Download 

Minute of Annual General Meeting held on Saturday 8 April 2023 at 10.30am at EF International School, 1-2 Sussex Square, Brighton, BN2 1FJ

Those present: Those present: Board Members and 26 residents.

1. Introductions and Apologies for absence

Board members introduced themselves. Matthew Evans of Jonathan Rolls, Michael Bedingfield,
Michael Osborne, Lucy Graubart, Howard Rush and Amanda Catron.

Apologies received from Board member June Mawby and residents Martin Kenig, Janine Nahapiet and Jonathan Rolls.

2. Minutes of AGM held 16 January 2022.

The Minutes were agreed as a true record.

3. Matters arising

None

4. Report of the Board for 2023-2024

Michael Osborne summarised expenditure. Pointed out that a surplus on the year should not be seen as a success but more of a failure to meet expectations, in particular relating to the gardening services provided. Only 80% of the budgeted capacity was used on the gardening services provided. Questioned whether the services are being procured correctly and how this can be improved. The rebuilding of the Secret Garden was hailed as a huge success with the quality of work being first class. The total cost of the work spread over two financial years was around £67,000. £35,000 of this was funded via donations from two residents. The Board and all present were incredibly grateful for these donations particularly the one from Michael Bedingfield. Andrew Doig and Matthew Evans were thanked for their contributions towards the Secret Garden in challenging circumstances. Jeremy was commended for the planting which followed.

There is an ongoing concern about controlling entry to the gardens and Michael Osborne raised that the Board had been looking into an electric fob entry system so that when there is a rules breach access can be denied to those in breach. So far a quote had been obtained for just the 7 gates to the South Gardens of around £12,000. Alternative quotes to be sought.

Michael Osborne summarised the issue raised by the Council where they alleged water was flooding into the Reading Rooms from the Gardens. After a meeting on-site with the Council representatives, it was agreed that KTE had no liability and eventually the Council accepted this view.
The sad passing Of Anne Antram, the founder of the Voles, was noted and that all users of the garden owe her a debt for the contribution she made. It has been proposed by the family that a section of the garden be named after her. There were no objections to this from those present at the meeting
The Board wished to express their gratefulness to Andrew Doig who resigned as a member this year. His tireless work was recognised and a formal vote of thanks was given from the floor.

Jeremy Moulsdale announced that he was to retire from his position of Head Gardener at the end of June. Those present agreed that he had contributed greatly to the gardens during his time and a formal vote of thanks was expressed to Jeremy by all.

A concern was raised from the floor that with Andrew Doig resigning and Jonathan Rolls moving offices there might be a possible drop in the level of service provided by the Board. Should some of the surplus highlighted in the accounts be considered to cover this. Board members responded that this would not be the case. Michael Osborne pointed out that Jonathan Rolls office had to move on the basis that their existing office was being developed and their new office is only 10 minutes away. Matthew Evans commented that the Covid lockdown had led to a number of services being able to be carried out more remotely. For example, registering of dogs is now carried out by email and bank transfer whereas previously garden users would have to come to the office with the cash or a cheque.

Matthew advised that he and his staff were regularly in the Enclosures on account of them still managing a large number of properties in the vicinity and has found that since the office move, practical matters such as distributing keys or dog tags has not been an issue.

It was suggested from the floor that there should be an online forum on the KTE website so that residents could leave comments and suggestions. It was agreed that the Board would look into this although they did notify those present that there is a Kemptown secretary email address should they have any suggestions they wish to make to the Board in the meantime.

With regards to the electric fobs, a member of the floor raised concerns about due process and governance when it came to denying people access to the gardens. Particular caution should be shown in this respect. With regards access to Airbnb guests one resident suggested that it was really up to the freeholders to ensure that there are no Airbnb lettings in their buildings. It would be nigh on impossible for the Board to control such matters.

The question of outsiders was raised and should their annual subscriptions be increased. It was explained that originally outsiders were first allowed keys many years ago when there were not enough funds to cover the cost of running the gardens. However, this was not now the case and an “outsider” was simply someone that lived on the estate but did not form part of one of the freehold buildings. For example, residents in Rock Place at the rear of Chichester Terrace. There was a suggestion that the fee should increase to the same as what freehold buildings pay, but it was pointed out that each outsider was in fact an individual and paying £330.00 per annum was considered a sensible amount.

5. Accounts 31 March 2022

These were approved.

6. Budget and Garden Rates for 2023-24

It was raised by the floor whether garden rates should be increased to reflect an increase in general garden costs. Michael Osborne noted that there were circa £80,000 of surpluses and the floor agreed that proposing an increase in garden rates when there has been an under-spend the previous year would not be appropriate. The proposed budget was agreed as were the garden rates (remaining unchanged). There was a question raised by the floor about insurance cover and when the gardens were last assessed. Matthew Evans advised that the gardens were revalued within the last 12 months and this year’s renewal premium had increased by 15% as a result.

7. Appointment of certified accountants

All those present agreed to continue with Chambers & Co.

8. Election of Directors

The resignation of Andrew Doig was noted. June Mawby and Lucy Graubart both stood down and were re-elected.

9. Head Gardener’s report

Jeremy announced his retirement. He had enjoyed working in the garden immensely although it had come with its challenges, particular in relation to weather and climate change. He hailed the Secret Garden as a huge achievement and advised that the planting he had chosen was drought resistant. Wildflower areas had been increased and the Southern hedge had also been reduced as per suggestions made within the questionnaire sent out to all residents. It was the intention this year to reduce the number of lawn cuts and that the aim was to get the Chichester Terrace garden under control as well as the paths clear of weeds. He recognised the staffing issues that had faced him during the course of the year and thanked the Voles for their help throughout. He wanted to express a formal note of thanks to Ben who had also notified the Board that he would be leaving at the same time as Jeremy. Jeremy said that it had been a privilege and pleasure to work in the gardens and appreciated the support of all residents and the Board.

It was agreed by all those present that Jeremy should be given an honorary garden key for his services to the garden and all those present at the meeting expressed their gratitude to Jeremy for all his years of service. A resident raised the issue of climate change and could the Board possibly look into water storage solutions such as underground tanks and a solar pump. Initial investigations carried out by the resident had indicated this could cost between £10,000-£15,000. Michael Osborne raised the issue of potential planning restrictions.

10. Airbnb guests and their usage of the garden

It was agreed by all those present that identifying garden users who are renting their properties through Airbnb is difficult. It was suggested that the Freeholders of the buildings in which these flats were located should be targeted. Perhaps Airbnb should be contacted direct and that an overall key change whilst painful to those involved, does tend to reset the whole system.

11. Issues to be raised by residents

The floor asked what the procedure had been for recruiting a new head gardener. Michael Bedingfield advised that this had been carried out thoroughly and with diligence. The Board had sought advice from Plumpton Agricultural College as well as the head gardener at the Brighton Pavilion. Advice had been obtained with regards to a suitable job description, wages and where the job should be advertised. The Board informed those present that although there were a large number of applications it had been narrowed down to 4 strong candidates and they would be interviewed on the 18/19 April.

Concern was raised by the floor about games being played in the North Garden and could more signage be placed on the gates to the North garden to try and prevent this. Board members agreed that they would get this actioned as soon as possible.

Michael Osborne asked for a show of hands with regard to looking into electric fobs further. 11 of those present were in favour, 7 were against and 8 abstained. The query was raised by the floor as to why the North Garden gates were not being included. Board members said that this could be considered.

Finally, one resident asked if communication between the Board and residents could be improved as they do not use email. This was in particular reference to the AGM papers. Matthew Evans advised that these papers were hand delivered, posted and emailed dependent on contact preferences given. Details were taken from the resident in question to ensure that they had hard copies posted to them going forward.

The floor wished to raise a formal vote of thanks to the Board members for their time and commitment over the year.

Meeting closed at 12.00pm

END

Download 

AGM Annual Report

The Board met on 8 occasions since the AGM of 8th April 2023: meetings duly minuted.

Finance

The financial year for the Kemptown Enclosures runs from 1st April through to the 31st of March.

We began the 2023-2024 year with audited reserves of £67,000. Our budget was set at £117,000 and we currently anticipate an underspend of approximately £5,000, with less having been spent on staffing costs due to staff turnover and savings made on the need for contracted labour, and less
required for painting and repairs to railings and gates.

However, expected income, largely accruing from Garden rates (with lesser amounts from party rentals, book sales, lost keys, and donations), has been £7,000 less than expected. Arrears from garden rates currently stands at £3,760. Some of this may still be recovered, but the current shortfall will necessitate £2,000 needing to be transferred from reserves to cover the difference between expenditure and income. We anticipate starting the new financial year with a reserve of £65,000.
The 2024-2025 budget is expected to be similar to 2023/2024 and the Board has recommended a 10% increase (appropriately £100 per Freehold) in garden rates (which has not been increased in the last two years) to retain sufficient funds in reserves for future major projects.

Staffing and the gardens team

Appointment of Jason Saul to Head Gardner

Appointment of Alfie Baker as Assistant Gardner (commenced 18th September 2023)

Whilst the last AGM saw the announcement of retirement of Jeremy as Head Gardener resulting in the subsequent receipt of many applications for the Head Gardener’s role, this was narrowed down to four candidates. Two male and two female. Jason Saul the previous assistant gardener stood out head and shoulders above the others. Interviews of all candidates were held on the 18th and 19th of April 2023. The Board wishes to express their thanks to June Mawby and Lucy Graubart for the time they have dedicated to recruiting. The resulting appointment of Jason Saul, who had previously worked as assistant gardener has proved to be an extremely popular appointment, this time to Head
Gardener and Jason has made a huge impression both on the management of the gardens and the residents.

The Board thanks Jeremy for his work and dedication to the selection of his successor and the smooth handover to Jason. As thanks to all of Jeremy’s hard work and dedication, the Board agreed that a lifetime key and signed bicentennial book was appropriate as a parting gift.
Jason has continued to manage the gardens in a manner sympathetic to their listed Regency heritage, whilst being mindful of the issues presented by climate change and the need to provide wild areas of the gardens to encourage biodiversity and provide a welcoming habitat to the many
insects and wild animals in the gardens. The increased areas of meadow land have seen the arrival of many butterflies and other welcome pollinators.

Key Change Proposals

Following the AGM last year and having taken a vote/show of hands with those present, the Board has decided not to pursue the proposal to change from a key system to an electronic fob system
further at this time. There were a number of concerns raised from residents and indeed the Board themselves, that there was no other garden with such a system, nor were there many alternative
contractors who could carry out the work and supply the system, whilst the costs and disruption involved were significant. Without a ringing endorsement over safety and reliability of the system,
the Board agreed no further work should be taken into the researching of this. Whilst an electronic system would have been helpful in the management of residents that fail to pay their Garden rates,
keys are simpler and it seems were preferred, by most residents. A traditional key and lock change,
which had broad support at last year’s AGM, was therefore viewed as the right thing to do, and this would be considered later in 2024.

Dockerills have quoted round £10,000 and Haines quoted around £14,000, to replace locks and keys.

To allay concerns around the changing of the keys it is intended to obtain a sample key to ensure that it is strong enough and sufficient for the job, before any decision is made.

Garden rates

The Board has given consideration as to whether to raise the annual garden rate. It has not been raised

for two years despite inflation being high, whilst overall costs, wages etc. have been rising within that time.

We expect to dip into reserves to cover a shortfall in 2023, and therefore it is felt prudent to raise the garden rates in 2024. It is not good practice to use reserves to cover shortfalls in day-to-day expenditure. It should also be acknowledged that significant expenditure is needed from time to time.

The replacement of certain sections of the railings showed how significant those costs can be. Tree
surgery works can also be costly, £7,000 being recently quoted to undertake medium risk tree surgery work. As can also be seen by the costs quoted by Dockerills to change the keys and locks, the costs of
maintaining and running the gardens must be reflected in the garden rates.

It is therefore proposed to increase the garden rates from £1,000 to £1,100 per household. This to be considered at the upcoming AGM.

Dogs and Dog Registration

Dog registration for 2024 has thus far been poor. Of the 48 known eligible dogs previously registered only 29 people have registered this year (55 registered in 2023).

The annual cost of the dog waste bins
and collections is £1,771.20 and only £1,160.00 has been collected so far from registrations. It is unfair that whilst some residents pay the registration fee, others do not do so.

The office of Jonathon Rolls has sent an initial email to owners, reminding of the requirement to register dogs and a second reminder was sent at the end of February 2024. The registration list is hosted on the KTE website.

Whilst it is appreciated that Jonathon Rolls office has now moved to Preston Drove, registrations can be easily carried out by email and payment arranged by bank transfer, with the dog tags being sent
out by post or hand delivered when the Jonathon Rolls team are in the area. The Board would remind residents to please pay the registration fee for access to the gardens, to display the current dog tag
granting access on the dog collar and to keep dogs on a lead at all times, and of course to clear up after them.

Regrettably, incidences of dog mess being left for others to clear up, along with dogs running around off their leads, have continued. The Board wishes to also remind residents that the North Gardens remain a dog-free, tranquil space.

Gate signs

Since the last AGM and following requests from some residents, new gate signs have been put on all the gates, reiterating the requirements for guests to always be accompanied by a resident and for there to be no ball games in the North gardens, with a statement that the full rules of the use of the gardens can be found on the KTE Website. The Board trusts that the new signs have has solved the issue of children playing ball in the North Gardens.

Newsletter

The newsletter continues to go from strength to strength under the steerage of Russell Miller, former Sunday Times journalist. The newsletters are popular and a window into the activity in the gardens and all the achievements of the gardening team. This is also seen as the best medium for the Board to inform residents of important news, about the gardens.

Bicentennial projects

2023, saw our long-anticipated Bicentennial with two commemorative projects: the restoration of the secret garden flint walled enclosure and a coffee table book celebrating the history of the
gardens and estate residents who used them. The secret garden is now looking splendid and was a fitting tribute to the 200 years that our gardens have been enjoyed. We should thank once again
Michael Bedingfield, for his fantastic contribution to enable the completion of the secret garden.

The coffee table book with photos from the Janine Nahapiet and content from Russell Miller, was extremely popular, selling like hotcakes and no doubt graces many coffee tables around our estate.

The Bicentennial Garden party was a tremendous success with many residents dressing for the occasion.

Health and Safety

Amanda Catron working with Jason Saul has carried out a significant overhaul of all health and safety matters in the gardens and the gardener’s enclosure and buildings, to ensure that works were carried out safely in the gardens, protecting the residents and the gardeners, themselves. The Board have a
duty of care under the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act (1974), as well as subsequent legislation, to manage risk.
This is a need to do, not a nice to do. There has been considerable progress both from the practical perspective of physical changes such as the wall mounting of machinery, disposal of broken equipment and chemicals, a COSHH assessment and the provision of new/updated personal protective equipment for the gardeners, but also by way risk assessments, documenting of training records and safe methods of working and undertaking safety briefings, “Tool Box talks”. The health
and safety aspects of the gardens risk management are quite considerable and in turn ensure that the residents are safe in the gardens, too. Periodic checks of benches, play equipment and other equipment are undertaken to ensure health and safety considerations are properly monitored and enforced.

Your Board needs you!

Since the AGM in 2023, there have been four resignations from the Board.

• Lucy Graubart (Chair to transition shortly)
• June Mawby
• Michael Bedingfield
• Michael Osborne

The Board and residents want to thank them all for their time, patience, and expertise in the many ways they have contributed to the management of the gardens and the garden team.

Whilst Amanda Catron and Howard Rush will stand down and offer themselves for re-election to the board at the AGM, the remaining 3 Board members can not do everything. The Board therefore welcomes residents interested in joining the board to submit their CV and a statement of what their skills would contribute to the skill set of the board by the 24th of March. The Board would also welcome enquiries and would be happy to discuss what being a member of the Board of KTE entails,
in advance of the submission deadline.

Download 

Download 

Head Gardener’s Report to AGM January 2021

The year started with a very wet winter, which coincided with more people using the gardens because of the covid restrictions. This meant there were certain paths and areas of lawn near the gates that became very waterlogged and muddy. We did some work to try and improve the worst areas and so far this winter it has been a bit better. But it’s almost impossible to grow grass where there is such a heavy footfall on waterlogged ground. There are no easy answers, but I will continue to monitor the situation and look for possible solutions.  

One of the muddy paths that we will be changing is the one from the SE gate round to the Secret garden, we are going to turn that back to a gravel path, which is how it would have been originally. That will also hopefully stop the puddles building up by that gate. 

When the endless, cold, wet spring finally finished, the garden burst into a riot of colour as the delayed early spring plants bloomed at the same time as the late spring plants. So although the spring was late, when it came it was better than usual. 

While the rest of the summer was not ideal weather for humans, it was perfect for growing plants, with an above average amount of rain between the sunshine. 

I’ve often said what a difficult month August can be when the garden gets too hot and dry. The grass turns brown and the border plants struggle to stay alive.  But this year the grass stayed green and lush, while the border plants kept growing and flowering, putting on a great summer show. I don’t think the garden has ever looked so floriferous in August before. 

The area that I probably heard most compliments about was the new area of wildflowers on the South West lawn. It seemed to be really appreciated by residents and by the insect life that enjoyed it as well. 

The only downside to all the abundant growth was that the weeds loved it too, especially the bindweed, which we really struggled to stay on top of, by the end of the summer it had invaded several areas where it had not been before. This is an ongoing problem and it’s almost impossible to get rid of once it is established under shrubs. It will just be a question of trying to stop it taking over as best we can.

Hopefully you will have noticed the work that Kyle has been doing on the hedges. His care and precision when he works has made a real impact on the hedges this year and that’s made a big difference to how the garden has looked. 

I’m sure you will have seen the work that has started in the secret garden. It’s obviously looking very bare and open at the moment, but once the wall has been rebuilt and the area replanted, it will eventually be more enclosed and secret again. 

I think that by the time the building work has finished this year it will probably be too late to plant up in time for this summer. I’m expecting to plant it up in the autumn (with perhaps some temporary summer plants) which means it’s first full summer with a new wall and new planting will be next year – the bicentenary year. 

As you probably read in the report, the board decided to stop the use of glyphosate in the garden. This does mean that it’s very much more time consuming to keep the paths free of weeds, we will do our best to keep them as weed free as possible, but there will be times when that won’t be possible. This also applies to the cobbles where our only option is to weed them by hand and we don’t have the manpower to do that regularly, so the cobbles will be weedy at times, especially in the summer. 

We have been looking at the future and how we can improve biodiversity and climate resilience in the garden. 
One of the least ecologically friendly areas of the gardens are the lawns. Traditional lawns need fertilisers from fossil fuels and weed killers to keep them in good condition and they support very little biodiversity. 

They also don’t respond well to hot dry summers or wet winters, which are becoming more frequent and extreme. 
There is a big movement around the country to change how lawns are maintained and part of that is to change perceptions of what a lawn should look like. Letting the grass grow a bit longer and allowing more weeds and wildflowers are all part of that. However there is a balance to be struck, because the back drop of green lawns is an integral part of the look and history of the gardens. They are also an important part of the recreational use of the gardens. So I will be doing more research on different maintenance regimes and looking at different options for how to make them more wildlife friendly, while not losing the integrity of the garden. There is luckily a lot of interesting research being done on creating new types of lawns for the 21st century. 

Having said that, one of the things that has already been put in action is the creation of a new wildflower area on the South East lawn along the southern hedge near the secret garden. 

This has already been sown with a mixture of wildflower seeds and will be left to grow longer over the summer. Hopefully it will be enjoyed as much as the other ones in the coming years. 

Despite all the challenges I think it was in general a good year for the garden. We have a great garden team, with Kyle and George joining Ben and myself in 2021. We have also had several new Voles who have swelled the numbers on a Tuesday and make a big difference in helping to keep the borders maintained. So I would like to say a big thank you to my team, the Voles and everyone who has helped keep the gardens looking so good this year. Thank you. 

To download a copy of the Head Gardener’s Report to AGM January 2021, follow the following link: Head Gardener’s Report to AGM January 2021 – click here.

Download 

Rule change to cover the use of drones in the Enclosures

The AGM of January 2022 adopted a new rule relating to the use of drones in the Enclosures.

The use of personal drones by residents or their guests, is not permitted, in the gardens.

This is not only a safety issue, but also a privacy issue, as all drones carry cameras, even the smallest “toy” under 250g category , which also are capable of carrying a high resolution camera/video. In the event that there were to be an accident with a drone, or privacy incident, the board’s vicarious liability could come into play, as the likelihood is that the personally operated drone is not insured and the person is also not insured for Public Liability, so the claim would no doubt come back to the board and our Public Liability Insurance for the gardens, as the drone is being operated in the gardens and we have the wherewithal to pay the legal liability damages.

Any permission for commercial operation of drones in the gardens be subject to the following checklist:

• Commercial Drone Operator to carry a minimum of £5,000,000 Limit of Indemnity Insurance for commercial drone activity and be evidenced
• The Insurance policy to include KTE (or the party who have commissioned the drone operation) as an Additional Insured or to have an Indemnity to Principles extension (this is not an unusual ask and extends their policy to indemnify the person/entity that they are contracting with)
• Open drone Category with Operator Registration of drone and completed Remote Pilot Competency Requirements
• Drone MTOW at maximum 5kgs
• Drone to be operated in visual line of sight
• Operated at 400ft (120m) maximum height of flight
• Risk assessment on a “flight by flight” basis to be undertaken, before each flight
• Category A3 flight – Fly “far from people” (no uninvolved persons present [50m], 150m away from residential, commercial, industrial or recreational areas)

To download a copy of the Drone Rule from the AGM January 2022, follow the following link: Head Gardener’s Report to AGM January 2021 – click here.

Download 

11th December 2021

Dear Freehold owner,

Enclosed with this letter is a notice of our Annual General Meeting to be held at the Badger Tennis Club at 10.30am on Sunday 16th January 2022. Please would you encourage people who live in your house to attend and please would you nominate one person to represent the freehold at the meeting should a formal vote be necessary. The AGM papers are to be posted on our website www.kte.org.uk so that they are available to all.

The meeting will review the work of the KTE Board since the last AGM (a report is included in the papers attached), set a budget for 2022-23 including the proposed garden rate for the year and vote on an addition to the garden rules to outlaw the use of personal drones in the gardens. Board members standing down by rotation will also be offering themselves for re-election by the AGM.

There will be time for those attending to raise issues that concern them. The Board is appealing for new members to serve on the board. We are currently operating without a chair or treasurer by sharing these roles. If anyone feels they’d like to explore the idea of joining the Board, they’d be most welcome to contact me to discuss this. 

The current board members would be most grateful for your support by attending the AGM. We aim to keep it short and to the point.

Kind regards

Andrew Doig 

KTE Secretary

kte.org.secretary@gmail.com

P.S. Voting by proxy: If you are a freeholder or the nominated representative of a freehold company and unable to attend, you may vote by proxy. Your proxy should be sent by post or by email to the Secretary at 244 Eastern Road BN2 5T or by email to kte.org.secretary@gmail.com by Friday 14th January 2022.

Your proxy should state who is to exercise your proxy vote at the meeting; this may be the chair of the meeting or another member attending. Please state the items on the agenda on which you wish your vote to be cast and whether in favour or against the proposal on the agenda. 

Download 

Notice of Annual General Meeting to be held on Sunday 16th January 2022 at 10.30am

At Badger Tennis Club, Church Place (to be found behind high brick wall on West side of Church Place)

AGENDA

1. Apologies for Absence

2. Minutes of AGM held 18^th January 2020

3. Matters Arising

4. Report of the Board for 2019-2020 and 2020-2021

5. Accounts: To receive the examined accounts to 31.3.2021

6. Budget and garden rates for 2022-23: To approve a budget to include a rise in the garden rate from £950 per house to £1,000.

7. Appointment of certified accountants: To appoint Peter Chambers & Co to examine and certify the accounts.

8. Election of Directors: To note the resignation of Ian Clegg and Mark Harper and to acknowledge their contributions.

June Mawby and Amanda Catron were appointed by the board to fill casual vacancies and they now step down and offer themselves for re-election. Matthew Evans, last elected at AGM 2019, stands down by rotation and offers himself for re-election.

To elect June Mawby, Amanda Catron and Matthew Evans as directors 

Lucy Graubart and Andrew Doig were appointed at the AGM 2020 and remain in office.

9. Rule changes: To adopt a rule governing the use of drones in the gardens. Please see text overleaf.

10. Head Gardener’s Report: To receive a verbal report from Jeremy Moulsdale

11. issues to be raised by residents  

12. AOB

KTE AGM January 2022

Rule change to cover the use of drones in the Enclosures

The Board proposes that the use of personal drones by residents or their guests, is not permitted, in the gardens. 

This is not only a safety issue, but also a privacy issue, as all drones carry cameras, even the smallest “toy” under 250g category , which also are capable of carrying a high resolution camera/video. In the event that there were to be an accident with a drone, or privacy incident, the board’s vicarious liability could come into play, as the likelihood is that the personally operated drone is not insured and the person is also not insured for Public Liability, so the claim would no doubt come back to the board and our Public Liability Insurance for the gardens, as the drone is being operated in the gardens and we have the wherewithal to pay the legal liability damages.

That any permission for commercial operation of drones in the gardens be subject to the following checklist.

• Commercial Drone Operator to carry a minimum of £5,000,000 Limit of Indemnity Insurance for commercial drone activity and be evidenced
• The Insurance policy to include KTE (or the party who have commissioned the drone operation) as an Additional Insured or to have an Indemnity to Principles extension (this is not an unusual ask and extends their policy to indemnify the person/entity that they are contracting with)
• Open drone Category with Operator Registration of drone and completed Remote Pilot Competency Requirements
• Drone MTOW at maximum 5kgs 
• Drone to be operated in visual line of sight
• Operated at 400ft (120m) maximum height of flight
• Risk assessment on a “flight by flight” basis to be undertaken, before each flight
• Category A3 flight – Fly “far from people” (no uninvolved persons present [50m], 150m away from residential, commercial, industrial or recreational areas)

To download a copy of Agenda, follow the following link: AGM 2022 Agenda – click here.

Download 

Report of the Board to AGM 16^th January 2022

The AGM, planned for January 2021 had to be postponed because of COVID restrictions on gatherings. Now a year later, and two years since our last AGM, we meet again to report on our work.

The accounts for the year ended 31.3.20, examined by our auditors, were approved by the Board and submitted to Companies House within the statutory time limit but, for this year only, without the benefit of being presented to an AGM. In April they were posted on our website and freeholders were signposted to them by letter sent out with the garden rate demands for 2021. The charges from the previous year were rolled over to 2021 given that no AGM could be called to approve new charges and the expenditure budget was amended to contain expenditure within the same fixed charges for a further year. All that worked well and we were able to continue the service as normal during 2021. The accounts for the year ended 31.3.2021 are to be presented to the AGM on 16^th January 2022.

In April 2021, our Treasurer, Ian Clegg who held a steady hand on the tiller for the past 7 years, had to withdraw after receiving a life-changing diagnosis in April. His contribution on a whole range of issues in finance and beyond has been sorely missed. At the same time, Mark Harper, our Chair of 11 years, had to withdraw because of increasingly heavy work and family commitments. Our gratitude and best wishes go to Ian and Mark.

Fortunately, the remaining board members, Lucy Graubart, Matthew Evans and Andrew Doig were able to carry on the work of the board and soon recruited two new members to fill vacancies on the board. They are June Mawby of 4 Lewes Crescent and Amanda Catron of 4 Arundel Terrace. 

The challenges presented by Covid

The first COVID lockdown was not a happy experience. At the outset and for some time afterwards, the gardens staff stayed at home, but eventually they resumed work once arrangements were agreed with them to enable safe working; arrangements which they operate still. 

Initially, we were all to stay at home by law, with some exceptions including short periods for daily outdoor exercise. The Board was concerned to ensure that the gardens were available for everyone for daily exercise while making it safe for everyone. This included asking people to restrict their visits to active exercise only. While the majority observed the restrictions, inevitably, there were some who asserted that the gardens were in effect their private garden and exempt from the restrictions. This caused quite a bit of conflict, and on one occasion a resident who saw people in the gardens disregarding the rules called the police, while another escorted the police out of the gardens, claiming that the privately owned space was beyond their jurisdiction without a warrant. Appeals were made to residents to restrict their use of the gardens to that permitted by the emergency legislation but the board’s notices on gates to this effect were torn down by those who dissented. Fortunately, at this point the restrictions were eased and the tensions eased without residents coming to blows.

Throughout the emergency and until quite recently, the Board held its meetings remotely by Zoom.

Staffing the gardens team

After losing quite a bit of garden work time to the emergency, the Board decided to extend the hours of the temporary garden contractor, James, who had been helping us get the Chichester Terrace bed back under control and have him help assistant gardener, Patrick, with the work on hedge cutting and so on.

During 2020, concerned about our responsibilities for the health and safety of staff, we convened a review to assess the risk to a staff member of using machinery which appeared to exacerbate an existing health condition. We were advised to explore adjustments to mitigate that risk, but the staff member decided instead to find another job without the need to wield heavy hedge cutting machinery, and so the post of assistant gardener came vacant in March 2021.

We were inundated with applications for the vacancy and from this rich pool of applicants we selected Kyle Smith, who has proved to be an energetic and cheerful team member. His work on cutting the hedges has been impressive. With Kyle in post full time and James working 1 or 2 days a week during the summer we were still struggling to keep things up to standard. As James was unable to offer us more days in the summer months, it was decided instead to end James’s contract and employ a second assistant to work 3 days a week year-round. That decision resulted in us employing George Kearns from September 2021. George is a recent graduate in environmental science and has interesting knowledge of wildflower communities on chalk downland, knowledge which we can put to good use in diversifying the grassed areas of the gardens to make them more sustainable and ecologically diverse. 

So, at present the team consists of Jeremy, 3 day a week as Head Gardener, Kyle, full-time as assistant, George, 3 day a week as assistant and Ben, working as a contractor mowing the lawns and other duties. We have the essential contribution made by the ‘Voles’, the volunteer gardeners who every Tuesday morning help clear beds of weeds under Jeremy’s supervision. With their contribution added to the team’s work, we are now expecting to be able to keep the gardens and the perimeters of the gardens looking well cared for throughout the year. Lucy Graubart has been keeping in touch with the team to ensure a good working relationship between the Board and the team.

Improvements have been made to the gardens team’s working conditions with an electricity supply run into their compound for the first time and a new shelter hut for them to retreat to in their breaks with hot and cold water supplies and heat and light in winter. We have yet to improve upon the hired portaloo for their convenience. A connection to the public sewer would be prohibitively expensive and the alternative septic tank would not be permitted in this built-up area so we continue to look for another solution, perhaps a composting toilet, but one that does not involve the team in its servicing.

Jeremy Moulsdale, Head Gardener will make his report on the gardening year to the AGM. 

Environmental stewardship of the gardens

In pursuit of a more environment-friendly operation, we have agreed to end bonfires in the gardens, to the delight of those who live downwind of them. Instead, all the woody arisings previously burned on site are now taken away by a licensed contractor. All other green waste is composted for use in the gardens. We have also stopped using the systemic weedkiller glyphosate. Concerns about its carcinogenic effect have led the Council to do the same. However, we now have the problem of ridding the paths and cobbles of perennial weeds. The team has experimented with a flame device but that is not safe to use on the cobbles where parked cars are close by. An acetic acid spray treatment has shown limited success and so it is likely that hand weeding, a time-consuming process, will have to be used. 

Perhaps we should mark here the decision to extend our weeding work to include the cobbles beyond the railings around the gardens. We contend that the cobbles are part of the highway and the Council’s responsibility to maintain and repair but the Council continues to deny this despite a lengthy battle, complete with counsel’s opinion on the matter, to convince them otherwise of their duty. In the meantime, residents expect their estate to look its best and leaving the cobbles to grow weeds is not an option.

An ecological survey of the gardens commissioned earlier, did not add significantly to our knowledge of the flora and fauna of the gardens but did prompt us to erect bat and nesting boxes. We avoid disturbance to birds during the nesting season and, of course, can do no work near badger setts so long as they are in use. This restriction, thwarted a plan to tear up the deep goji berry thicket around the horseshoe garden and replant it with more sympathetic species when the entrance to a sett was discovered there.

The Regency heritage and the modern world

With pressures mounting from changing patterns of use of the gardens, from problems with summer drought on the one hand and winter water logging on the other presented by climate change, added to the sharp increase in residents’ interest on ecological diversity, we decided to review our core mission to conserve the Regency character of the gardens in the face of all these legitimate pressures. We started by identifying the garden’s place in British garden history – it is listed as being of national historic interest – and the features and characteristics of the Regency garden that have survived two hundred years to this day. We then went on to identify the pressures for change which we would hope to accommodate without trashing the essential historic character of the gardens. 

This analysis leads us to the thought that we should involve residents in a debate of the issues to help guide future decisions about making changes to the gardens, be it converting more areas to wildflower meadow, encouraging greater diversity of species in the lawns instead of the traditional close-mown swards, making more paths for walking around the gardens when waterlogged grass areas is an issue, replacing water-hungry herbaceous planting with unfamiliar drought- tolerant species and so on. We intend to find ways of engaging our residents with these issues.

Communicating with residents

With the redesign of our website www.kte.org.uk and its facility for posting news and for residents to leave messages and, more recently, to check on large events booked in the gardens, we had thought that the newsletter of previous years redundant. However, it has become apparent that the website attracts little traffic and we need to find other ways to keep people informed and engaged. So we have reinstated the newsletter as a quarterly event, and after two editions it has already provoked a positive response from residents. Encouraged by this, and with the able help of former Sunday Times journalist Russell Miller, we shall continue with this newsletter.

The hard landscape

As part of our duty to manage the risk to residents and staff in the gardens, we now have a periodic survey of the gates, railings, paths, play equipment, benches and buildings to ensure we spot any problems and get them attended to promptly. 

This survey helps us select stretches of railings that need attention. Since the last AGM, we have repainted the southern railings and stretches of the railings on the western side of the South garden. All the railings of the North Garden are of mild steel, ungalvanized, and now badly deteriorated.  To paint them now is to waste money and we must plan for their replacement. The first stretch, that opposite the bus stop, is to be replaced shortly. The funds for replacing the other three stretches of raising that surround the North Garden are yet to be found and this will form part of the discussion on financial matters at the AGM.

During the year, the relationship with the leaseholders of the two cottages at the end of the tunnel came into focus when a sewage emergency caused nasty flooding there. We established that their sewage system, a pumped system as opposed to the usual gravity system, was their responsibility and not ours and so it was that they organised the clear up and the necessary pump replacement.

Behaviour in the gardens

Rule changes made at the last AGM reflect the concern over poor behaviour by some garden users, be it leaving picnic debris, having parties with loud music or holiday visitors bringing in groups of friends for large get-togethers. So, the new rule requiring keyholders to accompany their guests in the gardens was brought in along with the rule that requires prior permission for events that are open to the pubic eg the NGS Open Day, history tours or health walks. These last are admirable events which would be readily approved but there have been others, some of a commercial nature, which were not welcome.

During the COVID lockdown there were some worrying after-hours invasions of the gardens by young people who held drinking parties in the gardens, dragging benches around, damaging tables and leaving debris in the gardens. We began to consider security arrangements which would have been expensive and unwelcome to residents on other grounds. Fortunately, this was a short-lived phenomenon. An evening incursion by a small group of students of the EF school resulted in some  being immediately sent home by the school.

Dogs in the South garden

2022 marks the centenary of the decision to allow dogs to be walked in the South Garden. The North garden remains a dog-free area. The historic record of the gardens committee shows that admitting dogs has not been without its problems over the years. Residents who walk their dogs in the South garden must first register them and pay a fee. This fee is set to fund the dog waste bins service. Registrations appear to have lagged well behind dog ownership and use of the gardens. As an encouragement to residents to register their dogs, the register of dogs is to be published each year after the January dog registration period expires. This is a first step towards identifying those who fail to register.

Regrettably, incidences of dog mess being left for others to clear up have continued, along with dogs being run in the gardens off their leads and residents reporting their alarm at the unwanted greeting they receive from dogs, even those on leads. We dealt with a complaint last summer from a resident who became very distressed by the unwanted attentions of a dog. Dog owners must understand that while they love their dogs, others do not and want to be left in peace by dogs.

Bicentennial projects

With the two-hundred year anniversary of the gardens soon upon us in 2023, we are making progress with two commemorative projects: the restoration of the secret garden flint wall enclosure and a coffee table book celebrating the history of the gardens and estate residents who used them.

With a generous private donation, we were able to get machinery in to tear away the heavy thicket of goji berry that had engulfed the flint wall of the secret garden. This revealed the flint wall to be in a very poor state and it was decided that it would be best to demolish it and reinstate it on a new foundation with support at the back of the wall to retain soil banked up as it had been. The foundations have been laid and the next step is to rebuild the flint wall. As this is to be done using lime mortar, which must not be laid in low temperatures, we are going to have to wait now until the spring to see the completion of the building work and the reinstatement of lawn and planting that will follow.

The bicentennial book has reached an advanced state with drafts of the text by Russell Miller ready to go along with photographs, some historic and others new by Janine Nahapiet. The book is to be available for sale at the NGS Open Day in May and thereafter.

Thanks

We should like to record our thanks to all those who help keep the gardens to the satisfaction of residents, the gardens team, of course but also the Voles for their support, to the staff of Jonathon Rolls, our managing agent, who deal with keyholders and contractors day-to-day, to those who made private donations and to all the residents who contribute so readily to the gardens through the garden rate. Thank you all.

Lucy Graubart, Matthew Evans, June Mawby, Amanda Catron and Andrew Doig (Secretary).

kte.org.secretary@gmail.com

To download a copy of Report, follow the following link: AGM 2022 Cover Letter – click here.

Download 

To download a copy of Budget, follow the following link: 2022/2023 Budget – click here.

Download 

The enclosed Financial Statements, together with the accompanying notes, fulfils Kemp Town Enclosures Limited statutory requirements for annual reporting.

To download the report, follow the following link: Report of the Directors and Unaudited Financial Statements for the Year Ended 31 March 2021 for Kemp Town Enclosures Limited – click here.

Download 

MINUTES OF THE ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING OF KEMP TOWN ENCLOSURES LIMITED

LOCATION: BRIGHTON WALDORF STEINER SCHOOL, ROEDEAN ROAD, BRIGHTON

36 people attended including 5 board members, Mark Harper (Chair), Ian Clegg (Treasurer), Matthew Evans, Lucy Graubart and Andrew Doig (Secretary/minutes)  

1. Apologies for absence: apologies were received from Shirley Collins, Francoise Cosgrove, Chris and Lucy Goss, Ken Richardson and David and Nina Morris 

2. Chairman’s Report

Mark Harper spoke of the very successful open garden event organized with the NGS in June and thanked Janine Nahapiet, the Voles, other volunteers and the gardens team for their part in this success. He spoke of the extra resources employed during last summer to get the Chichester Terrace bed under control and of plans to keep it weed free in future. He described the case put to the Council holding them responsible for the repair of the cobbles around the perimeter of the gardens. After a site meeting with senior Council representatives and our barrister, the Council had flatly rejected our claim. The board had ruled out litigation because of the high cost and risk of incurring the other side’s costs and, perhaps worse, losing and becoming liable for the repair of the cobbles at huge cost to KTE. Mediation had also been decided against for similar reasons. The Council, even if it accepted liability, was unlikely to prioritise the work given their diminished income and other more pressing calls on their resources in the foreseeable future. Mark went on to talk about ongoing efforts to hold the contractor for the southern railings responsible for the rust appearing despite repainting and spoke of the board’s plan to obtain specialist advice on this. Progress with improving the garden team’s workplace had been made by the installation of electricity enabling KTE to provide light and heating in a new cabin to be used for the team’s lunch and tea breaks. He spoke too of progress with developing a system of risk management, in which Jeremy had played an important part, identifying and mitigating risks to staff and garden users. Mark expressed the board’s gratitude to Amanda Kennerley, a resident with specialist knowledge, who had given helpful expert advice. The brief to our agent Jonathon Rolls was being extended to provide periodic reports on the state of repair of hard landscape elements of the gardens eg paths, gates, railings etc., so that the board could take any action needed. He spoke of welcoming to the board during the year, Lucy Graubart and the hope that Francoise Cosgrove might join the board too. 

A discussion followed centred largely on the issue of liability for repair of the cobbles and how it could be pursued, together with discussion of the problem of damage to the cobbles, now and even when repaired, by cars parking in the spaces adjoining. There was a possibility that to prevent this damage, car parking spaces would be lost around the gardens. The future of the cobbles remained unresolved but the question of meditation would be looked at again by the board. In relation to risk, a resident reported that the path in the tunnel was strewn with mud. 

3. Minutes of the AGM 3^rd February 2019

The minutes were accepted as a true record.

4. Head Gardener’s report   

Jeremy Moulsdale gave his report on the gardening year (reproduced in full under the News page of our website ww.kte.org.uk). He paid tribute to his team, Patrick and Ben and to the volunteer gardeners, the Voles. He made a plea for new volunteer gardeners to help at the Tuesday morning sessions which volunteers were attended or not as their other commitments allowed. A round of applause followed Jeremy’s report.

5. Financial Statements for the year ended 31^st March 2019

 Ian Clegg presented the accounts which showed a small drop in income from the previous year when a large donation had been made for the new mower shed. Expenditure was much as planned. He highlighted the costs of installing electricity to the garden team’s area and the cost of counsel’s advice on the cobbles issue. The year ended with a small deficit which would be covered by reserves.  Ian went on to tell the meeting that in the current year, all income from charges had been received other than that for 3 Arundel Terrace. Expenditure was likely to be within budget at the year end.

6. Adoption of budget and approval of charges for 2020/21

The board proposed that the charges be raised by an inflation element to £950 per freehold house and £314 for individual subscribers with £285 for the cottages at the foot of the tunnel. The proposal was accepted by the meeting.

7. Appointment of Certified Accountants

The meeting approved the re-appointment of Chambers & Co to examine and certify the accounts.

8. Election of Directors

Lucy Graubart who had filled a casual vacancy during the year stood down. Mark Harper and Andrew Doig stood down by rotation. All three offered themselves for re-election and were elected by the meeting. Ian Clegg and Matthew Evans elected at the AGM in 2019 remained in office.

10. Bicentennial Project 2023

Janine Nahapiet spoke of the three themes of the project: yesterday, today and tomorrow, standing back to take a longer-term perspective of what we had inherited, how to celebrate today and make plans to pass on our inheritance to future generations. Projects to celebrate the bicentenary selected so far were the production of a coffee table book charting the history of the gardens, led by Russell Miller, the refurbishment of the secret garden and its flint walls, and plans to research future options for tackling the effects of climate change on historic gardens. A further proposal for creating a grass pathway through wildflower meadows either side of the tunnel mound was being considered. 

Janine called for volunteers willing to lead on projects they felt passionate about for the bicentenary and for others to help with the second open day of the gardens on 11th June. The first opening had raised close to £2,000 for health charities. 

In the discussion that followed, Mark Eynon proposed that a substantial number of new trees be planted in the gardens. Jeremy pointed out that this would change the character of the historic gardens. Bruce Tattersall wanted to see a project in a more prominent position than the secret garden. Vanessa Minns proposed that a mulberry be planted in the North garden. Jeremy said that there was presently no room for this but that a mulberry would be high on the list if a suitable site became available. Janine reported that a knowledgeable visitor to the open day had asked about our strategy for replacing trees given their age and this could be a project for the bicentenary. Stuart Hutchinson and Stella McCrickard each made suggestions about holding charged-for events in the gardens. Janine took the opportunity to obtain the meeting’s agreement to developing a limited number of events open to the public that were focused and limited, in order to raise funds for KTE.

11. Access to the gardens by non-residents

Andrew Doig put the board’s case for making changes to the rules to deal with access to the gardens by visitors. At recent AGMs residents complained of problems arising from the use of the gardens by holiday visitors, for example, by inviting others to join them in parties, by bringing in unregistered dogs, leaving bottles, litter or dog mess in the gardens, playing ball games where they are not permitted, playing loud music or using drones. 

Residents of houses making the annual contribution to the gardens’ upkeep were entitled to have keys to the gardens, provided that they abided by the garden rules. Unfortunately, some residents had interpreted that right to include access to the gardens by their paying guests. And so it was that people who let their flats to holiday visitors, had been loaning out their keys and giving their holiday tenants unsupervised access to the gardens. 

As a step towards tackling this problem, the Board proposed the garden rules be altered to require key holders to accompany their guests and to be responsible for their behaviour while in the gardens.

The board also proposed to change the rules to make sure that any events, to which members of the general public were invited, become subject to prior approval. This was because KTE was potentially liable for the safety and well-being of people entering the gardens. Although it had insurance cover, KTE would be expected to have assessed the risks that each event may pose and satisfy itself that the tour or activity leader was aware of those risks and would take steps necessary to mitigate them. For this reason and for the protection of residents and the gardens from inappropriate access and use, events to which members of the public are to be admitted would require prior approval from the office.

There followed a discussion from which it was clear that the meeting agreed to these changes but wanted the measures for making the rule change about holiday visitors more widely known and means of enforcing them developed. Greater clarity of the rules on gate notices was suggested, as was contacting landlords of holiday lets to ensure they knew that the rules had changed. Widening the discussion to include parties held in the gardens, it was suggested that residents be enabled to check on party bookings via the website or gate notices so that they could challenge or report gatherings that did not meet the requirements of the rules. The board was to consider the suggestions further.

12. AOB

i) Climate change: A suggestion was made that a system be set up to record changes to seafront garden sites and to share results. Jeremy expressed interest in this idea.

ii) Mental health. Sally Richardson suggested that ways be found to enable people with mental health issues to benefit from the healing qualities of our gardens. The wellbeing walks that presently included the gardens were cited as a good start.   

iii) Railings: The need for frequent re-painting of rusted railings, particularly those of the North garden and the very high cost of replacing them in cast iron led Brian Horton to propose that railings in need of replacement be made of mild steel, as in the case of the stretch along the eastern side of the North garden which had not needed frequent repainting. Mild steel railings were vastly more affordable than cast iron, and suitable where the plinths were serviceable and not needing to be replaced. The board undertook to look at this option again.

iv) Statue: Russell Miller asked what the board’s attitude was to a proposal to raise a statue to Thomas Read Kemp in the gardens. Simon Smith intervened to say that this was a proposal being worked on by the Kemp Town Society and not yet a public proposal. Nevertheless, others took the opportunity to say that they opposed the idea of erecting such a statue in the gardens.  

v) Thanks: Russell Miller proposed a vote of thanks to those serving on the board and this was roundly applauded.  

2020 Annual General Meeting Minutes 

Download 

The enclosed Financial Statements, together with the accompanying notes, fulfills Kemp Town Enclosures Limited statutory requirements for annual reporting.

To download the report, follow the following link: Report of the Directors and Unaudited Financial Statements for the Year Ended 31 March 2020 for Kemp Town Enclosures Limited – click here.

Download 
The Board of Management for Kemp Town Enclosures is voted in at the Annual General Meeting which is held every year, usually in February.

Below you can find the minutes from our latest AGM and our latest Gardener’s Report for the enclosures.

MINUTES OF THE ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING OF KEMP TOWN ENCLOSURES LIMITED

LOCATION: BRIGHTON WALDORF STEINER SCHOOL, ROEDEAN ROAD, BRIGHTON

Saturday 2nd February 2019

Attendance:

30 members including board members, Mark Harper (Chair), Ian Clegg (Treasurer), Steve Harwood, Russell Miller and Andrew Doig (Secretary/minutes)

1. Apologies for absence: apologies were received from Jonathan Rolls and David Morris

2. Chairman’s Report

Mark Harper spoke of the six meetings held by the board since the last AGM at which a range of issues had been dealt with including the development of a health & safety policy and a plan to provide proper working conditions for the garden team by installing power to the stockade, a heated shelter and a permanent toilet to replace the Portaloo. Following a risk assessment, the tractor mower was no longer to be driven on the public highway and alternative arrangements made for mowing the North garden lawn and the Arundel Terrace lawn. A formal management agreement had been made with Jonathan rolls successors after his retirement from the firm. Matthew Evans a partner of the firm had agreed to stand as a Director of the Enclosures to provide close co-operation and continuity with our managing agent. The Board had appointed Janine Nahapiet as coordinator for the 2023 bicentenary celebrations. Janine was to address the AGM later.

Mark gave an update on the dispute with the Council over responsibility for repairing the cobbles around the perimeter of the gardens. Counsel’s opinion had been obtained, and a claim made to the Council that they were responsible. In response, the council had denied ownership of the cobbles and therefore the responsibility to carry out repairs. A meeting on site with lawyers from both sides present had been arranged for the following Monday.

3. Minutes of AGM held 18^th January 2018

These were agreed as a true record. No matters arising were raised.

4. Gardener’s Report

Jeremy Moulsdale listed the achievements of the year including the successful recruitment of Patrick Cam as Assistant Gardener and the subsequent experimental change so that Jeremy could work 3 days and Patrick 5 days a week. Jeremy spoke of the frozen Spring followed by the long hot dry summer and its toll on plants and the lawns. He drew attention to the makeover of the beds in the Secret Garden and the new opportunities for planning created by cutting back severely hedges that had become too deep and high to cut safely. He spoke of the difficulties of keeping the Chichester Terrace shrub bed under control and was going to propose to the board options for making this more manageable, possibly by reducing the bed’s width and reintroducing a strip of lawn. He drew attention to the ecology survey that had been commissioned for the Spring which would help us to manage and maximise the biodiversity of the gardens.

A vote of thanks was passed thanking the gardens team for their work.

5. Financial Statement for the year ended 31^st March 2018

Ian Clegg spoke to the accounts which showed income of nearly £107,000, which apart from garden rates of more than £90,000, included £5,000 in charges for lost or second keys and £1,200 in dog registration fees. A generous donation of £6,000 for the new mower tractor hut had been made by a resident. Expenditure had been controlled to produce a surplus for the year of c.£13,000

In answer to questions, Ian confirmed that dog poo bins had been funded by dog registration fees. There was a discussion about the difficulty of policing the dog registration system with holiday let visitors who were given keys by their hosts. This led to a further discussion about the possibility of using electronic fob keys which could be used to deny access to those who failed to pay garden rates or misused the gardens. The technology of fob keys in open air seaside conditions had yet to be adequately tested. Experience of their use at the Marina suggested caution.

The freehold of 5 Arundel Terrace had now changed hands and this presented the opportunity to seek their inclusion in the garden rate scheme. Andrew was to write to the new freeholder. In the current year, charges due since April 2018 for 3 Arundel Terrace, 6 Chichester Terrace, 4 Lewes Crescent and 23 Lewes Crescent remained unpaid.

6. Adoption of budget and approval of charges for 2019/20

Ian proposed the budget published with the agenda papers. It envisaged a rise of 3% to charges with freeholds paying £930 pa. Included in the budget was £5,000 for legal costs in relation to the dispute over responsibility for the cobbles. Plans to run power to the stockade and other workplace improvements for the gardens team would be met from reserves or possibly by donations from generous residents. The budget and charges were approved.

7. Appointment of Chartered Certified Accountants

Chambers & Co were duly appointed to examine the company’s accounts.

8. Election of Directors

Mark announced the retirement of long-serving directors Jonathan Rolls and Jill Sewell. Jonathan had been involved with the management of the gardens since 1980 and had been a Director of KTE since its inception in 1995. Jill, a lawyer, had been a Director since 2007.

Steve Harwood, had indicated that he would like to retire in the summer of 2019. Mark expressed appreciation for the long and useful service of directors retiring now and later this year.

Russell Miller and Ian Clegg now stood down by rotation and offered themselves for reelection as Directors. Matthew Evans a partner in Jonathan Rolls, had agreed to stand and had been nominated by a freeholder. All three were duly elected to the Board. Mark spoke of the desire to recruit a further two directors and invited anyone who was interested to contact him or the Secretary.

9. Bicentennial Just a few small points.

Janine Nahapiet introduced herself and the project she was leading. Her talk had three themes: investing in the gardens and our legacy for the future, one amazing year and celebrating together and finally, extending our community around the estate and beyond. Already Janine had collected numerous suggestions for celebrating 2023 and welcomed more. She had spent time talking with people on the Estate and making contacts with useful people and bodies outside who could help and advise us, including the Gardens Trust. She planned a workshop to help us develop our understanding of the gardens we had inherited so that we had a context for selecting projects that made our mark but enhanced the heritage we would pass on. The restoration of the flint walls enclosing the Secret Garden was an obvious candidate for a bicentenary project. Janine had got together a working party to pursue the project in different ways. She spoke of a plan to produce a new history of the gardens expanding the focus of the present Antony Dale booklet. There were suggestions from the floor of providing a guide to the significant or interesting trees and shrubs in the gardens, or to develop our understanding of the phases of development in the horticulture of the gardens and there was a suggestion to erect a statue of T R Kemp. There was a discussion of how the connection with Lewis Carroll and his Alice in Wonderland should be included, and two residents who were artists each offered work to achieve this. Janine spoke of an aspiration to widen the participation in the garden celebrations by enabling controlled access events which could include people beyond the Estate. The KTS summer party and the Friday evening drinks party were existing examples of this. A one-afternoon opening of the South Garden as part of the NGS scheme was planned for June this year. More ideas would be gathered and evaluated before proposals were made. Janine was applauded for her work.

10. AOB.

i) Brian Horton spoke of the possibility of replacing the iron railings to the North Garden with mild steel railings. He had a verbal estimate of £15,700 for the stretch along Eastern Road. This would be considered.

ii) The question of AirBnB visitors with their dogs and friends being given access to the gardens was raised again. Residents paid for the upkeep of the gardens and this was being exploited by the short- term letting businesses of some flat owners. This led to a return to the earlier discussion of being able to restrict access to those who used the gardens within the rules. The matter remained unresolved.

END

Download a copy of the 2019 Annual General Meeting Minutes .

Download 

DRAFT MINUTES OF TWENTY-THIRD ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING OF KEMP TOWN ENCLOSURES LIMITED

LOCATION: BRIGHTON STEINER SCHOOL, ROEDEAN ROAD, BRIGHTON

Saturday 20th January 2018

Attendance:

32 members including board members, Mark Harper (Chair), Ian Clegg (treasurer), Steve Harwood, Russell Miller and Andrew Doig (minutes)

1. Apologies for absence: apologies were received from Jonathan Rolls, Jill Sewell, David Morris and Karl Gisholt

2. Chairman’s Report

The Chair began by announcing the retirement of Jonathan Rolls as Secretary and a vote of thanks for his service was moved and passed. Andrew Doig was taking over from Jonathan as Secretary.

The Chair based his remarks on those he published in the newsletter. It had been the first year for a while not dominated by the replacement of the Southern railings. A timber gate had been erected in the Southern boundary hedge, a new tractor/mower had been purchased, Jeremy had planted new beds and significant repair had been done to the tunnel. With the 200^th anniversary of the gardens in 2023 in sight thoughts were now turning to marking that event.

3. Minutes of AGM held 18^th March 2017

The minutes were agreed as a true record.

4. Gardener’s Report

Jeremy Moulsdale spoke to his report published with the agenda papers. He highlighted his work on the flower bed south east of the woodland garden, where the flowering season started with tulips in spring right through to salvias in November, his replanting of the square bed in the centre of the South garden, and the extension of a bed to the north west of that where a new bench was installed with new planting around it. He spoke of the generous donation of a fine bench and table for the Secret Garden, and of the work by Andy in cutting back the overgrown planting in the Chichester Terrace bed. He spoke of the tree survey and continuing removal of deadwood and of the two large boughs of poplars that had come down in stormy weather. He spoke of the plan to seriously reduce the depth of the southern boundary hedge where it had become too wide for the top to be safely reached for cutting. He and Andy were preparing a new base for a new mower shed generously donated by a resident. He finished by thanking, first his team members Andy and Ben, and then the Voles who helped maintain the beds throughout the year.

In answer to comments and questions, Jeremy confirmed that tree surgery and hedge cutting would be timed as far as possible not to interfere with bird nesting times, that efforts would continue to conserve an area of Lilly of the Valley, that only compost made in the garden or imported from a mushroom farm was used in the garden and that overgrown vegetation around the Horseshoe garden would be cut back from neighbouring paths as part of a larger project for that garden.

A vote of thanks to Jeremy for his work was passed.

5. Financial Statement for the year ended 31^st March 2017

Ian Clegg, Treasurer, spoke to the certified accounts. Income for the year of £163,869 included, for a second year, £60,000 from a levy raised for renewal of southern railings, a generous gift of £10,000 towards that project and a further gift of £2,500 towards garden team wages. He was pleased to report that all charges, including the levy made on each house, had been collected. On the expenditure side, while the figure of £171,264, the cost of the Southern railings project, dominated the year’s spending, the other significant sum spent was £22,029 on repair of brickwork to the tunnel and to the path leading to the tunnel. Central costs had risen as a result of using a surveyor for repair and renewal projects at Jonathan Rolls, following the retirement last year of Brian Horton from his voluntary role.

In response to a question from the floor, the abated level of charge for ‘Outsiders’ was explained. There were no plans to admit further ‘Outsiders’.

The accounts were adopted by the meeting.

6. Election of Directors

Marker Harper and Jonathan Rolls retired by rotation as required by the company’s rules and offered themselves for re-election. Andrew Doig stood down as a co-optee and offered himself for election. All were elected unopposed.

7. Appointment of Auditors

Peter Chambers of Chambers & Co was re-appointed to examine and certify the company’s accounts.

strong>8. Garden Rate for 2018/19

A proposal from the Board that the garden rate be increased to £900 for freeholders, £300 for Outsiders and £270 for the Esplanade cottages was approved.

9. AOB

a) Repair of the cobbles: The Chair gave an update on the pursuit of the quest to establish the responsibility of the Council for the repair of the cobbles surrounding the gardens. He spoke of repeated attempts to get Council officers to accept that the cobbles were part of the adopted highway, but without success. The Board had then sought advice from a barrister with relevant experience and he had visited the site with board members. His written advice was expected imminently. The advice was to be used to encourage the Council to engage with the issue at a site meeting at which our barrister would be present to support our case.

Those present debated evidence that pointed towards the Council being responsible. Mike Osborne offered to produce new evidence that the cobbles had been constructed long after the railings had been set upon their plinth, with the implication that the cobbles were not foundations for our railings. Inevitably the arrangements for parking would need to be raised with the Council for it was impossible to park in the spaces as presently delineated without either driving or walking over the cobbled areas and causing them damage.

Steve Harwood identified that the plinth is in poor condition due to root and other damage and had previously been repaired inappropriately with cement. Tilley’s, a specialist stone mason, had indicated there was no worthwhile repairs that could be made. It is inevitable that at some stage KTE will need to spend a significant amount on replacing sections of the plinth, irrespective of the investigation with the Council on liability for the cobbles”.

b) Gardens bi-centenary 2023: The Chair invited the meeting to consider the forthcoming bi-centenary of the gardens laid out in 1823. Ideas aimed at celebrating the event included, an area laid out specifically in the Regency style, a knot garden in the square garden, a digitised record of the Gardens Committee minute book, an update to Antony Dale’s, 1964 pamphlet on the history of the gardens last updated in 1994, a commemorative tree planting by a member of the royal family, and, tongue in cheek, the realisation of an early plan to erect a vast statue of Neptune.

c) Website kte.org: Russell Miller spoke of plans to upgrade the website in such a way that he could update our news easily and frequently, and enable residents to post questions and comments for the Board. Andy of the gardens team had volunteered to set up a Facebook page for the gardens, linked to the website, which Russell would manage. The printed newsletter was to be discontinued but the website and Facebook page offered to enable a group of residents, much wider than those who attended the annual meeting, to participate in the running of the gardens throughout the year.

d) Poo bins: Jeremy reported that the bins were being well used. The positioning of a bin at the tunnel entrance was criticised by a resident as being superfluous. In response to an observation that then cost of the poo bins was greater than the cost of the service, the Treasurer pointed out that the dog registration fee had been increased from £15 to £25 from 1^st January 2018 and was now expected to cover the cost of the bin service

e) Bicycles chained to railings: The Board was asked to approach the Council to provide further cycle hoops eg at the bend in the road in Lewes Crescent to provide an alternative for cyclists who presently chain their bicycles to the garden railings. The matter would be referred to the Kemp Town Society for their dealings with the Council.

f) AirBnB: Residents drew attention to nuisance caused by non-resident users of the gardens who were visitors staying in AirBnB lettings on the Estate. The situation would need to be monitored with a view to finding a way of eliminating this nuisance should it persist.

Download a copy of the 2018 Annual General Meeting Minutes .

Download 

GARDENER’S REPORT 2017

Prepared by Jeremy Moulsdale

Looking back over the year I have to think about the battering the garden got last winter from the constant wind and rain. While there was no major tree damage, which shows that our tree management programme is working well, we did lose some shrubs which didn’t have the strength to recover when the winds finally eased. Other shrubs did manage dot recover, but not all of them in time to flower this year.

However the summer and autumn was a different story, with lots of sunshine and enough rain to keep the borders flowering well over a long period. In fact, in my opinion I think the garden looked as good this summer as it ever has. The wildflower lawns were in almost constant flower from spring to late autumn.  Last winter’s new planting also added to the colour and interest, with the new border in the North Garden growing well and having a big impact, while the new planting in the woodland also looked good with the foxgloves in particular making an impressive splash.

With the help of a great garden team, we have managed to keep the hedges and lawns cut more regularly with Andy doing a huge amount of work on the hedges, Ben cutting the grass regularly and a great group of volunteers, ‘the Voles’, who help keep the borders looking good by doing a huge amount of weeding and tidying.

On the down side, we did lose two trees to Dutch Elm disease this summer, not in the woodland area where I was expecting it, but next to the stockade near the south-east gate.

More recently, we have created another new border which came about because we had to remove a huge dying Buddleia Globosa next to the rose bed. I was a bit nervous about cutting it down because it was so big, but the area has now been planted and I’m excited to see how it grows. I hope it will be a big improvement, because together with the rose bed it creates a big new border that extends all around the south east side of the woodland. In addition to that, it has also opened up the woodland to more light. Which means I have been able to plant a lot of mostly British native hedgerow to provide nesting sites for birds as well as berries and flowers. That means that if the elm trees and their suckers die off there there will already be a new source of food and shelter for wildlife.

Also in the woodland area is the new sculpture. I am of course thrilled and honoured to have one of my sculptures in the garden and very thankful to all the people who made donations towards it. I have planted up the area around it with perennials which I hope will set it off beautifully as they grow.

On Chichester Terrace I am planning this winter to prune some of the overgrown shrubs and replacing dying ones with new planting. So there will be some gaps for a while until the new plants grow.

I’m also planning on cutting back some more of the hedges from the railings, around the North Garden.

With the new southern railings in place I am often asked what my plans are for theatre: The short answer is to leave it more or less as it is: Because the hedge is so high there has to be space between it and the railings to put up ladders etc so we will have to keep the strip of grass: However in the long term I would like to even up the hedge a bit; so where the grass is widest I will plant some new hedging and where it is thinnest I will cut the hedge back a bit to create a more even look: On the garden side of the hedge I will cut it back quite drastically in some places: It has grown so wide that at its widest it is over 8 metres which makes it very difficult to cut; so in some places it will be cut back to help us maintain it and to stop it hollowing out in the middle.

There are so many variables in a garden that are hard to predict or control, like the weather, disease and if the squirrels are going to eat all the tulip bulbs, or just some of them! But I am optimistic enough to think that most things will go well and that the garden will continue to go from strength to strength.

Download a copy of the 2017 Gardener’s Report .

Download 

GARDEN MANAGEMENT STATEMENT 2017

PREPARED FOR THE BOARD OF KEMP TOWN ENCLOSURES, SEPTEMBER 2017, BY ANDREW DOIG, A BOARD MEMBER, IN DISCUSSION WITH JEREMY MOULSDALE, HEAD GARDENER.

HISTORICAL CONTEXT

MANAGEMENT OF THE GARDENS

GROWING CONDITIONS

FUNDING AND OVERSIGHT OF THE GARDENS

TREES

HEDGES

PLANTING

LAWNS

THE NORTH GARDEN

THE SOUTH GARDEN

BANK ABOVE THE DELL

THE DELL

THE HORSESHOE

JUBILEE GARDEN (2012)

CENTRAL BED

SQUARE BED

WOODLAND GARDEN

ROSE GARDEN

POLLY BINDER COPSE

THE SECRET GARDEN

CHICHESTER TERRACE GARDEN

ARUNDEL TERRACE GARDEN

SEATING

WILDLIFE AND ECOLOGY

CHILDREN’S PLAY

MANAGING RENEWAL AND CHANGE

2017 Gardener’s Report