The Friends of Victoria Park is a group of Ashford residents who believe that Victoria Park and Watercress Fields are a community resource that should be available for all.
Our aims are to:
- Protect, conserve and enhance Victoria Park as a place of freedom, recreation and enjoyment for the long-term benefit of the people of Ashford;
- To develop and propose ideas and suggestions to Ashford Borough Council and any relevant organisation in accordance with the paragraph above;
- To seek the community’s suggestions in addition to the Group’s own opinions on any works to improve or change Victoria Park;
- To promote the use of the park and its attributes within Ashford and beyond.
- Protect and conserve the ecology and wildlife of the park.
The area to which the Group’s aims refer is the whole of the formal park together with Watercress Fields (as shown on the plan above).
The group is governed by the Constitution that was adopted on 7th September 2018 and amended at our meeting on 15th November 2023.
Membership
The Friends has an open membership. Any person interested in seeing the aims of the Group achieved can join by registering online or by attending one of our meetings. There is no membership subscription. At least four meetings are held each year. Notice of meetings is sent to all registered members, announced on the front page of our website and on our Facebook page and is posted on noticeboards in the Park.
Policies
We have adopted policies that guide how we undertake our activities.
History
The Group was formed in March 2018, during the Development Stage of the Victoria Park Improvement Programme, to meet the requirement to consult and involve the community. During the initial months the group meetings were facilitated by a consultant employed by Ashford Borough Council and were used to develop the aims of the group, leading to the adoption of a Constitution, and to support the consultation relating to the Improvement Plan.
The first fully independent meeting was held in November 2018