Chair: Jim
Minutes: Harriet
Present: Jim S, Harriet J, Lynda S, Paul B, Chris M, Neil W, Joe A
MINUTES
| 1. Agenda item I Welcome and apologies Jim |
Apologies were received from Tila R, Dan, Naseem H
| 2. Agenda item II a) Minutes of the last meeting, 01/04/25 b) Matters arising from the last meeting, 01/04/25 Jim |
No comments were received on the minutes of the last meeting. There were no matters arising not covered by items on the agenda.
| 3. Agenda item III BCAG admin Jim |
Total hours spent on BCAG business and projects since the April meeting were recorded – thanks to everyone for putting in the time. Harriet to ask any core members not at the monthly meeting, for their hours.
Action needed: the annual review of our policies is due with Lynda/Harriet to check we have in place those we need, and that they are fit for purpose.
| 4. Agenda item IV Treasurer’s report (Naseem) |
BCAG central funds stands at £2,444.
| 5. Agenda item V Social media, Newsletter, publicity Jim |
End of April stats: not available this month.
| 6. Agenda item VI Bridge Street Community Garden BSCG (Tila) |
April was a busy month in the Garden, alive with community-led activities and creative collaborations, underpinned by community gardening sessions.
Thanks to the generous donation of his skills for free, the Garden is delighted to now have a beautiful new logo, colour palette and distinctive visual identity, courtesy of local graphic designer and illustrator, Matt Roff.
Local artist Lisa Curtis has painted a stunning new mural on the main Garden shed. The artwork includes a quote from Afghan academic Batool Haidari who has supported the Garden’s work with local families and refugees.
Collaborations included sessions with Sunrise Multicultural Project attended by over 55 people; Home-Start families, including an event led by Tamzin from Modern Art Oxford; a celebration with many activities and delicious spicy rice prepared by Sakia attended by over 85 people; a rich cultural exchange with people from many backgrounds sharing their knowledge of traditional plant uses, led by MultakaOxford; a joyful Eid celebration with more than 100 participants and a drumming workshop led by James. Milly has run Monday Wild Wellbeing events.
The Garden took part in Spring Fest at The Hill.
The Garden has been supplying fresh herbs to the Banbury Larder.
Tila thanked Jim, Lynda, Milly, Tamzin and Joe for their highly valued contributions.
There has been a significant amount of fly-tipping in the bushes and a used needle found; Tila has reported this to the council and the police. The council teams have cleared the items promptly and the community police have visited the Garden several times engaging with the individuals drinking/smoking under the gazebo.
| 7. Agenda item VII Food Action (Dan) |
Despite many events having been held and much work done in support of community resilience in terms of food, there is still budget remaining from our Food Action grant.
Dan is preparing a Food Map which pulls together the opportunities for community dining that currently run across the town.
This will, however, still leave funds available for other food-related work.
The £750 private donation is available for BCAG use and the meeting agreed it would be appropriate to put this towards refreshments for the various community-based events being held in the Garden, for which it is not always possible to attract specific funding. Dan/Tila to discuss.
Dan continues discussions with the Banbury Larder, Grimsbury Community Centre, and other food action initiatives, to determine what role BCAG can play to best support the overall move towards food waste reduction, sustainable diets, and community inclusion.
Dan to report back on progress at the June meeting.
| 8. Agenda item VIII Browning Road Orchard BRO Harriet |
Working in partnership with Wild Banbury volunteers, a work party spent a session attending to the orchard trees, adjusting the guards, ties and stakes. There is a good fruit set on plenty of the trees. The new volunteer-planted trees – obtained through the “I dig trees” scheme – are growing well.
| 9. Agenda item IX Banbury Active Travel Supporters group (Paul/Neil) |
As agreed at the last meeting, in the run up to the local elections, Paul sent round a letter asking for candidates’ views on active travel that BCAG could advertise. Only one response was forthcoming. Paul agreed to follow up this letter with one to all those who were elected. This to include a summary of the aims of BCAG and the wish that the recipients will provide support to initiatives that seek to limit climate change (including active travel) and support the repair of the natural world.
BATS has items on the agenda for the upcoming travel advisory committee meeting.
Jim reported frustration at the Fix My Street system whereby complaints (such as about blocked drains) are logged as ‘being investigated’ as a final rather than a starting action.
We are delighted to have been awarded Great Big Green Week funding through CAG Oxfordshire / OCC for a BCAG/BATS/BEN stand at the Town Show in June.
Active Oxfordshire grants are again available. Improvements BATS would like to see happen include seating along LCWIP priority pedestrian routes and cycle racks for parking within Spiceball Park.
| 10. Agenda item X Banbury Environment Network Harriet |
Harriet submitted a response, in line with the concerns of BCAG, to the Independent Water Commission call for evidence sent out by Defra.
Harriet also submitted a response, in line with the concerns of BCAG, to the consultation on the draft Land Use Framework issued through Defra.
Sue and Harriet coordinated the Banbury contribution to the FreshWater Watch national Spring WaterBlitz. The fantastic Banbury Water vol group collected data from a number of water courses in and around Banbury with the majority showing the usual high nitrates, but, as a result of the sustained dry spell, with phosphate levels on the whole, low.
As part of the WaterBlitz, the group participated in the pilot citizen science E.coli testing scheme. The control test results from the lab-tested sample are not yet back, but the R-card method showed excellent water quality in terms of the absence of the bacteria at the Adderbury test sites. The main Middleton Cheney test site, however showed exceptionally poor water quality with very high number of bacteria units.
The meeting suggested that this would be a good subject for a news story to engage a wider public in concern for the environment. Harriet to discuss this further with Joe once the lab tests are back and the results have been confirmed.
BCAG will be part of the Thames 21 ‘plasticblitz’, 31/05 – 15/06; we will liaise with Banbury Litter Pickers on this.
Sue and Harriet have arranged a meeting with the Water vol group, 07/05 to discuss the next phase of the water quality testing work. Now that Claire from Thames 21 has been moved to work elsewhere in the wider catchment, this will be led by BCAG with Thames 21 providing support.
Sue and Harriet will be discussing the environment side of the Town Show stand and liaising with Paul as BATS lead on this event.
| 11. Agenda item XI Climate Action Jim, Harriet, Chris |
Chris is leading on the climate-related issues meeting with Sean, MP. Sign-up for groups is now closed. Thanks to Louise P for the briefing notes.
On 10/05, 10am-2.30pm, there will be a Seed Swap, organised in partnership with Castle Quay. Lynda is coordinating.
Lynda and Harriet are meeting with Banbury College to discuss the logistics for the upcoming Give &Take, booked for 21/06. The event overlaps with the town Hobby Horse festival but this was not considered to be a problem.
The Events Manager at BTC is keen to ensure the Community Garden is included in the October Canal Day. BCAG will also have a stand in the main festival zone, as last year.
ANY OTHER BUSINESS
Neil raised the issue of the very substantial increase in this year’s water bills. There was a discussion about possible ways of logging dissatisfaction at the unacceptable situation which BCAG could flag up through its outreach channels.
Thank you to Joe for his article in Green New Deal Media. The piece promotes the value of environmental community actions in Banbury. It featured photographs of the Garden by Tila and promoted the Garden and its importance to local life.
Jim will be in Cambridge this month for an XR action.
DATE OF NEXT MEETING
The next meeting will be held online 03/06.