June 2023
CORNWALL GARDENS BULLETIN - 29 JUNE 2023
Dear Resident and/or Key Holder
Jean-Claude Chassaigne
It is with great sadness we report the passing of Jean-Claude Chassaigne on Saturday, 27 May 2023 at Chelsea & Westminster Hospital at the age of 84 following a short illness. Claude had resided in Cornwall Gardens for over 55 years latterly, for much of that time, with his devoted partner, Michael Paine. Claude was cremated at Putney Vale on Tuesday, 27 June 2023 following an uplifting service with both tears for his passing and joy in his memory. A service of commemoration and celebration for the life of Claude will take place at St Stephen’s Church, Gloucester Road, SW7 on Wednesday, 5 July 2023 at 12 pm by invitation for Family and Friends.
Other News and Events
Private Family and Household Gatherings 2023
Concerning the frequency of permitted parties, we will be happy to hear your views – see the section below headed “Residents Views on the Use of Gardens”. As for the wedding reception, this is very much a one-off and should not be seen as setting a precedent. We are prepared to consider exceptional requests but numbers have to be strictly limited with appropriate interspersal.
Fri, 30 June (To be confirmed on this or a later date depending on circumstances) – Children’s celebration event, afternoon, Central Garden hosted by Mashael, a key holder
Sat, 1 July – Children’s birthday party, 2 pm to around 4 pm, West Garden for around 20 adults and children hosted by Isabelle & Carl, key holders. One table booked
Sat 1 July – Family celebration event and table picnic, 2 pm to around 5 pm, East Garden for around 20 people hosted by Maria Luisa, a key holder
Sun, 2 July – Children’s birthday party and table picnic, 10 am to midday, Central Garden, 5 to 10 children and 10 to 15 adults hosted by Joanna & Francesco, key holders
Sun, 2 July – Children’s birthday party and table picnic, 2.30 pm to 4.30 pm, West Garden for around 20 adults and children hosted by two key holders
Weds, 5 July – Following a service of commemoration and celebration at St Stephen’s Church for the life of Jean-Claude Chassaigne (see above), a Reception in the Central Garden of Cornwall Gardens from 1 pm to 3 pm for around 80 invited guests hosted by Michael and many other key holders. Five tables and six benches booked
Weds, 5 July – Children’s birthday party, afternoon, West Garden for around 20 people, hosted by Frederic, a key holder
Sat, 8 July – Friends and neighbours picnic, afternoon, Central Garden for around 20 adults hosted by Olivia
Sat 8 July – Children’s birthday party, 3 pm to 5 pm plus setting up and dismantling time for around 20 people with decorations and entertainer, West Garden
Sun, 9 July – Children’s birthday table picnic, afternoon, Central Garden shed end for around 20 people hosted by Mishka & Nikhil, key holders. A small bouncy castle may be hired subject to the usual checks and supervision
Sat, 22 July – Children’s birthday table picnic, afternoon, West Garden for around 15 people hosted by Justina, a key holder
Sat, 23 September, Wedding reception, Central Garden 4 to 6 pm plus setting up and dismantling time hosted by Jamie & Allie, key holders, following their marriage at Christ Church, Eldon Road earlier in the day, for around 120 guests with small jazz band. If wet, the event will take place in Christ Church.
Open Events
There are no more open events planned for the remainder of the Summer.
The London Open Gardens Weekend saw 314 paying guests visit Cornwall Gardens on Sat, 10 June to enjoy the beauty, dappled sunlight and calm of the Central Garden, the wonderful light jazz provided by three students from the Royal College of Music, and the refreshments on offer provided by Jakobs and ourselves.
Shakespeare in the Squares returned on Tues, 20 June with an imaginative and creative production of ‘Twelfth Night’ set in the 1920s complemented by songs of the period – all done by the actors themselves acoustically. With strong, clear and audible performances all round and a warm and sunny Summer’s evening after the morning’s rain had threatened a wash-out, a packed house roared with laughter interspersed with fits of giggles as the plot unfolded, exposing the pomposity and censoriousness of an uptight puritan by a three others being a drunk, a simpleton and a forger. Visitors enjoyed their own picnics or the refreshments on offer from Jakobs.
Residents Views on Use of the Gardens
We have received a range of views on the use of the Gardens with many being positive and supportive and others making suggestions and contributing ideas. The purpose of the Gardens is fundamentally ornamental but with scope for rest, relaxation and some recreation. Whilst no-one has objected to the principle of having private family and household gatherings, as long as they are authorised and notified in advance, some have requested the number, duration, size and frequency be scaled back or shared more evenly across all three gardens. We have also received complaints about unauthorised noisy exercise, barbecue smoke and aromas drifting into Flats and, dogs. Regarding fires in the gardens, these are strictly forbidden. Any amended rules will make it clear that this extends to include all barbecues similar to the ban of barbecues on roof gardens, terraces and balconies. In the meantime, there must be no more barbecues in the gardens at any time.
We welcome your views. In helping us further refine policy on authorised activities, please bear in mind the different expectations and uses of residents. Some appreciate them as an ornament only, rarely enter and use them and, of these, some would prefer the gardens be made as beautiful and as tranquil as possible. Other residents are regular users. Of these, some are of the view that activities should be confined to mainly quiet uses only. Others take a more liberal view. It should also be borne in mind that following clear guidance from the RBKC Tree Officer last year, the semi-woodland nature of the gardens is being preserved. This means a conservative approach to tree management, a limited range of shade loving or tolerant shrubs and a lawn which can never be pristine or improved to bowling green standards. The gardens are currently being appreciated and/or used as they have rarely been done before with many residents working from home at least some days in the week and an increasing number of Families with young children with more babies due to be born (to whom we offer our congratulations and best wishes) in the next few months. Cornwall Gardens is therefore bucking the trend across most other parts of Central London which is seeing this demographic decline and school rolls fall.
All of these issues are being carefully considered and will help shape rules and policies into the future. This is to help ensure we get the balance right to allow all residents to enjoy the gardens but without creating a nuisance for others or causing avoidable damage to the trees, shrubs, beds, lawns and infrastructure.
Heritage Trees and Landscaping
A resident has written to us asking for confirmation that the branches of the very large heritage trees are uncomfortably close to her block will be pruned back to a safer distance. We intend to ask our regular tree surgeon of long-standing (Tim George) to undertake routine maintenance pruning of such branches, as in previous years, subject to following the correct procedures. Permission to remove diseased or dead branches is automatic; permission to remove healthy branches too close to buildings, pavements and roads is at the discretion of the RBKC Tree Officer who usually consents to a clearance of no more than 3m.
Work continues on proposals to landscape the mound, border and fence at the east end of the Central Garden. Various suggestions have been made including a children’s garden, an ecological garden, a herb garden or a flat lawn with beds for a border. We are working with a resident landscaping professional who has come up with a proposal to scrape off the top layer of contaminated soil and replace it and to introduce a variety of ground cover plants interspersed with small scale woodland style pathways. This will avoid the expense and disruption of removing the entire mound and enable one or two of the healthiest and more attractive trees to remain largely undisturbed. This should also allow more light to penetrate into the border and more attractive planting along it as well as strengthen or replace the fence with something more robust to deter intruders.
We will also explore the possibility of installing a leaf store and shredder at the west end of the Central Garden to enable all the unsightly leaf bags left in various parts of the border of all three gardens as they await collection to be removed.
Flower Baskets
At long last the flower baskets were installed on most lamp posts in Cornwall Gardens by RBKC on Sat, 17 June early in the morning a few days before the performance of ‘Twelfth Night’ the following Tuesday. The cost is being met by the Residents Association. The various explanations for the delay were unsatisfactory and are being followed up with RBKC so as to prevent a recurrence next year. The lamp posts outside 31/33 and 82 Cornwall Gardens do not have flower baskets: 31/33 is housing the cctv equipment for the north side and 82 will be housing similar equipment for the south side. There is a possibility we may be able to acquire a third web cam to cover the Lexham Walk area into Cornwall Gardens.
Flats Sought
A former resident of Cornwall Gardens wishes to move back if a Flat is available for sale on floors in the upper half of any block.
Two Flat Owners are beginning to find the stairs to their Fourth Floor Flat too much of a strain and are looking to buy or rent a Raised Ground Floor or First Floor Flat. They are prepared to consider a swap arrangement or renting as well as buying and selling.
If you are interested, please get in touch so we can forward your contact details.
Crime & Anti-Social Behaviour
Crime
There was an attempted burglary of Flats in Braemar Mansions about three weeks ago by a couple of young men climbing the scaffolding. They were intercepted and ran off.
There was an attempted burglary of a middle block on the south side by three masked young men around the same time. Due to the quick thinking of the Family’s child carer, she bolted the Flat door from the inside thwarting an attempted forced entry being attempted at the time and, at the same time, called the Police on 999 who arrived promptly. They missed those responsible by only a few minutes.
Unfortunately, on 28 June in the early morning, burglars broke into a Ground Floor Flat of a central block on the south side via the cill and window and stole two lap tops and other small valuable items. The resident of the Flat was in the Flat at the time but at the rear. She only noticed something was wrong at around 6.30 am when she went into her kitchen. The resident phoned the Police but as she had been kept hanging on for too long, she gave up with the intention of trying again later. She advises fitting fit window locks to front windows along the top of the moving frame and keeping them locked most of the time as burglars are more likely to target those properties which they know or can feel don’t have or use them.
A neighbour caught two men on a moped around 3 am on Sat, 17 June attempting to steal and/or tampering with the Lamborghini parked outside a block in the low 40s on the north side of Cornwall Gardens. He scared them off. There have been several thefts from high end cars in the area with the unwanted items dumped in one of the gardens of Cornwall Gardens. In three cases, the items were reunited with their owners following good observation and detective work by residents. Cctv has picked up a gang of two or three young men dressed in black with hoodies or balaclavas breaking windows parked in High St Kensington and the roads and streets close to the Albert Hall to steal anything valuable inside and then disappearing quickly as soon as they hit the jackpot.
In terms of the Metropolitan Police response, this has improved significantly when reporting crimes in action or have just happened after phoning 999. They are now supported by much more private cctv and also the mobile street cctv recently installed on a lamp post in Cornwall Gardens. It is to be hoped that this evidence will lead to convictions and tough deterrent sentences. The Neighbourhood Police Team, by contrast, is becoming less pro-active that it was and the Chairman of the Police Liaison is taking the initiative to restore its effectiveness.
Anti Social Behaviour – Rubbish Bags and Building Works Waste
More rubbish bags were put out on the wrong days and/or insecurely wrapped and also fly-tipping of building works waste. These were reported to RBKC and appropriate action taken. Last Sunday (25 June) saw the central and east sections of the south side pavement littered with mainly packaging materials. These occurrences are being followed up with the Flat owners and residents believed to be responsible.
Two amorous young trespassers were seen climbing over the gate of the West Garden by a resident at 11.15 pm and sitting in the middle of the garden. They were asked to leave and did so promptly and courteously saying that as they lived nearby, they thought they were entitled to use the garden!
Best,
Alan
Keys Secretary and Secretary, Cornwall Gardens Committee and Residents Association
07816 324335
