Annual General Meeting

Friends of Garendon Park

Annual General Meeting Agenda 2026

Gorse Covert Community Centre, Maxwell Drive from 7pm - 8:30pm.

1. Welcome and Apologies

2. Minutes of last AGM (attached)

3. Chair’s opening report

4. A report from the Community Liaison Group. A quarterly meeting with Charnwood Borough Council, Persimmon Homes and councillors. See:
   https://www.charnwood.gov.uk/pages/garendon_park_development_community_noticeboard

5. Officers and Committee:
   Nomination and election of our Chair, Vice Chair, Treasurer, Secretary and Committee members (see minutes overleaf).

6. Reports from Interest Groups : Heritage, Wildlife and Public Access.(See: attached) Questions in advance are really helpful.

7. Future programme: We hope to have a talk about the Restoration, Continuing butterfly and other data collection, and of course, Heritage Open Days (19 & 20th September)

8. Date of next AGM  Suggest  Thursday 3rd June 2027

Please note we must close by 8:15 because the building must be l locked by 8:30pm on this occasion

Max Hunt, Secretary.

07793 369 888
https://sites.google.com/view/garendon

Minutes of Previous Annual General Meeting 4th March 2025 at Charnwood College

Attending recorded (32) Tony Fisher, Richard & Margaret Eade, Sarah Maynard, Myriam Roberts, John Heathcote, Claire Lancaster, Haidee Johnson, John Samson, Kev Freer, Nev Brookes, Lynn Clarke. Sue Hutton, Jim Thorpe, Shari Henson, lan Porter, Anne & Martyn Speight, Chris Lewis Min Swann, Chris Cooper, Arthur Gould, Susan & Clive Roulston, Ernie Miller, Lesley & David Young, Fiona Scott. Ken Paperezny, Sefan Green, Max Hunt. Ros Fleming

Apologies: Margaret Evans, Janet Warwick, Barbara Nunn, Hans Butler, Peter Henshaw

Introduction and Election of Officers:

Max Hunt said a few words about how the Friends began and then proposed John Heathcote as Chair. There were no other nominations. John was proposed by Mynam Roberts and seconded by Chris Lewis. Agreed Nem Con.

Tony Fisher was proposed for Vice Chair by Myriam Roberts and Seconded by John Heathcote. Agree Nem Con.

Susan Roulston offered to be the Treasurer. She was proposed by Tony Fisher and seconded by Min Swann, Agreed Nem Com

Max Hunt offered to be Secretary. Proposed John Heathcote, seconded Sheri Henson Agreed Nem Com

Election of Committee:

The following were proposed or volunteered:  lan Porter, Chris Lewis, Anne Speight, Miriam Roberts, Jim Thorpe, Ernie Miller, Arthur Gould, Sue Hutton (IT), Stefan Green. All those proposed were agreed unanimously en bloc.

Interest Groups: Access, Wildlife, Heritage. John introduced these and their independent reports in a previous Newsletter.

Constitution: This had been circulated and is on the opening webpage. It was agreed to ask the committee to review this and recommend any changes. Chair and Secretary to sign.

Date of next AGM  This was proposed as Tuesday 3rd March 2026 (since postponed)

Guest Speaker: The meeting welcomed Mark Pickrell from Charnwood Borough Council.  The meeting listened and posed questions over a range of aspects for about an hour.

Close: The meeting closed at 8:45 with thanks to Chamwood College for their hospitality and gave a round of applause for Mark

A Report from our Heritage Interest Group (Ian Porter)

Another year of one-step forward and two back. On the positive, extensive repairs are now being undertaken on the Temple of Venus and the Triumphal Arch. Also beingrepaired are the railings which border the former hall and abbey. Given how well the Obelisk has been restored, I am confident the results of the above three shall turn out to be as successful.

One of the sticking points from a heritage point of view is what will happen within the formal garden area.The railings form part of this and they are to be restored. It  is intended over this summer to ask the owners (Persimmons) what steps are to be taken for the future of the formal garden, which of course contain the Prospect Mound,  Haha/ornamental canal and the cypress tree avenue and other interesting trees.

On the negative side, with the map room/shooting lodge now looking to have been sold, two things have, or are likely to change. The World War Two Map of roadside

munitions stores has been removed and taken to a military museum in Leicester. Secondly, where we had previously had permission to visit the Abbey site (Chapter House) this has now changed, unless the new owners would be willing to allow the group to visit.

With regards to the farm area, as far as we know the intended sale of the site is still going through, so nothing has changed within that area.

The Friends showcased an exhibition at Loughborough Library running from February until April.  This included the parks heritage, wildlife and access. The comments, both verbal and written, highlighted the valuable work undertaken by the Friends to enhance the aspects of Garendon Park.

Heritage Open Weekends 2026. (Anne Speight)

There will be a programme of guided walks on the weekend 19th-20th September.
This year St Botolph's church Shepshed will be open for visitors to see numerous large memorials to members of the Phillips family  who once lived at Garendon Park. Information about the Hall and family will be on display. Car parking is adjacent to the church. Open Sat 12th  September 10am-5pm and Sun 20th September 2pm-5pm.

A Report on our Wildlife interest group (Chris Lewis)

David Robinson gave a presentation on Wildlife in Garendon Park in March when we had an audience of around 20 members.  Talk included a summary of some of our activities and proposals for the year ahead.  On the evening, we also signed up a good number of volunteers for the butterfly and bird transects. (“Transects” are equal measured areas we search)

Weekly butterfly transects continue led by David Robinson with Tony Fisher.  Tom Wardle leads regular bird transects. Their records provide an oversight of species flourishing in the park.

We have hosted several moth trapping evenings which added more than 220 moth species to our tally.

We are keen that we have a lead for the wildflower studies - keeping a list of plants recorded along with a location and photo.  We would like the Friends of Garendon Park F to lodge our wildlife observations on Naturespot.

The wildlife presentation at Granby Street Library. Generated interest in what we do and swelled the group’s membership.

The group's WhatsApp chat application is very active and provides a lively source of news and members' interaction.  Please join if you wish.  The website is also being well received.

A recent visit to the Park by the Loughborough Naturalists Group provided an excellent documented report which was well acknowledged by members of our group. An introduction was given to the group from the Friends of Garendon Park on its aims and undertakings.
Several members attended the local wildlife group’s presentation by the BBC’s Naturewatch team, providing an interesting insight into the production of the programme.

I recently met up with a local wildlife photographer, Simon Barsby, in Booth Wood, who showed interest in the Friends of Garendon Park. Simon possesses some impressive camera gear and is a licensed drone pilot, which may be useful in the future for any video footage we produce for the group. He also provided night pictures of badger activity within the wood and video.

Public Access Interest Group Report (Martyn Speight)

Securing good access to the Registered Historic Park at Garendon is key to opening up the area and fulfilling the wider objectives of the Garendon Park development.  From a Friends perspective this both includes new access routes within the Park and key feeders into the area.

There is however some uncertainty about what is due to be provided by way of new routes and improvements to existing Rights of Way.  The number of drawings and documents plus the time from the initial development planning stage to getting house building underway and that some areas been retained in De Lisle ownership are all factors.  So an ongoing priority for the Friends Access Group is to seek information on what is going to be provided.  Also to determine whether the across Garendon cycle route would be better protected if it had better Right of Way status (than its current footpath with permission to be used by cyclists).

To further this the Access Group is waiting on a reply from Charnwood Borough Council (once they have consulted with Persimmon) clarifying intentions regarding:-

-   Limiting vehicular access along the Estate Road through the Registered Park.

-   Confirming when the (R1) North-South route off Hathern Drive, through the Bavarian Gate and then joining the Estate Road, will be open to walkers, cyclists and horse riders.

-   Confirming that the proposed routes through the former Hall gardens to R1 will get provided.

-   Clarifying the intended usage categories (walkers, cyclists and horse riders) on the various routes and how allowed usage will be signed.

-   Willingness to open up what has been classified as ‘cycleways’ as ‘bridleways’.

-   Providing signage and maps showing open routes and permitted usage to visitors.

-   The intentions for Stonebow Bridge including which user groups can cross and how the route is to be kept open when the bridge is being repaired.

-   Limiting lighting along cycleways to protect wildlife corridors.

-   Confirming the surfacing intentions on each of the specified Routes.

-   Ensuring that all ability access, including wheelchairs and pushchairs, will be possible on some routes. 

-   Providing benches/seating and dog and general waste bins

-   Confirming that the new routes will be unrestricted and open 24 hours each day.

-   Repairing damage to currently open routes and clearing after construction works.

-   Safeguarding future access by routes getting designated as Rights of Way

Once these get answered the Access Group will consider whether it is a matter of waiting for provision or if further lobbying will be needed.  This being aimed at securing the sort of access arrangements the Garendon Friends feel is necessary for the opening up of the historic Garendon Park as envisaged by ourselves from the Planning Approvals.

Report from the Community Liaison Group (Max Hunt)

When the Borough Council approved the outline planning application for Garendon they required the developers, Persimmon Homes, to meet quarterly with public representatives. The minutes of these liaison meetings are published and we have two representatives.

In a typical meeting Persimmon tell us about their progress and we ask difficult questions and remind them of their planning obligations!

So, we hear that the new primary school is being started at the Hather end on Coningsby Drive. The Strategic Link Road, from the A512 to A6, is progressing.

And a planned phase of up to 500 houses is coming before the Planning Committee soon. We will be making representations on the detail, though the broad consent was given back in 2015. If you would like to know more or have questions, please don’t hesitate to ask, by emailing me (maxhuntcc@gmail.com) with Subject “CLG”.

Chair’s Report (John Heathcoat)

In a sluggish year for the housing market we have seen a number of changes to the development of Garendon Park.  All but one tenant who previously occupied premises on the estate have now left and various properties are up for sale.

The construction of the Strategic Link Road and the laying of the high voltage electricity cable along Butt Hole Lane continues to cause disruption to access to the development.

We continue to challenge developments through the Garendon Community Liaison Group where we feel it is appropriate.  Despite all this we continue to raise our profile within the wider community. We have an improved website which has eased access to its content. We put on an excellent, and very well received, display at the Town Library in March. We have tapped into the expertise of The Loughborough Naturalists Club. There are a number of comprehensive surveys in place and members are actively involved with local experts in these. These surveys include Birds, Butterflies, Moths and Bats. We once again showcased the Park's Heritage during an Open Weekend in September.

We are in the process of applying to be part of Charnwood Forest Geopark and this is in the early stages of the process. We have established an excellent relationship with the Stonebow Parish Council.

The Friends of Garendon Park continues to thrive and grow through the outstanding contributions made by a number of its members and through an ever increasing membership.