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FRIENDS OF EMSWORTH WAYSIDESLATEST NEWS
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COMMITTEE MEETING - Tuesday 23 February 2010For the Minutes of this meeting go to . . . Waysides Committee Meetings
THE ROADSIDE VERGE PROJECT - 17 February 2010The current issue of the Hampshire Biodiversity Information Centre Newsletter (Issue 14 Winter 2009-10) contains a short article by Fabrizia Ratto, who is the new Road Verge Data Assistant at the HBIC. The idea behind the scheme is to establish the botanical value of roadside verges to establish the best cutting regime to foster biodiversity. I have written to Fabrizia to tell her about our project with our web site address.
CLEARANCE OF THE WESTBROOK STREAM - January 2010The Environment Agency has threatened to clear the Westbrook Stream of all plants and silt 'to prevent flooding'. We question whether such a drastic action, which would seriously affect the integrity of the new nature reserve, is really required. The amount of soil that would be removed is relatively insignificant compared with the size of the stream, but the soil does hold a number of important plants, the destruction of which would seriously compromise the new nature reserve. Also, we note there has been no flooding in the Bridge Road area since the new remote controlled sluice was installed on the millpond, which has worked very well. Thus, the sluice can be opened if heavy rain is forecast to prevent any back up of water from the millpond into the stream. We have had no further communication with the EA following Brian Fellows's e-mail to Steve Hale about the presence of the rare Narrow-leaved Water-plantain (Alisma lanceolata) in the stream, which would be destroyed by the clearance. Have we had a reprieve?
NEW WILD FLOWER AREA AT THE ENTRANCE TO THE CAR PARK - 22 December 2009Here is an update on news on the proposed wild flower area at the southern entrance to Bridge Road car park. The plan is to replace the grass verge and flower bed at present with a sown wild flower mixture, as is used in the wild flower meadow in Warblington Cemetery.
A view of the verge and flower bed as it is at present (December 2009)
Rob Hill of HBC will supply the cornfield annual mix. This will need to be sown in mid March, weather permitting.
Our job is to remove the grass. I have suggested to Rob that we organise a team of volunteers from the new waysides group to do this. It should not be too difficult and we have the insurance in place!
As for the tall parking post, Rob has arranged for it to be moved to the back of the area near the hedge. This will make room for the new lectern signcase for which we now have the money! (See donations below).
Frances Jannaway has kindly offered us a 60cm potted Rowan whip to plant on the site. Andy Skeet, the HCC arborist, says this will be fine, being a good size for ease and simplicity of planting, and good establishment. The tree needs to be planted before the seeds are sown.
The sequence is
1. Volunteers remove grass and prepare ground for seeds
2. Council re-positions the parking post
3. Council installs the new signcase
4. Volunteers plant the Rowan
5. Volunteers sow the seeds
6. Pray!
DONATIONS - 22 December 2009We now have the £650 for the Metroguard signcase, almost!
Emsworth Residents Association (ERA) have already donated £250.
A further £250 will be coming from the Emsworth Business Association (EBA).
Councillor Ray Bolton said our application for £150 from his HCC budget has been successful.
We have received a donation of £50 from the Brook Meadow Conservation Group.
ANNUAL CUTTING OF BRIDGE ROAD NATURE RESERVE - 14 December 2009Report by Brian Fellows
This morning, I was pleased to meet Les and John of Havant Borough Council in Bridge Road car park. They had arrived to carry out the first annual cutting of the grass verge on the new Bridge Road Nature Reserve. The cutting was efficiently done with a strimmer. I asked them if they would rake up and remove the cuttings, which they did without hesitation. They also removed the top part of the vandalised apple tree, leaving the main trunk to sprout again. I was most impressed!
John busy strimming the grass verge in Bridge Road car park
Les and John busy raking and clearing the cuttings
Job very well done. Now let's wait to see what comes up in the spring.
Our next job is to stop the Environment Agency clearing the stream of all the plants and silt which they have threatened to do. We have had no further communication with them following my e-mail to Steve Hale about the rare Narrow-leaved Water-plantain (Alisma lanceolata) which grows in the stream.
DONATION FROM EMSWORTH RESIDENTS ASSOCIATION - November 2009Report by Brian Fellows
Brian Fellows (Chairman of the Friends of Emsworth Waysides) met Lorraine Clode (Chair of the ERA in Jan 2010) in the Driftwood Cafe in Emsworth on November 25 to discuss a possible donation of £250 from the ERA to match that promised by the Emsworth Business Association (EBA). Brian outlined the new waysides project to create a number of mini-meadows throughout the town. Lorraine was very enthusiastic about it and said she would certainly recommend it to the ERA committee for funding. The money would go towards a Metroguard signcase for the Bridge Road Nature Reserve site.
Lorraine subsequently consulted with her colleagues on the committee of the ERA who agreed to sponsor the Friends of Emsworth Waysides information/notice board to be erected on the Bridge Road Nature Reserve to the tune of £250. The cheque will be sent to Brian and put into our new bank account at the NatWest, Emsworth. Many thanks to Lorraine and the ERA from all the Friends of Emsworth Waysides.
However, even with £500 in the bank, we shall still be about £150 short of the £650 required to purchase a Metroguard signcase, unless we find a cheaper alternative.
Ray Bolton, the County Councillor for Emsworth and St Faiths Division, came to the rescue. Ray said we should complete an application form (from Grants on the HCC website) requesting funding from the small budget which County Councillors have for such worthwhile causes. I duly filled in the form and sent it to Ray.
BTCV GROUP REVIEW AND INSURANCE - November 2009Brendan Andy and Brian met up with Rachel Moroney of the BTCV in the Pastoral Centre on Nov 6 2009 to fill in the 13 page form about the group to enable us to obtain insurance for the waysides group. All went very well.
Rachel subsequently sent on the typed BTCV Group Review along with several other forms. She recommended we do the application for BTCV membership and insurance first. We do not need the constitution in place for this, but it needs to be done in the next 12 months. The insurance will cover us for meetings as well.
As for the Chestnut Fund application Rachel says it can take up to 3 months to get a decision. So, for example, if we are needing tools in June next year then the Chestnut Fund application is submitted by February.
Anne de Potier and Brian Fellows filled in the BTCV membership and insurance forms which were posted to to Leanne Cobb at BTCV Doncaster on 23 Nov 2009 with a note to say that Havant BC would be paying them direct. The total cost was £190.63, including the £35 membership fee to join BTCV. A copy was sent to Rob Hill at HBC. who will be arranging for the payment direct to BTCV. Thanks to Rob and Rachel for organising all this.
Next meeting of the Friends of Emsworth WaysidesThe next meeting of the Friends of Emsworth Waysides will take place on Monday 18th January 2010 at 7.30pm. It will take place in the upstairs room at The Crown Emsworth.
For minutes of previous meetings go to . . . Minutes of Meetings
Clearance of the Westbrook Stream by the Environment Agency (November 2009)The Environment Agency did their annual clearance of the Westbrook Stream in the new Bridge Road Nature Reserve on October 18 2009, but it was an excessively severe cutting in which all of the vegetation was cleared. The severity of the clearance has gone well beyond the need to keep the stream running smoothly. Even a fine growth of Bulrushes on the eastern edge of the stream was torn away. There are several other important species of plant growing on the edge of the stream that need not have been cleared, including a good growth of Narrow-leaved Water-plantain Alisma lanceolata, which has been confirmed as a rare species in Hampshire.
Brendan Gibb-Gray, Roger Mills and Brian Fellows met up with Steve Hale, Adam Cave and Louise Parker from the Environment Agency at Bridge Road car park on November 5 2009 to discuss their severe clearance of the vegetation from the Westbrook Stream. We wanted a more gentle conservation cut in the future in view of the fact that the stream was an important and integral part of the newly set up Bridge Road Nature Reserve. However, things did not go according to plan and the outcome was very disappointing from our point of view.
The Agency officers informed us that the stream would have to be completely cleared of all the silt that had built up along the banks over the years. They pointed out that the Westbrook Stream was not a natural waterway, like the River Ems on Brook Meadow, but was canalised with concrete banks to improve the flow of water. They said the build up of soil lessened the effectiveness of the stream to absorb the back up from a tidal surge and its removal would help to combat the risk of flooding in the Bridge Road area. The clearance would probably take place in the next few months depending on available resources.
We were all stunned by this news. We appreciated the position of the Agency in that their task to maintain water flow in the stream and protect properties from flooding. However, their plans would mean the stream being converted from what is at present an attractive and ecologically rich waterway to a barren concrete sided channel with little wildlife interest. The soil to be removed supports a number of important plants, including Narrow-leaved Water-plantain, Blue Water Speedwell, Bulrushes, Plicate Sweet-grass and Water Figwort, all of which will be lost along with the wildlife, fish, insects, etc. that depended on them. The only compromise we were allowed was a single plant of Pendulous Sedge, in a non-critical area, which the Agency said would be spared!
A few days later, Steve Hale went to the site with the engineer who identified three areas where vegetation will be left in a controlled manner i.e. area reduced in size and silt shaped as well as reduced in height. The rest of the channel will be cleared for storage capacity. This is very disappointing.
Havant Conservation Forum - 20 October 2009The Friends of Emsworth Waysides were represented by Brian Fellows, Andy Brook and Jane Brook at the meeting of the Havant Conservation Forum at The Havant Council Offices. A couple of displays were set up showing photos of the Bridge Road Nature Reserve and possible new sites for wayside reserves in Emsworth. Havant Borough Council were represented by Andy Paffett and Rob Hill. Rachel Moroney of the BTCV chaired the meeting. The main item on the agenda was the management of roadside verges as mini conservation areas.
Brian Fellows gave a brief overview of the aims of the new conservation group. The ideas were warmly greeted by all attending the meeting. The Council officers were very positive towards the project. Rachel indicated that she would like to meet up with two or three members of the new group to arrange insurance.
Setting up the new group - 3 September 2009The inaugural meeting of the new group took place 3 Sep 2009 at The Crown Hotel in Emsworth, chaired by Councillor Brendan Gibb-Gray and attended by 9 local residents and Andy Paffett of HBC.
The original objective was to set up the Bridge Road Nature Reserve. This was duly achieved.
Andy Brook proposed the creation of a more broadly based group covering all such roadside reserves, of which Bridge Road Nature Reserve would be the first. This proposal was accepted unanimously. Brian suggested the term 'waysides' with a throw back to the days when roadside verges were really full of wildlife.
We decided to call this new 'umbrella group' the 'Friends of Emsworth Waysides' The vision was of Emsworth as a truly 'green' town with wild flowers everywhere (and no plastic bags, to boot!). The area in Bridge Road car park clearly shows the effects of ceasing cutting and spraying.
