There was an excellent turnout for our Flower Power demo on Sunday 24 June when an estimated 160 - 200 people showed their opposition to council plans to turf over 28 of the main flower beds 'unless volunteers take them on.'
Friends of Victoria Park Chairperson Michael Herrigan said he was horrified by the proposals. The flower beds have been a key feature of the park since it was built in the 1880s.
Councillors Ade Aibinu and Maggie McTernan attended the protest to show their support and together with Councillor Feargal Dalton they have been seeking a meeting with Land Services to discuss other options.
Unfortunately, the Friends of Victoria Park have been told this meeting will not take place before mid August at the earliest but the councillors have assured us that any plans to grass over will be put on hold pending these discussions.
The Friends of Victoria Park are seeking a solution that will treat the 59 flower beds in the planting scheme in a planned, coherent way and while appreciating their financial difficulties, we believe the council could consider alternatives such as herbaceous planting. The Friends has committed to seeking funding to plant a fernery at the fossil grove which the council gave up planting some years ago and we simply don't have the resources to take on the main flower beds on top of the fossil grove project at this time. 
Many of the attractive banners produced for the event have been stored in case further protest rallys are needed.
The event was covered by the Evening Times and Glasgow West End Today.

A flower power demonstration to appeal to Glasgow City Council to withdraw its threat to grass over 28 of the main flower beds at the park at the end of this season is being held on Sunday 24 June at 2pm at the flower beds.
The Friends Committee is asking everyone who wants to ensure the future of these magnificent gardens to join us, if possible wearing colourful, flowery clothes, face paints and carrying placards.
We would also ask everyone to contact the Council or their local councillors to appeal for the gardens to be saved.
The text of our letter to the councillors who represent the Victoria Park ward setting out what we want to achieve with their help is given below.  Please do all you can to support us and use all your influence in local organisations to raise awareness. This is not a done deal. If enough people show they care we can get this decision changed. Contact us to help with the campaign.

Dear Councillors for the Victoria Park Ward
Land Services Plans to grass over 28 of the main flower beds in Victoria Park
On behalf of the Friends of Victoria Park, I hope you don’t mind me writing to you as a group but I have spoken to you all and had emails from you individually and I know that you are all keen to provide whatever support you can to resolve this issue. 
As you know, a few months ago we were very disappointed to hear that Land and Environmental Services is planning to grass over 28 of the main flower beds in Victoria Park ‘unless volunteers can take them on.’
At our recent AGM on 16 May, the Friends voted unanimously to oppose this move and campaign against it.  We are planning a Flower Power Demo at the Gardens on Sunday 24 June at 2pm to which you are all invited.
The flower beds are the jewel in the crown of Victoria Park. You will see from the attached aerial image taken by one of our facebook members Charlie Miller (and used with his permission) just how high impact these beds are on our landscape - even in the depth of winter when there is no planting.  It is recognised by Historic Environments Scotland and is listed in the Inventory of Gardens and Designed Landscapes (the only other listed landscapes in the city are the Botanic Gardens, Kelvingrove, Glasgow Green and the Necropolis).  You will note from the ordnance survey map dated 1892 that they have been there is this format for well over a hundred years and are part of our heritage.
​The gardens provide a peaceful sanctuary and bring beauty to the lives of so many people.  There is no better way to relax than to sit for a while in our magnificent gardens.
The option of finding volunteers who could for example ‘adopt a bed’ is extremely problematic and simply would not work at this stage.  As you know, the Friends of Victoria Park has committed to developing a fernery at the Fossil Grove quarry area of the park which used to have magnificent seasonal gardens that the Council has stopped looking after. We will need all the volunteers we can find to achieve this over the next year or two. Being asked to take on or lose the flower beds at this stage seems like a slap in the face for us.
The point of such a large high impact garden is that it needs to be planned in fine detail to give beauty, colour and coherence.  Random bedding surrounding the beds that the council will continue to maintain simply wont work. However we recognise the severe financial restrictions facing the council and appreciate that traditional seasonal bedding is labour intensive and not as environmentally friendly as other forms of planting.

So what do we want?
In the shorter term, we want Land and Environmental Services to continue seasonal planting. We believe that there are rota issues in the way staff are deployed that are making this difficult but this is not insurmountable.
We would like to sit down with our councillors and Land Services and convince them that with a different approach, we can retain the integrity and scale of the gardens in the long term while reducing the recurring costs associated with colourful seasonal planting. I know that the City still employs a number of highly talented horticulturalists who could be encouraged to come up with a planting scheme for all 60 beds that would be more sustainable and environmentally friendly and provide interest throughout the year. I am no gardener and have no way of knowing how soil conditions and levels of exposure on the site might affect the choice of plants, but there must be other options than annuals.  I have been advised by a gardener on our committee that across  Europe and indeed in some British Parks, annual planting is being replaced with herbaceous planting. Other possibilities might be placing low specimen trees such as acer in the centre of a flower bed and surrounding it with seasonal planting. Some beds might work well with colourful heathers.  I know that your horticultural staff could use their knowledge to draw up something that would enhance the underlying pattern of the gardens and be very pleasing throughout much of the year.  
This approach may well require a substantial upfront capital sum but thereafter, maintenance would be less onerous - weeding, tidying and cutting back at the end of the season.  It may well be possible given time to get some of this work covered by volunteers.  If the design, planning of plant types and layout are well considered, this could be as effective as the seasonal bedding and would have the added advantage of supporting biodiversity in a way that seasonal planting does not.  Indeed this is something to consider in seeking funding for such a project.
Finally, I know that you have all been supporting developments in the Victoria Park Working Group (now Action Group) which is seeking to form a new charity that will implement a development plan to improve the park. The news of this drastic cut to service just as this is in embryo comes as a real blow. How can we plan improvements when it seems the Council can no longer even support what we have. Grassing over the flower beds will sap the morale and enthusiasm of many members of the action group. The timing could not be worse.
We passionately believe that the layout and beauty of these flower beds is worth preserving for our children and our grandchildren. We have a wonderful park that has been our legacy and we can all work together to keep it that way. I hope you agree and can offer ways to assist us to take this forward.

At our recent AGM, Neil Lovelock from the Dumbarton Road Corridor Environment Trust outlined work that has been going on since the City Council's Place-Making exercise on Victoria Park consulted with local groups at the end of November 2016.
Since the Place-Making published a Draft Action Plan and Development Plan in February 2017, a working group was established comprised of local groups and community councils, including the Friends of Victoria Park.
In February 18, an Action Group was formed that is seeking to establish a new charitable organisation to take forward a strategic development plan to improve the park.
You can read more and download the Victoria Park update report here. There is also a questionnaire that we would like everyone to complete.
Ultimately the aim is to improve he park as a whole and improve neglected areas including the former Blaes pitches.

What can be done to ensure a better future for Victoria Park. What’s been happening at the Fossil Grove and what’s planned now? And should The Friends of Victoria Park campaign against Council plans to grass over almost half of the formal flower beds at the end of this year?
These are three of the important topics to be discussed at this years AGM on Wednesday 16 May at 7pm in St Thomas Aquinas.
Over the past year, the Victoria Park Working Group has brought together community councils, councillors, the Friends of Victoria Park and wide range of other groups with an interest in the park to discuss how we can get organised and agree the best way forward to improve the park. Steps are now being taken to set up a SCIO - a Scottish Charitable Incorporated Organisation that could raise funds from the Lottery and other charitable bodies to improve the park. Neil Lovelock of the Dumbarton Road Corridor Environmental Trust who has provided a lot advice and support to the group over the past year will explain what’s been happening and where we are now.
In recent months, the Friends of Victoria Park has succeeded in having the overgrown pond at the Fossil Grove cleaned out and relined in clay. This followed extensive work to clear tons of overgrown vegetation around the rock faces. Our next goal is to establish a beautiful fernery on the site - a more sustainable option than the annual planting which is no longer being carried out by Land Services. International fern experts are very excited about the proposals which reflect the fact that the tree fossils themselves were originally ferns. Funding applications are being submitted to buy the plants and equipment for volunteers to plant up the area.  Former Chair of the Friends, Landscape Architect Richard East will give a short talk on what’s happening and the help we will need from you.
Finally, Glasgow City Council’s Land Services has told us they intend to grass over 27 of the seasonal flower beds totalling 374 square metres at the end of the season unless volunteers take them on.  That is almost half the beds in the above photo. Removing the beds will destroy a very striking designated historic landscape and an important part of our heritage.  Will you join forces with us to appeal to Glasgow City Council to continue the annual planting?
Finally, while the Friends Facebook group is followed by almost 550 people who love the park, a much smaller number are actually paid up members of the Friends.  Membership has been maintained at just £5 a year per person.  Please join us.  All memberships bought now will be valid through to our 2019 AGM.  You can join on the night or through the website here.

Whiteinch Library is hosting a great new series of local and family history talks.
Their first event is on Wednesday 24th January when Gillian Mawdsley, one of the Friends of Victoria Park will talk about the park's history.
The talk will be  from 6.30pm to 7.30pm on Wednesday 24 January.
You can find out more about the talks series from Whiteinch Library.

At 11am on Saturday 16 December, please join us at the Victoria Park for some Christmas Tree decorating.
We introduced this event last year and the tree close to the beautiful Oswald Clock at the small pond was a very cheerful sight over the festive period.
We have sprayed some pine cones and have ribbons ready to hang them up but we would also welcome any spare decorations or even better, some home made ones. If we have too many - we might do up two trees to really put us all in a festive mood.
Children are very welcome accompanied by an adult.
Local crafts teacher Jo Logan has made some suggestions for weatherpoof home made decorations on our Facebook page.
We can round the whole thing off with a few Christmas carols and songs.
This is at least one Christmas outing where you can have some fun and a blether with local people and you don't need to bring your purse!
See you there!!