A new community group, Friends of West Park, held their inaugural meeting in the Royal Navy Club to officially launch their venture, on Tuesday 18th February.
People of all ages from across the Great Aycliffe area came along to get involved and after agreeing a constitution and electing officers got down to the task of putting forward suggestions for possible improvements to the park. Of course many ideas included general maintenance tasks such as walkway repairs but a great interest was shown in encouraging wildlife such as butterflies and ways to encourage families to visit the park.
Secretary Arun Chandran made it very clear that any improvement would have to be agreed with the owners of the park Great Aycliffe Town Council whilst Ken Robson said that it was his belief that the council would work with the new group for the overall good of the area.
It was gratifying to see representatives of livin, the youth council, many town and county councillors attending with the presence of Brian Riley from GAMP an added bonus. However it was the members of the public who set the scene with their willingness to join in.
A mini slideshow was left to play throughout the meeting showing progress from the building of the lakes through to present day. As a group we are collecting photographs of the area and would like members of the public to lend us their photos for copying to our archive.
The committee headed by Chairman Ken Robson, Secretary Arun Chandrun and Treasurer Lucy Brown will be keeping members and the public involved through regular updates in the Newton News and through the popular facebook page “Friends of West Park”.
True to his word Ken kept serious business to a minimum and led the way into a light hearted discussion highlighting the FRIENDS part of the groups name.
The appeal which Ken sent out through facebook for the public to adopt the fledgling group brought unexpected results in a surprise request to join the group by a Newtonian lady who is now living in Labrador, Newfoundland, Canada.
Susan Murphy, who was born in Newton Aycliffe and lived here for most of her life, married Leslie Murphy and moved to Canada 5 years ago. Susan returns to Newton Aycliffe each year to visit family and friends but takes a keen interest in her home town.
If anyone would like to join Friends of West Park or just be kept up to date with plans and events please contact Ken on facebook or 01325 321471.
“The adventure begins”
Friends of West Park officers
