News
This is a message from
Myra Stephens
It is with great sadness that we announce the death of John Cowan on
Thursday 7th April.
John has been a great friend of the Canons community in Harrow since
moving from Kenton to Handel Close in 1972. John served on the
committee of the Canons Park Estate Association from the 1980's in many
roles including Chairman and latterly and as a Director and Secretary
of Surplus Lands (Canons) Ltd.
He was a local Councillor representing the Canons Ward and was Mayor in
1994-95 and was due to receive an award at next week's Council meeting
marking 25 years of public service. John represented Canons as a
governor at Aylward School, Chairman of the Canons Ward Conservative
Party, a member of the Canons Park Residents Association, the Laing
Residents Association, Stanmore Society and President and Treasurer of
the local branch of the MS Society.
In many of his roles he was joined by his devoted wife Janet who was
also a Councillor and Mayor of Harrow in 2006-7. It is sadly just four
years since Janet died. He will be sadly missed by his family and his
many friends and colleagues.
T
ANNUAL GENERAL
MEETING OF THE CANONS PARK ESTATE ASSOCIATION.
MINUTES OF THIS MEETING WILL BE
POSTED
AS SOON AS THEY ARE AVAILABLE.
A
resolution prohibiting boating at the Seven Acre Lake was
carried by a substantial majority at the recent AGM. The
resolution was
proposed by the Committee as the CPEA does not have sufficient funds to
ensure
full compliance with all the relevant Health & Safety requirements
and it
would be very dangerous to allow boating with anything less than full
compliance.
There
was, however, some opposition to this proposal
and a petition was also presented to the AGM. The Committee has
therefore
agreed to hold an EGM later in the year to give CPEA members the
opportunity to
discuss the matter further. Further details will be circulated
once a
date and venue have been determined.
The
current situation is therefore that boating at
the Seven Acre Lake is not permitted other than for maintenance
purposes or in
connection with an event organised by the Committee of the CPEA.
Arrangements will be made for appropriate signage to be posted around
the Lake,
making it clear that this is the position.
FORESTRY
COMMISSION
GRANT HELPS LOCAL RESIDENTS’
GROUP
TO CLEAN UP HISTORIC LAKE
A nesting area for stag
beetles is installed.
A grant from the Forestry Commission’s
London Tree
and Woodland Grant Scheme has helped the CPEA to restore and regenerate
a major area on the far side of the historic Basin Lake in Canons Drive.
The Canons Park Estate Association (CPEA), which
owns
and maintains the Lake – often referred to as the duck pond
– successfully applied for a grant from the Commission as part of
their Community Grant Scheme, which provides grants to projects that
deliver community benefits to schools, open spaces and woodlands in
Greater London.
Although the area in question is not accessible
to the
general public because it also houses an electricity generator, it can
clearly be seen from the hardstanding on the opposite bank –
where visitors are welcome - as can the island in the centre of the
lake, which hosts a willow tree and a number of nesting boxes for the
wild fowl that live in or visit the lake during the breeding season.
The funding enabled the Association to clear a
huge
amount of brambles, tree and shrub debris that lay on the woodland
floor, stifling the growth of other vegetation and trees and obscuring
an observation chamber in the outflow culvert that gives vital
information on flood risks. In addition a great deal of remedial tree
work was carried out, to ensure the survival and safety of the trees
that line the boundary of the lake. The work took over a week and was
carried out by experienced tree surgeons.
An expert from Whipsnade Zoo then came along to
install
bat boxes, to encourage nesting bats, and has used some of the logs
from the tree work to install nesting areas for Stag Beetles, which are
a globally threatened species. The timber provides a safe home for the
beetles and will also attract other wildlife to the area.
There are already a number of foxes living on the
site
as well as a wide variety of birds – both native and exotic, such
ducks, Canada geese, moorhens, coots, and green ring-necked parakeets
– which visit frequently or make their homes in the woodland.
The work, which was completed in Spring 2010, is
part of
a major ongoing regeneration project being carried out by the CPEA. The
works have already included the repair of eroded lake banking, tree
pruning and hedge planting, and there will be further works in the
autumn.
CanonsTalk is a community
network for
members of the Canons Park Estate Association (CPEA). Information about
local events and issues – from recommendations of a good plumber
to appeals for a babysitter can be shared amongst other members of the
Estate, helping them all to keep up-to-date and connected. If you are a
member and wish to join the network, please contact Anuta Rosenfelder
via canonspark@aol.com and she will contact you to explain how the
system works.
The Security Email Alert List is
a CPEA
members-only network where local security alerts, information and
warnings from other members, the police or the local Safer
Neighbourhood Team are passed on to members who have subscribed. To add
your name to the list, please contact Robert Graham via canonspark@aol.com
Neighbourhood Champions are
taking part
in a new initiative created by Harrow Council to give all residents in
the borough better access to council departments via road
representatives who have exclusive contact numbers and email addresses
in order to report problems and track the progress of the report. If
there is a problem in your road – from fly tipping and graffiti
to pot holes or continual anti-social behaviour, you can ask your road
representative to report it to the council for you. To find out who
your road representative is, please contact Sharon Graham via
canonspark@aol.com At present, not all roads on the Estate have a
Neighbourhood Champion, so if you want to volunteer, please contact
Harrow Council direct.
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