, Susan and Bob arranged to visit Nationwide the following morning Tuesday 10th March 2009.
Access Route: a map showing plans for access route was passed around. Susan has received approval from the Highways Dept to go ahead with a pedestrian (wide enough for a ride-on tractor) access route via Bohemia Road up to the Estates Dept building and past its car park.
Planning permission: it was decided that an application for planning permission for both the access route and any work such as poly-tunnels, water storage tanks, water, waste and energy supplies, within the walls to Hastings Planning Department for which there will be a fee.
Design workshop a design workshop was suggested for the internal layout of the walled garden allowing the collaboration of individual’s input taken from all sorts of experience both amateur and professional. This was welcomed by all.
Security: re security levels and vandalism, it was suggested to open up the area around the walled garden improving visibility and allowing more natural sunlight in. Majority of the woodland growth is sycamore trees, as these are graded as secondary woodland, there should be no nature conservation objections.
Walls: Lewis suggested recruiting volunteers and/or students from Hastings College to repair the walls. Many of the fallen bricks are scattered or buried nearby and salvaging these would be cost effective and maintain the original appearance. Judy suggested organising a ‘brick reclamation’ day.

Bohemia Walled Garden Association
If you would like become involved, lend your support, or just learn more about what the BWGA is doing, please come along to our next meeting.  We will be at the YMCA mobile classroom, in St Paul’s Road at 7pm on Monday, 11th May.  On the agenda will be the subject of membership and subscription rates, with a view to creating a membership list at this time. Thank you.

Where is the walled garden? Follow the path between the Law Courts and the police station into Summerfields Woods you cant miss it.