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COLWALL PARISH COUNCIL

Minutes of the Meeting of the Countryside Committee held on Wednesday

7^th July 2010 at 7.30pm in the Jean Simons Room, Colwall Village Hall

Present: Councillors, J Cooney, G Jackson, W Leaper, J Mills, M Milne, G Rees.

Co-opted member D Togni and the Clerk.

1. Welcome and Apologies

The Chairman welcomed those present.

Apologies were received and accepted from Councillors N Carless, N Abbotts, co-opted members G Gilbert and S West.

2. Declarations of Interest:

None were declared.

3. Minutes of previous meeting:

The minutes of the meeting held on 19^th May 2010 were agreed as a correct record and signed.

4. Countryside Budget.

Councillor Mills confirmed a full summary of the 2010/11 Countryside Committee’s year to date accounts will be circulated at the next committee meeting.

Councillor Mills advised that the spend for the first 3 months of the year had been predominately on the footpaths which amounted to £614, for which we have received an increased grant of £2,475, compared to £1,200 in previous years, under the Parish Paths Grant (PP3) scheme from Herefordshire Council.

5. Charlie Ballard Nature Reserve

The warden reported:-

• Weekly visits have been made to litter-pick and check on reserve status.

• The bat boxes will be installed later in the year.

• The pond is really thriving this year. A large number of reeds have started to grow and these will be managed in the autumn. The warden is also going to monitor the depth of the pond.

• The debris (branches and an old chair) previously reported has been removed.

• A male great crested newt was observed for a short while in the small dew pond earlier in the year, however as this has now largely dried out it is unlikely to support future breeding. The committee had asked if water could be diverted from the larger pond to the dew pond but the warden explained that this could cause contamination and also transfer fish eggs and therefore was not recommended.

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• Tree felling did not take place this last winter but is programmed for autumn 2010, after bird breeding.

IT WAS AGREED the Clerk would ask the village maintenance contractor to -

i) Replace the infill in the steps in the nature reserve with aggregate, as this has become seriously eroded by the weather.

ii) To place some stockproof fencing between the metal gate (Albert Park Road end of the Nature Reserve) and the fence line to prevent dogs getting into the Reserve.

iii) To clear the vegetation so that this metal gate can open fully.

The Clerk would liaise with Stephen West about paying him a nominal sum for any tree works/surgery that is required in the Nature Reserve and obtaining a copy of his public liability insurance.

Also request that Stephen advises that neighbouring property owners when tree works are scheduled to be undertaken.

Finally the Clerk was asked to thank Stephen West on behalf of the committee for all his work in the Nature Reserve. The committee were very pleased at the “wildlife” and the “natural” presentation of the Nature Reserve

6. Footpaths

David Togni the Footpaths Officer reported the following:-

• Replacement gate on CW26 - Herefordshire Council to contact the landowner regarding some queries; the Clerk has emailed the Footpath Officer regarding this matter and requested an update.
• Request for 2 new gates on CW13a – awaiting materials.
• Replacement on CW1 - landowner has agreed to this and this will be undertaken shortly.
• Repairs to furniture on CW34 and 35 – awaiting materials from Herefordshire Council.

Other matters reported were -

• Seasonal vegetation clearance being regularly undertaken.

The committee extended it thanks to David and Steven Maund the Village Maintenance contractor for all the hard work undertaken on keeping the 50kms of footpaths in such good condition for the Parish.

IT WAS AGREED that David would look into a report of a damaged stile on CW54 and request its repair via the Clerk if required.

6. Correspondence:

None.

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7 Date of next meeting:

This was confirmed as 7.30pm venue to be confirmed on the 1^st September 2010. The committee are invited to meet at 6.30pm for a short walk along the village footpaths before this committee meeting.

Councillor G Rees and D Togni agreed to liaise to arrange this walk.

The meeting closed at 8.15pm

Signed………………………… Date………….