LAKE PROJECT

The St George Park Lake is a thriving haven for wildlife, and a favourite spot for many in the community.

Hey St George Park Community!

One of the reasons we created this blog was to keep the community informed of the work the FOSGP Group does in the park.

We have a huge following on our Facebook page, which we regularly monitor to see what the community is thinking and feeling. It has come to our attention that some people believe it is the sole responsibility of the FOSGP Group to make structural repairs within the park. Whilst the majority of our community are aware of the Council's responsibility for the park, there are a minority few who think otherwise.

The Lake has been in disrepair for some time and requires critical repair. St George Park is owned by the Bristol City Council, and so any repairs that need to be made to improve the integrity of the Lake requires their action. However, this doesn’t mean that the FOSGP Group doesn’t work hard behind the scenes to get things moving!

Here’s a brief timeline detailing everything the Group and its volunteer members have achieved in regards to the Lake. We hope to increase awareness of the work that we do, but also to highlight that this work can only go as far or move as quickly as the Council ultimately allows.

Please know that we are doing all we can to address the issues around the Lake. If you have any health or safety concerns regarding the lake, please know you can report them to Bristol City Council here.

2010-2012

The FOSGP Group and Committee was formed by members of the local community in response to increasing wildlife casualties caused by unregulated fishing in the lake.

Alongside these casualties, many members of the community reported antisocial behaviour and alcohol and drug use around the lake.

At this time, the lake was stagnant and with little or no aquatic life, except for the many large fish used in fishing.

2012-2014

We worked with Bristol City Council and the Police to try and resolve these problems.

We regularly recorded incidents and logged wildlife injuries. We undertook fundraising activities for the Swan Rescue South Wales charity who attended rescues at the Lake as often as three times a week. We also worked with the fisherman themselves in order to find a solution through the self-regulation of fishing.

The Group also teamed up with the Council to undertake a consultation amongst park users and the local community to discover what people wanted from their park. We conducted field research and also held an event and display at Redfest. Our consultation was continued to see how thinking patterns were changing among park users over time, however there were often similar themes.

The consultation results were conclusive: 100% of participants wanted the park improved to support wildlife. In response, the FOSGP created an environmental sub-group to work towards transforming the lake into a wildlife haven. “The Lake Project” was born.

Our first action was to commission The Wildfowl and Wetland Trust in Slimbridge to carry out a detailed report on the lake. This report and our consultation with the community formed the basis of the Project.

2016

Just as the Lake Project was getting underway, the lake edges started to collapse, causing the water level in the lake to drop. We had the resident swans rehomed (under license), the fish were removed and rehomed and the lake drained for an assessment and survey.

It was at this point that the Bristol City Council banned fishing in the lake.

We continued to move forward and successfully raised £9’000 fundraising from the National Lottery Awards 4 All.

With the money we commissioned WWT Slimbridge to produce working documents for our project. These included a project plan with costings and three concept designs to improve and enhance the area for wildlife.

2021

Where are we now? We have our funding securely in place and are ready to launch Phase One of our FOSGP Lake Project. The group will be meeting with the council later this month to finalise the plan and look at ways we can address the £300’000 required to repair the walls. We have heard from Counsellor Asher Craig that the work is scheduled for the summer.

Thanks!

FOSGP Group