SAVE OAKFIELD SITE PETITION
Many of you will already be aware of the threat of eventual development of the Oakfield site for housing development.
Our friends "Barkingside21" - a local environmental group that is pro- green space, pro- children's sport, anti- green-field development - has taken to campaigning on our behalf and has publicised the petition to the Council set up by 1st. XI Cricket Capt. Jai Patel (ex-ICHS in case you were wondering)
The petition can be found here Click!
Loads more info on the Oakfield site issues can be found via Click!
You may e-mail the Old Parks' Campaign Team here
Our friends "Barkingside21" - a local environmental group that is pro- green space, pro- children's sport, anti- green-field development - has taken to campaigning on our behalf and has publicised the petition to the Council set up by 1st. XI Cricket Capt. Jai Patel (ex-ICHS in case you were wondering)
The petition can be found here Click!
Loads more info on the Oakfield site issues can be found via Click!
You may e-mail the Old Parks' Campaign Team here
MARK BOUNDY
GROUNDSMAN OF THE YEAR
Our very own Mark Boundy has been awarded a Certificate by the Football Association as the Groundsman of the Year 2011 for the Amateur Football Alliance (AFA) which is the governing body for the League and Cups in which the Old Parks F.C. participate. Visiting teams and Referees are invited to grade the facilities of the Clubs.
This has been won in competition with grounds such as Banks that have resources available to them several times bigger than the Old Parks. It is a huge tribute to the work that Mark puts in and the quality of facilities was a factor in the award of "Charter" status to the Football Club.
The new fence has been a major contributary factor as the Club is now able to undertake work on the pitches that would have been impossible while the grounds were used as a public park and dog toilet.
This has been won in competition with grounds such as Banks that have resources available to them several times bigger than the Old Parks. It is a huge tribute to the work that Mark puts in and the quality of facilities was a factor in the award of "Charter" status to the Football Club.
The new fence has been a major contributary factor as the Club is now able to undertake work on the pitches that would have been impossible while the grounds were used as a public park and dog toilet.
LATEST OAKFIELD "DEVELOPMENTS" -
WE HAVE A NEW FENCE!!
Jackson's Fencing have COMPLETED work at Oakfield on installing a security fence AND VERY FINE IT LOOKS TOO.
Nat West Bank run a scheme known as "Cricket Force" that provides, amongst other things, discounted fencing materials from Jacksons. We shall now be spending the Lottery Grant. We had hoped to have an appeal to Members for contributions towards the fence and a few ancilliary things but the Charity that runs Oakfield - the Ilford County High School Oakfield Trust (ICHSOT) - refused consent following objections from Trustees.
Having had no serious response from Redbridge Council, we applied for and were granted a "Certificate of Lawful Development" (Permitted Development) from the Council's Planning Department. We were advised to do so as a result of an exchange of e-mails with Councillor Nick Hayes, Cabinet Member for Planning & Regeneration, and Murray Broad, Director of Planning.
This fence will make a huge difference to our operations at Oakfield as we shall no longer be in the position of operating a public park at our own expense. We will therefore be able to do things with regard to pitch maintenance and encourage use of the ground that we are unable to do at present due to undesirable trespassers.
Nat West Bank run a scheme known as "Cricket Force" that provides, amongst other things, discounted fencing materials from Jacksons. We shall now be spending the Lottery Grant. We had hoped to have an appeal to Members for contributions towards the fence and a few ancilliary things but the Charity that runs Oakfield - the Ilford County High School Oakfield Trust (ICHSOT) - refused consent following objections from Trustees.
Having had no serious response from Redbridge Council, we applied for and were granted a "Certificate of Lawful Development" (Permitted Development) from the Council's Planning Department. We were advised to do so as a result of an exchange of e-mails with Councillor Nick Hayes, Cabinet Member for Planning & Regeneration, and Murray Broad, Director of Planning.
This fence will make a huge difference to our operations at Oakfield as we shall no longer be in the position of operating a public park at our own expense. We will therefore be able to do things with regard to pitch maintenance and encourage use of the ground that we are unable to do at present due to undesirable trespassers.
CLUB WATCH LAUNCH
The following article appeared in the Ilford Recorder of 22nd. July
This managed to annoy just about everyone concerned, though we did get our name mentioned. Chris Chandler, Sergeant i/c Fairlop Safer Neighbourhood Team (SNT) pointed out to the Recorder :
"The Ilford Recorder (July 22nd) ran the story about Club Watch on page 5, which was at least a prominent position.
Unfortunately despite a comprehensive and carefully prepared press release the article was deficient in a number of respects.
The report gives the impression Club Watch is a Borough wide initiative, which it is not.
It fails to give credit to all the organisations involved, only mentioning three of the six, despite accurate details of all involved having been provided.
It make no reference to the special circumstances of so many clubs co-located in one area.
It makes no mention of Fairlop Ward or Fairlop SNT.
It makes no reference to Neighbourhood Watch or the aims of the Club Watch.
It fails to use any of the quote provided, particularly parts thanking and acknowledging the hard work of those involved."
We did at least get access to a (unpublished) photo, courtesy of the Ilford Recorder:
photo left to right
PCSO Emma Andrews (Fairlop SNT); Steve Wills (Met Police Crime Prevention - att. Redbridge Council); Inspector Dan Carlton (Met Police Redbridge North SNT Cluster); Nicholas Hurst (Chairman Governors, Frenford Clubs); Jason Meads (Area Manager, Powerleague); Mick Foster (Bar Manager, London Marathon site); Sgt. Chris Chandler (Fairlop SNT); some old geezer from Old Parks; PC Adam Taylor (Fairlop SNT); Lisa Cherry (Met Police Redbridge Borough Watch Manager); Will Savill (one of the Duty Managers at Redbridge Sports Centre); Steve Stuckey (Hon Sec. Ilford Wanderers RFC)
This is the first such scheme in the Met Police area and could be a template for others in the Borough and throughout London. A look through a colour version of the A-Z will show how many green spaces there are, each one possibly a cricket, rugby, bowls club. They all share the same problems of thefts from parked cars, vandalism, graffiti, dog fouling, and many more aspects of "anti-social behaviour".
OAKFIELD "DEVELOPMENTS" -
SPURS ACADEMY ARRIVES
It is a matter of public knowledge that The Frenford Clubs are in the process of vacating Oakfield (Jack Carter Pavilion) and Cricklefield, in order to occupy the former PLA site in The Drive, Ilford, and are in fact in possession of the new building (October 2010).
News had come out the Spurs Academy were to occupy the Frenford Oakfield site for THREE years from July 2010.
We have finally received responses to questions we put to the Tottenham Hotspur Academy from their Manager, John McDermott (754 appearences for Grimsby). As is often to be expected in such cases, the situation is not as we were led to believe it might be. Their involvement with Frenford is basically that they are hiring pitches from Frenford. The Bealonians FC are losing one of their four pitches and are having to hire one elsewhere.
The Academy will be be in residence every Monday, Tuesday and Thursday during school holidays from 8:30 a.m. until 6 p.m. Starting in September, they will be there every Saturday and Sunday until May, for the next two years.
The main base for the Academy will continue to be hosted in Luxborough Lane, Chigwell, (known as "The Lodge") and the Frenford site will provide a base for activities, currently hosted at The Lodge.
They expect their new training facility to be available within 2 years at Bulls Cross, Enfield, at which time all the academy and senior professionals go en masse.
They have not been offered exclusive use of the Fencepiece Road gate and will not be erecting any signage.
They will look to have exclusive use of the Frenford car park and will be conducting trials during July and August to establish whether to use either entrance or both.
They currently have no intention (currently) of continuing 'overflow' arrangements with Redbridge Sports Centre when they have e.g Hockey and Netball Tournaments. That should rattle a cage or two.
They will be providing their own security staff who will be vetting visitors. They will be "looking to ensure" that the areas that they utilise are exclusive to The Academy. They will cordon off areas using ropes and temporary fencing when the pitches are in use. There will be no CCTV.
They are not intending having an 'Opening Ceremony'.
They have slightly extended the equipment compound and will "look to utilise" a shipping container for storage. There will be no major construction.
It is understood that Hainault & Clayhall Cricket Club will continue to use the cricket facilities at Oakfield until 2013 at least and optionally until 2015. The Frenford Clubs will continue to have use of the Jack Carter Pavilion under this arrangement. They will therefore be running two Function Suites for two years.
News had come out the Spurs Academy were to occupy the Frenford Oakfield site for THREE years from July 2010.
We have finally received responses to questions we put to the Tottenham Hotspur Academy from their Manager, John McDermott (754 appearences for Grimsby). As is often to be expected in such cases, the situation is not as we were led to believe it might be. Their involvement with Frenford is basically that they are hiring pitches from Frenford. The Bealonians FC are losing one of their four pitches and are having to hire one elsewhere.
The Academy will be be in residence every Monday, Tuesday and Thursday during school holidays from 8:30 a.m. until 6 p.m. Starting in September, they will be there every Saturday and Sunday until May, for the next two years.
The main base for the Academy will continue to be hosted in Luxborough Lane, Chigwell, (known as "The Lodge") and the Frenford site will provide a base for activities, currently hosted at The Lodge.
They expect their new training facility to be available within 2 years at Bulls Cross, Enfield, at which time all the academy and senior professionals go en masse.
They have not been offered exclusive use of the Fencepiece Road gate and will not be erecting any signage.
They will look to have exclusive use of the Frenford car park and will be conducting trials during July and August to establish whether to use either entrance or both.
They currently have no intention (currently) of continuing 'overflow' arrangements with Redbridge Sports Centre when they have e.g Hockey and Netball Tournaments. That should rattle a cage or two.
They will be providing their own security staff who will be vetting visitors. They will be "looking to ensure" that the areas that they utilise are exclusive to The Academy. They will cordon off areas using ropes and temporary fencing when the pitches are in use. There will be no CCTV.
They are not intending having an 'Opening Ceremony'.
They have slightly extended the equipment compound and will "look to utilise" a shipping container for storage. There will be no major construction.
It is understood that Hainault & Clayhall Cricket Club will continue to use the cricket facilities at Oakfield until 2013 at least and optionally until 2015. The Frenford Clubs will continue to have use of the Jack Carter Pavilion under this arrangement. They will therefore be running two Function Suites for two years.
WE HAVE ACTUALLY GOT SOME MONEY!!!!
We have been successful in obtaining funding from The National Lottery "Awards For All".
The amount is £10,000 that will be put towards a new Child Protection and Security Fence
Under the rules of the award we are only permitted to spend up to £25,000 on the project.
Further applications for funding are in the post as you are reading this.
Thanks to all who have supported our endeavours so far.
Thanks to all who have supported our endeavours so far.
SCHOOL NEWS
The School has started up a newspaper, known as "Focus". It is not clear if this is replacing "The Chronicles" or not. You can access this from the School website home page, the link for which is top right.
The new sooper-dooper issue 2 has page animation so that you can see the pages turn over.
A full list of useful Publications about the School can be found here, including the School Prospectus that features its Performance Stat.s
The new sooper-dooper issue 2 has page animation so that you can see the pages turn over.
A full list of useful Publications about the School can be found here, including the School Prospectus that features its Performance Stat.s
SUBMIT A NEWS ITEM
It is hoped to include News items of interest to Members as and when they become available. We would hope in time to build this up into a publishable Newsletter.
If you wish to submit a newsworthy item about an Old Parkonian or a friend of the Club, please use the following method:
If you wish to submit a newsworthy item about an Old Parkonian or a friend of the Club, please use the following method:
Click on "comments" below, enter your item and your Contact Details (phone or e-mail), click 'Anonymous' and click 'Publish Your Comment'. Your message will be sent to 'Moderator' who will respond.
Items containing photos (please submit in jpeg format only) must be sent by e-mail only to here
If you wish to request information or news about an Old Parkonian, please use the Membership link
