Community run pavilion cafe closes but is it goodbye or au revoir?

A machine called the Predator is being used to remove tree stumps. Picture: Chris Longhurst

Following his column detailing the impact renovation work is having on Boston Manor Park, former Hounslow Chronicle editor CHRIS LONGHURST returns to see what further changes have occurred since his last visit and assess their impact on the public mood:

It was meant to be “au revoir”.

So, why was it that as I stood at the (socially distanced) counter of the Friends of Boston Manor Park’s Pavilion café, munching the last two sausages in a bun that were in stock, I felt more like I was saying a permanent “goodbye”?

My latest visit to the park - that has been everything from a playground to a sanctuary during my lifetime - coincided with the final day of business for the café in its present form.

As readers will hopefully be aware (but judging by recent public surveys regarding communication and transparency by the local authority this cannot be guaranteed) the Friends group has now vacated its base in order to allow the latest stage of the £3.6m Reconnecting Boston Manor Park project to take place.

According to the plans, which are available both online and in the park itself, this will see the pavilion extended and converted into something called a ‘community educational café’. However, the question remains, does this name mean it will continue to be run BY the community (i.e. the Friends) or by an as-yet unidentified commercial venture FOR the community?

Sadly, even the Friends themselves have been unable to answer it with certainty; hence, we are at the point where the group cannot promise it will return to the park once the project is completed.

Amid this fog of confusion and apprehension, a light shines in the form of two new movements, created in order to ensure the park’s most important people – its users – have a voice.

First there is Save Café in Boston Manor Park (SCIB) which is being led by Magda Curran who, a few days before my visit, held a petition signing event calling on Hounslow Council to guarantee the café will continue to be a community-run enterprise regardless of whether the Friends return or not.

Not only was I amazed to hear that several hundred people added their signatures to the petition, I was also encouraged to learn that the majority also expressed support for stopping the culling of the trees (as documented in my previous column).

I am also aware that Magda was particularly grateful to have met so many supporters in person as well as to establish some important contacts whose help is sure to be vital in future protest events.

Magda Curran on the effort to protect Boston Manor Park

A clear sign of how people feel about the actions they perceive as destroying their beloved environment is demonstrated by the fact several signs were put up in the park bearing the slogan ‘STOP VANDALISING OUR TREES’.

Interestingly the Council tore these down the very same day, though I doubt the growing sense of anger and alarm will be so easy to remove.

Posters on trees were quickly removed by the council. Picture: Chris Longhurst

While I hate to see what has become of the beautiful line of plum trees beside the Pavilion – which as regular users know used to provide welcome shade once they were in blossom – nonetheless I couldn’t resist gazing at the stumps where they once stood and thinking “where are people supposed to shelter from the sun now?”

Speaking of stumps, I couldn’t help but notice how many of these had disappeared altogether since my last visit. It didn’t take long to discover the culprit either. Just between the Multi Use Games Area (MUGA) and the M4 flyover I found a fearsome looking machine called Predator. While it wasn’t Arnold Schwarzenegger driving, the man at the remote controls was certainly terminating all the remaining stumps with T-1000 levels of precision and efficiency.

The other beacon of hope comes in the form of three local residents who have created the Save Our Trees group that was due to hold its official launch event online on Wednesday April 7 and has already participated in two meeting with the council team behind the project and several local councillors and MPs.

Don’t let the name fool you into thinking this is a single-issue organisation, one look at its considerably well-presented and informative website proves that not one element of the Reconnecting project is going to escape scrutiny.

Alongside the tree loss, the group also has serious concerns over plans to relocate the MUGA further under the M4 in order to make way for an arts and crafts market. There is also a fear that the islands in the pond will be removed – in fact the meeting of March 25 saw the council team confirm at least one island will go – leading to the loss of ducks, swans, and other wildlife which made their homes there.

Sadly, once again, I left the park with far more questions and fears about the future of Boston Manor Park than I had arrived with. It needs to be stressed that nobody – least of all me – is against the project in principle. On the contrary the majority would agree that the need for changes and improvements was long overdue for many different areas of the park.

However, the fact a recent Save Our Trees survey of nearly 180 park users and locals showed that 72% do not feel fully informed about how the park is being looked after tells a worrying story about the relationship between the council and the community.

There is still time for this to change of course, but how long have we got before any actions taken to remedy these unwelcome alterations become a case of “too little, too late”?

Chris Longhurst

April 7, 2021