Meeting documents

The Countryside Manager summarised the agenda report, which provided members with an update on the work of the Countryside Service across the District over the past year and on key projects for the next 6 months.  With the aid of powerpoint slides she highlighted a number of examples of work which included:

·         The 3 largest sites had retained their Green Flag Awards;

·         The Rangers had continued to manage a diverse events programme.  It was estimated that approximately 5,000 people had attended events;

·         Volunteering continued to be the back bone of the countryside operation with volunteer numbers increasing from 1601 to 2387 donated days per annum;

·         The Friends Groups had also donated extra days;

·         Over 1500 trees were planted across the sites as part of the winter programme;

·         New web pages had been launched with the key feature being the ability to book events online;

·         There were successful Facebook feeds for the main sites which were managed by the volunteers;

·         A £20,000 Heritage Lottery grant had been secured to resurface the stream and excavate a medieval pond at Witcombe Valley;

·         Success of the Ham Hill Community Bonfire and other events;

·         A Commonwealth day event had been held with 50 Yeovilton personnel helping to build a dry stone wall;

·         Success of the new Yeovil Country Park café facilities and Information Centre;

·         A bid to the Heritage Lottery Fund had been successful for a three year project to improve the natural heritage at Yeovil Country Park;

·         The volunteers at Chard Reservoir Nature Reserve had worked tirelessly to replace the old wooden boardwalks with new stone built causeways;

·         Lufton College continued to be regular attendees at the Reservoir;

·         Chard Countryside Day in July was well received with an estimated figure of 500 – 700 people attending the event;

·         Two developments were progressing close to the Reservoir and work to manage the site for the increased footfall was being undertaken;

·         A revision of the 5 year land management plan for Chard Reservoir would be completed over the winter months.

During the ensuing discussion, the Countryside Manager noted the comments of members and responded to questions on points of detail. Points raised included the following:-

·         Once the Management Plan for Chard Reservoir Local Nature Reserve had been reviewed and there was further development of the friends group, the Countryside Manager would look to submit bids for funding;

·         Several members commented that Chard Reservoir Local Nature Reserve was the ‘hidden gem’ of Chard but felt that further promotion of the site was required;

·         The Countryside Manager explained that she would run the draft Management Plan past interested members and would also be asking for letters of support;

·         With regard to promotion of Chard Reservoir Local Nature Reserve, the Countryside Manager explained that there was a section on marketing in the Development Plan which set out links to facebook and twitter.  She was also seeking to access funds to enable the updated site leaflet to be printed.

The Chairman thanked the Countryside Officer for her excellent report.

NOTED.