Chairman resigns after seeking
new direction for the Friends
Autumn 2007
AFTER
three years as Chairman of the Friends, Tony Matthews (left) has resigned, calling for
fresh ideas to rejuvenate Cannizaro Park and new volunteers to join the
Executive Committee.
He said: “It has been a rollercoaster period for Cannizaro with a mixture of triumphs and disappointments. We’ve seen major successes with exhibitions, restorations of statues, some replanting, revival of the festival, fund-raising events and lectures at the hotel, and tours both of our park and others.
“All of this has helped the Friends to maintain membership at well over 500 and to celebrate our tenth anniversary last year. But the fundamental problems of retaining Cannizaro’s quality as a Grade 2* listed garden - the reason the Friends exist - have grown significantly.
“We convinced Merton to retain bedding plants until this year and to agree a five-year management plan that was to have taken the park right up to 2011. However the Council has failed to live up to its promises and maintain Cannizaro as one of the finest parks in London. This is very sad after all the work of the past decade.
"Even now, Cannizaro is a beautiful and rewarding place to visit with superb trees, plants and wildlife but for those of us who remember it 20 or even ten years ago it has become a pale reflection of what it once was, with several of its best features now lost.
"I hope the Friends will continue to work for its restoration in any way possible."