[Adastra] Southern Marsh Orchis pic
Dear friends, Does anyone have good photos of Southern March Orchis I could use for a note I'm doing on the landscape and wildlife of the area of Gatwick countryside that will be destroyed if the second runway is given the go-ahead. I found two spikes of Southern Marsh Orchis there this year but didn't have my camera with me...and when I returned the next week they were gone. (Rabbits or deer, no doubt). Obviously I will credit any pic I use in the note, best Dave Bangs
Re: [Adastra] some pics I need for a book
Thanks to all of you who sent such lovely pics. I now have superb pics of Marsh
Gentian, Tanner Longhorn Beetle, and Barn Owl.
I will acknowledge youse in the text, of course,
Dave Bangs
Original message
>From : phar...@btinternet.com
Date : 27/04/2016 - 17:36 (GMTST)
To : adastra@lists.sxbrc.org.uk
Subject : Re: [Adastra] some pics I need for a book
Hi Dave,
Just off to Tuscany.
Are these any good for Marsh Gentian?
Paul
From: D BANGS
Sent: Wednesday, April 27, 2016 5:27 PM
To: adastra@lists.sxbrc.org.uk
Subject: [Adastra] some pics I need for a book
Dear
friends,
I'm in the edit stage of a book I'm doing on the middle Weald
('The Land of the Brighton Line') and my pictures are still
incomplete.
Does anyone have nice pics of the following that they would
be happy for me to use? (I would, of course, fully credit the
makers).
Hazelnut Weevil
Tanner Longhorn Beetle (Re-discovered by me
in Worth Forest Sept '09)
Black Grouse (I know, I know...its long
gone)
Barn Owl
Nightingale
Woodcock
Water Violet
Marsh
Gentian
My deadline for corrections to my draft is the end of
June,
cheers
Dave Bangs
[Adastra] Fwd: PRESS RELEASE DOWNS SALES HALTED
Normal
0
false
false
false
EN-US
X-NONE
X-NONE
KEEP
OUR DOWNS PUBLIC (BRIGHTON)
DOWNS
SALES HALTED (AGAIN)
COUNCIL
OFFICERS’ ‘FLOG IT OFF’ ADVICE THROWN OUT
19th January 2017.
Contact: Dave 01273 620
815 Phil 01273 608 786 Chris 01273 553
044
City Councillors on BHCC’s Policy,
Resources & Growth Committee rejected a senior officers’ recommendation to
resume the sale of Plumpton Hill and
Poynings Field[i]
at their meeting tonight, 19th January. The sales had been suspended
at last December’s PR meeting as a result of widespread outrage at the
prospect of flogging off these vital
parts of the City’s historic 12,500 acre Downland Estate.
They are the remaining unsold sites of a
tranche of mis-named ‘non-core’ Downland sites which earlier PR Committee
meetings had agreed to sell in 2014 and 2016[ii].
The sales were intended to part-fund the
controversial Stanmer Park Project and to contribute to the alleviation of the
Council’s debt.
Tonight’s composite motion was passed by
Conservative and Green councillors, with Labour abstaining. It requires that
the 2 vulnerable sites “be referred to a
new Policy Review Panel with the outcome referred back to the PR”[iii].
Councillor Theobald (Conservative)
commented that the language of the officer’s report made him fearful for the
future of the estate, because of the way it emphasised the commercial aspect of
the estate at the expense of its environmental value.
Councillors MacCafferty and Gibson (Green)
challenged the reports fiscal conclusions and supported the motion’s requirement
for “a separate report to be brought to
Committee outlining alternative options for meeting the match funding
requirement” of the Stanmer Park Project (which is part-funded by the
Heritage Lottery Fund).
Councillor Les Hamilton (Labour)
passionately supported the officer’s recommendation to flog off the two sites
and supported the notion that the Downland Estate was made up of core and
non-core Downland (i.e. first class and second class Downland...or to-be-kept
Downland and disposable Downland).
All the Downland that has been sold or is
threatened with sale is within the South Downs National Park.
Keep
Our Downs Public is a coalition of local people which was formed in 1994-5 to
successfully fight the proposed privatisation of the whole Downland Estate by
the then
ruling Labour Party. A new KODP group has now been formed in Eastbourne to
fight similar Downs sell-off proposals by Eastbourne Council over 3,000 acres of
Downland behind Beachy Head.
[i] Poynings Field is a 25 acre site which lies between the base of the
Devil’s Dyke and the edge of Poynings village. It buffers and ‘frames’ the Dyke
and is partly vulnerable to built development, if sold. Plumpton Hill is an
SSSI (nationally important wildlife site) with Bronze Age burial barrows upon
it and views north across the Weald.
[ii] Councillors were poorly instructed in the nature of the for-sale
sites by senior council officers. One PR member comments that there was a
collective “failure of oversight” by themselves as a result of this advice. The
sold sites include part of a 50 year old nature reserve and a bat cave with 3
scarce species, which has been monitored by experts for many years.
[iii] Two new panels will now be set up: an Asset Management Panel and a
Policy Review Panel. The Policy Review Panel will ‘consider governance and
policy with respect to the city’s urban and rural estates’. It will work
alongside a ‘permanent cross party Asset Management Panel to be established to
enable greater member oversight of the delivery of the asset management plan’.
(Agenda item 110 PR Committee 19th January 2017).
/* Style Definitions */
table.MsoNormalTable
{mso-style-name:"Table Normal";
mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0;
mso-tstyle-colband-size:0;
mso-style-noshow:yes;
mso-style-priority:99;
mso-style-qformat:yes;
mso-style-parent:"";
mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt;
mso-para-margin:0in;
mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt;
mso-pagination:widow-orphan;
font-size:11.0pt;
font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";
mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri;
mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin;
mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";
mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast;
mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri;
mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;
[Adastra] Fwd: URGENT secret Downland sales B
Dear Adastra folk
See below and attached UPDATE and ORIGINAL piece. This is extremely urgent, cos
these sales are proceeding right now.
Please email these council party leaders or your ward councillor: -
- warren.mor...@brighton-hove.gov.uk, gill.mitch...@brighton-hove.gov.uk,
geoffrey.theob...@brighton-hove.gov.uk, andrew.wea...@brighton-hove.gov.uk,
alex.phill...@brighton-hove.gov.uk, phelim.maccaffe...@brighton-hove.gov.uk,
pete.w...@brighton-hove.gov.uk
Dave Bangs
-
Normal
0
false
false
false
EN-US
X-NONE
X-NONE
/* Style Definitions */
table.MsoNormalTable
{mso-style-name:"Table Normal";
mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0;
mso-tstyle-colband-size:0;
mso-style-noshow:yes;
mso-style-priority:99;
mso-style-qformat:yes;
mso-style-parent:"";
mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt;
mso-para-margin:0in;
mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt;
mso-pagination:widow-orphan;
font-size:11.0pt;
font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";
mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri;
mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin;
mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";
mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast;
mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri;
mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;
mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman";
mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;}
Brighton Council Downland
Sales
The situation is even worse
than we thought
UPDATE: 27/10/16 KEEP OUR
DOWNS PUBLIC Btn. 620815 or 07889302229
We now know that
several of the sales have gone ahead already and that several others are
advertised on the open market by Savilles, the Council’s land agents.
Two of the sites are within SSSI’s (i.e. nationally
important nature conservation sites) and yet no word of this is mentioned in
the sales advertisements.
The Junipers, the old Sussex Wildlife Trust Saddlescombe Nature
Reserve, 3 acres, has been sold to a private buyer for the paltry sum of
£35,000.
This is the bulk of the sole remaining site for Juniper (a rare and declining
native conifer) in East Sussex, and a well-known site for rare orchid species,
bats and much else. It is part of an SSSI.
The Devils Dyke Field has been sold for an unknown sum to
a private buyer, despite being bounded by National Trust land.
Park Wall Farm smallholding, Falmer, 10 acres, has been sold for
£175,000: less than the price of a modest flat in Brighton. This is a crucial
part of the open Downland setting of old Falmer village.
Additionally, two nearby parcels of land on the edge
of Poynings have been marketted and one of them sold with
some prospect of built development.
We
estimate that the total sum gained so far from these sales is around £290,000:
below the price of one suburban semi in many parts of Brighton. This is a
pathetic sum for such dreadful losses of land with multiple public values.
There’s more to come, if we
can’t stop this bleed immediately...
The Racecourse, the large, circa 55 acre Poynings arable field
embracing all the land below the Devil’s Dyke, is targetted for sale. This is a
wonderful fossil site – as good a Bridport Cliffs, Dorset, for fossils from the
tropical seas of the Early Cretaceous, and the landing ground for Dyke hang
gliders. This is the field which appears in all the Victorian postcards of the
Devils Dyke.
Plumpton Hill, 67.4 acres of ancient wildflower pastures on the
South Downs Way, mostly SSSI, is advertised for £150,000 – just the sort of
money that a City shooting syndicate could stump up. It is a hill top Sacred
Site of the Ancient People of the Bronze Age, and has five of their round
barrows overlooking and protecting their deserted villages.
Please, councillors of all
parties...Get an immediate STOP ORDER on Savilles’ marketting of this land.
STOP THESE SALES NOW!
-
Normal
0
false
false
false
EN-US
X-NONE
X-NONE
[Adastra] Fwd: STOP Downland sales
KodpLEAFLETDemo's.docx Description: MS-Word 2007 document
[Adastra] Fwd: lobby councillors to stop Brighton Downland sales
Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE X-NONE LOBBYING BRIGHTON COUNCILLORS TO STOP THE DOWNLAND SALES Please lobby Brighton Councillors to stop these sales. The notes will help you write your objection, which is best put in your own personal way. Below are the addresses of the Brighton Council P Committee members who MUST be written to by 7th December objecting to the sales. (The Committee meets on 8th December to decide whether to make the STOP on sales permanent). Additionally, please send your objections to your own ward councillors. warren.mor...@brighton-hove.gov.uk geoffrey.theob...@brighton-hove.gov.uk leslie.hamil...@brighton-hove.gov.uk tony.ja...@brighton-hove.gov.uk phelim.maccaffe...@brighton-hove.gov.uk tom.bew...@brighton-hove.gov.uk gill.mitch...@brighton-hove.gov.uk ann.nor...@brighton-hove.gov.uk ollie.sy...@brighton-hove.gov.uk andrew.wea...@brighton-hove.gov.uk FINANCE 1. The area of open land ALREADY SOLD is c. 20 acres, which with the sold cottages has accrued c. 94% of the likely total ££ receipts, though it covers only 20% of the for–sale area. The area of land STILL TO BE SOLD is c. 100 acres, which may accrue a mere 6% of the total receipts, though it totals 80% of the for-sale area. 2. The Council has already had its ‘pound of flesh’ from the covert sales of cottages and small land parcels. If they sold 20 cottages and grounds (and we do not know exactly how many) that could total some £4 million. The sales of other land parcels has brought in c. £390,000. So the receipts so far total c. £4,390,000. 3. The remaining 2 sales (Plumpton Hill and Poynings Field) will bring in very little additional money: less than £300,000, though they will incur real damage to their future security as conservation assets. Thus: - - Both properties are subject to secure agricultural tenancies and will therefore only fetch circa 50% of their value at vacant possession. - Plumpton Hill (67.4 acres) has a guide price of the pathetic sum of c. £2,225 per acre and Poynings Field (25 acres) will be unlikely to get more than £6000 per acre. - Both properties, on those figures, together will bring in only some £300,000, which is the price of a single modest suburban family home in Brighton...for the loss of almost 100 acres of high quality Downscape. 4. We do not NEED to sell those remaining two important properties, because there are other routes to acquire the funds for the Stanmer Park restoration plans. The result of BHCC’s £5m lottery bid will be known shortly – what matched-funding is being levered in, other than from SD National Park and Plumpton College partners, to achieve Stanmer Park’s proper restoration. With so much potential ready cash on the table, it should be relatively easy to attract more funds to multiply this sum. For example: To develop Stanmer as a more self-sufficient park the lottery has an attractive Heritage Enterprise grant; As a major visitor attraction with great an eco-tourism potential, the Coast to Capital Local Enterprise Partnership would be keen to support appropriate infrastructure and employment opportunities (and BHCC's role in the Greater Brighton Economic Partnership should help this); Stanmer provides the ideal outdoor (and indoor) classroom for the hundreds of schools and colleges in and around Brighton and the Downs – there are many educational trusts and funds that could be tapped to realise this desirable aim (and BHCC has an external funding expertise to source such monies); Government grants are available for a range of work and BHCC has already spent DfT money on more sustainable travel links to Stanmer along the Lewes Road … extend such projects into Stanmer; Interest rates are at an all-time low, a public loan could be secured, and with the popularity of a restored Stanmer Park the money paid back, with interest, in a very short space of time. PUBLIC VALUES. These 2 remaining properties have multiple public qualities/values. Plumpton Hill is mostly part of an SSSI (Site of Special Scientific Interest - a national measure of wildlife value). This designation, under private ownership, will NOT protect it from damage and inappropriate management. It also has a SAM (Scheduled Ancient Monument) upon it: Bronze Age burial mounds. It is one of the prominent viewpoints from the South Downs Way over the forested Weald. Poynings Field is a key part of the landscape setting – the framing – of the Devils Dyke heritage landscape. It is also a vital part of the setting of Poynings village, which will be vulnerable to pressure for built development in private ownership. It is part of the landing grounds for hang gliders from the Dyke. It is an excellent fossilling site for sea creatures of the
[Adastra] Park Wood, Batts Wood, Poynings Estate
rong Ian - Iain Skinner is the correct one -Original Message- From: Godber, James Sent: 27 June 2017 16:09 To: Block, Damon <damon.bl...@environment-agency.gov.uk> Cc: Bennett, Ian <ian.benn...@environment-agency.gov.uk> Subject: RE: Park wood. Thanks Damon for the heads up. Yes, the rumours are true. My colleague Ian (cc'd in) is dealing with the sale via our agents. -Original Message- From: Block, Damon Sent: 27 June 2017 15:48 To: Godber, James <james.god...@environment-agency.gov.uk> Subject: FW: Park wood. Hi James, Hope all is well and apologies for troubling you with this if not relevant. I heard a rumour that we were selling our site at Park Wood and wanted you to know that it has generated some interest in the Ecological fraternity (see below, message 2) Just wanted you to be aware. Regards Damon Damon Block Fisheries and Biodiversity, South Downs Solent And South Downs, Environment Agency South East Guildbourne House, Worthing 02030257057 (57057) Help stop the spread of invasive non-native species: Check-Clean-Dry and Be Plant Wise -Original Message- From: Adastra [mailto:adastra-boun...@lists.sxbrc.org.uk] On Behalf Of adastra-requ...@lists.sxbrc.org.uk Sent: 27 June 2017 15:39 To: adastra@lists.sxbrc.org.uk Subject: Adastra Digest, Vol 130, Issue 7 Send Adastra mailing list submissions to adastra@lists.sxbrc.org.uk To subscribe or unsubscribe via the World Wide Web, visit http://lists.sxbrc.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/adastra_lists.sxbrc.org.uk or, via email, send a message with subject or body 'help' to adastra-requ...@lists.sxbrc.org.uk You can reach the person managing the list at adastra-ow...@lists.sxbrc.org.uk When replying, please edit your Subject line so it is more specific than "Re: Contents of Adastra digest..." Today's Topics: 1. Save the date | Sussex Biological Recorders' Seminar, Saturday 17 February 2018 (Blencowe, Clare) 2. Re: Park Wood Hellingly for sale! (Daniel) -- Message: 1 Date: Tue, 27 Jun 2017 11:15:38 + From: "Blencowe, Clare" <clareblenc...@sussexwt.org.uk> To: "adastra@lists.sxbrc.org.uk" <adastra@lists.sxbrc.org.uk> Subject: [Adastra] Save the date | Sussex Biological Recorders' Seminar, Saturday 17 February 2018 Message-ID: <amxpr04mb10370305bfc87d5c3813eb5e4...@amxpr04mb103.eurprd04.prod.outlook.com> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Dear Adastrans, The 29th Sussex Biological Recorders' Seminar will be held on Saturday 17 February 2018. We have booked Oathall Community College again, just outside Haywards Heath. I promise we'll get a quicker system for the teas & coffees this time. We'll let you know when booking opens, in the Autumn. Best wishes, Clare Clare Blencowe BRC Manager Sussex Biodiversity Record Centre http://sxbrc.org.uk<http://sxbrc.org.uk/> | 01273 497521 Sussex Wildlife Trust is a company limited by guarantee under the Companies Act. Registered in England, Company No. 698851. Registered Charity No. 207005. VAT Registration No. 191 305969. Registered Office: Woods Mill, Henfield, West Sussex BN5 9SD. Telephone 01273 492630 -- next part -- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: <http://lists.sxbrc.org.uk/pipermail/adastra_lists.sxbrc.org.uk/attachments/20170627/3b4cc636/attachment-0001.html> -- Message: 2 Date: Tue, 27 Jun 2017 14:37:33 + From: Daniel <dan...@crowboroughtowncouncil.gov.uk> To: Adastra discussion group <adastra@lists.sxbrc.org.uk> Subject: Re: [Adastra] Park Wood Hellingly for sale! Message-ID: <16D65044C7559E42AF42E42B9B0614EA9DE95A@CTC-SBS.Crowtc.local> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="windows-1255" Hi Do we know if SWT and or the Woodland Trust have been notified? It would be terrible to lose more woodland into unknown private ownership! Dan Ranger Crowborough Town Council From: Adastra [mailto:adastra-boun...@lists.sxbrc.org.uk] On Behalf Of Jo Heading Sent: 25 June 2017 13:44 To: Adastra discussion group Subject: Re: [Adastra] Park Wood Hellingly for sale! Hi Dave et al, Just to let you know that ESCC had management responsibility for Park Wood until 2011. In April 2011, the management was then handed back to its owners-the Environment Agency. Regards, Jo Heading Senior Ranger, ESCC From: D BANGS<mailto:bangs...@btinternet.com> Sent: ?23/?06/?2017 22:33 To: Adastra discussion group<mailto:adastra@lists.sxbrc.org.uk> Cc: conservation.n...@gmail.com<mailto:conservation.n...@gmail.com> Subject: [Adastra] Park Wood Hellingly for sale! I've just been alerted to this proposed sale of Park Wood, Hellingly: http://www.rightmove.co.uk
[Adastra] Fwd: Park Wood, Batts Wood, Poynings Estate
rong Ian - Iain Skinner is the correct one -Original Message- From: Godber, James Sent: 27 June 2017 16:09 To: Block, Damon <damon.bl...@environment-agency.gov.uk> Cc: Bennett, Ian <ian.benn...@environment-agency.gov.uk> Subject: RE: Park wood. Thanks Damon for the heads up. Yes, the rumours are true. My colleague Ian (cc'd in) is dealing with the sale via our agents. -Original Message- From: Block, Damon Sent: 27 June 2017 15:48 To: Godber, James <james.god...@environment-agency.gov.uk> Subject: FW: Park wood. Hi James, Hope all is well and apologies for troubling you with this if not relevant. I heard a rumour that we were selling our site at Park Wood and wanted you to know that it has generated some interest in the Ecological fraternity (see below, message 2) Just wanted you to be aware. Regards Damon Damon Block Fisheries and Biodiversity, South Downs Solent And South Downs, Environment Agency South East Guildbourne House, Worthing 02030257057 (57057) Help stop the spread of invasive non-native species: Check-Clean-Dry and Be Plant Wise -Original Message- From: Adastra [mailto:adastra-boun...@lists.sxbrc.org.uk] On Behalf Of adastra-requ...@lists.sxbrc.org.uk Sent: 27 June 2017 15:39 To: adastra@lists.sxbrc.org.uk Subject: Adastra Digest, Vol 130, Issue 7 Send Adastra mailing list submissions to adastra@lists.sxbrc.org.uk To subscribe or unsubscribe via the World Wide Web, visit http://lists.sxbrc.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/adastra_lists.sxbrc.org.uk or, via email, send a message with subject or body 'help' to adastra-requ...@lists.sxbrc.org.uk You can reach the person managing the list at adastra-ow...@lists.sxbrc.org.uk When replying, please edit your Subject line so it is more specific than "Re: Contents of Adastra digest..." Today's Topics: 1. Save the date | Sussex Biological Recorders' Seminar, Saturday 17 February 2018 (Blencowe, Clare) 2. Re: Park Wood Hellingly for sale! (Daniel) -- Message: 1 Date: Tue, 27 Jun 2017 11:15:38 + From: "Blencowe, Clare" <clareblenc...@sussexwt.org.uk> To: "adastra@lists.sxbrc.org.uk" <adastra@lists.sxbrc.org.uk> Subject: [Adastra] Save the date | Sussex Biological Recorders' Seminar, Saturday 17 February 2018 Message-ID: <amxpr04mb10370305bfc87d5c3813eb5e4...@amxpr04mb103.eurprd04.prod.outlook.com> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Dear Adastrans, The 29th Sussex Biological Recorders' Seminar will be held on Saturday 17 February 2018. We have booked Oathall Community College again, just outside Haywards Heath. I promise we'll get a quicker system for the teas & coffees this time. We'll let you know when booking opens, in the Autumn. Best wishes, Clare Clare Blencowe BRC Manager Sussex Biodiversity Record Centre http://sxbrc.org.uk<http://sxbrc.org.uk/> | 01273 497521 Sussex Wildlife Trust is a company limited by guarantee under the Companies Act. Registered in England, Company No. 698851. Registered Charity No. 207005. VAT Registration No. 191 305969. Registered Office: Woods Mill, Henfield, West Sussex BN5 9SD. Telephone 01273 492630 -- next part -- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: <http://lists.sxbrc.org.uk/pipermail/adastra_lists.sxbrc.org.uk/attachments/20170627/3b4cc636/attachment-0001.html> -- Message: 2 Date: Tue, 27 Jun 2017 14:37:33 + From: Daniel <dan...@crowboroughtowncouncil.gov.uk> To: Adastra discussion group <adastra@lists.sxbrc.org.uk> Subject: Re: [Adastra] Park Wood Hellingly for sale! Message-ID: <16D65044C7559E42AF42E42B9B0614EA9DE95A@CTC-SBS.Crowtc.local> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="windows-1255" Hi Do we know if SWT and or the Woodland Trust have been notified? It would be terrible to lose more woodland into unknown private ownership! Dan Ranger Crowborough Town Council From: Adastra [mailto:adastra-boun...@lists.sxbrc.org.uk] On Behalf Of Jo Heading Sent: 25 June 2017 13:44 To: Adastra discussion group Subject: Re: [Adastra] Park Wood Hellingly for sale! Hi Dave et al, Just to let you know that ESCC had management responsibility for Park Wood until 2011. In April 2011, the management was then handed back to its owners-the Environment Agency. Regards, Jo Heading Senior Ranger, ESCC From: D BANGS<mailto:bangs...@btinternet.com> Sent: ?23/?06/?2017 22:33 To: Adastra discussion group<mailto:adastra@lists.sxbrc.org.uk> Cc: conservation.n...@gmail.com<mailto:conservation.n...@gmail.com> Subject: [Adastra] Park Wood Hellingly for sale! I've just been alerted to this proposed sale of Park Wood, Hellingly: http://www.rightmove.co.uk
[Adastra] Henfield Common football pitch project: No Environmental Impact Assessment was done
Adastra readers see below.
Henfield Parish Council did no EIA.
They made no approach to the Sussex Wildlife Trust, despite them being just
down the road.
Natural England were, as usual, toothless,
Dave Bangs
---
Original message
>From : henfiel...@btconnect.com
Date : 16/05/2017 - 12:55 (GMTST)
To : bangs...@btinternet.com
Cc : richardkendall...@icloud.com, garypetti...@hotmail.com,
mikepmor...@btinternet.com, vassossianto...@gmail.com,
malcolmeastwood...@btinternet.com, off...@henfield.gov.uk
Subject : Henfield Common football pitch project: damage to archaic grassland
v\:* {behavior:url(#default#VML);}
o\:* {behavior:url(#default#VML);}
w\:* {behavior:url(#default#VML);}
.shape {behavior:url(#default#VML);}
Dear Mr Bangs,
Further to your earlier email, I can confirm that there was no Environmental
Impact Assessment carried out on the Henfield Memorial Field pitches.
For your information Henfield Parish Council did contact ‘Natural England,’
‘Historic England’ and ‘The Open Spaces Society,’ amongst others, to inform
them of the proposals to carry out the work. Only The Open Spaces Society
responded and gave no objections to the work being carried out.
I can confirm that the contract to carry out the renovation work has already
been agreed between Henfield Parish Council and the contractor, and it is
anticipated that the work will commence in the next couple of weeks, subject to
weather conditions being favourable.
Kind regards,
Kevin Wright
Clerk – Henfield Parish Council
From: D BANGS [mailto:bangs...@btinternet.com]
Sent: Monday, 15 May, 2017 8:17 PM
To: off...@henfield.gov.uk
Subject: Henfield Common football pitch project: damage to archaic grassland
From: David Bangs
Field naturalist and author
bangs...@btinternet.com
T: 01273 620 815
15/05/17
To: Mr Kevin Wright, Henfield Parish Clerk
Dear Mr Wright
Damage to archaic species-rich grassland at Henfield Common
Thank you for speaking to me on the phone today.
I re-visited the Common after our phone chat and was appalled.
The football pitch project area sprayed by herbicide/gramicide takes in well
over half of the area in which Chamomile, Chamaemelum nobile, is present. This
is a rare and steeply declining species and the number of Sussex sites where it
naturally occurs is now very small.
Its presence in quantity is one of the core nature conservation features of the
Common.
The area sprayed displays (in my short visit today) a number of high nature
value scarce plants, including Chamomile, Heath Spotted Orchis and Southern
Marsh Orchis, Adder’s Tongue Fern, Marsh Pennywort, Common Yellow Sedge, Oval
Sedge, Hairy Sedge, Devil’s Bit, Tormentil, and Heath Speedwell.
In a single brief visit to the pitch project area in 2013 I recorded six
significant old meadow fungi species: two Fairy Clubs, a Pinkgill and three
Waxcap fungi. I suspect a properly conducted survey for this group would record
many more.
As I said to you, Henfield Common is largely an SNCI (Site of Nature
Conservation Interest). The area of the cricket pitch and the old ball pitches
(which are the subject of HPC’s project) was anomalously excluded from the
designated SNCI only because the appropriate surveys there had not then been
carried out. Subsequently, a survey of the cricket pitch for old meadow fungi
was conducted (about 15 years ago) and the cricket pitch proved to be the
richest site for old meadow fungi on the Common and one of regional value in
nature conservation terms for this assemblage.
Can you please tell me whether any Environmental Impact Assessment was made of
the football pitch project? If it was, would you be so kind as to forward it to
me?
I understand that drainage works are to undertaken (and ditch ‘cleaning’ has
recently taken place). Given that the core nature conservation feature of the
Common is its archaic acid marsh vegetation, further drainage could be very
detrimental.
Furthermore, the highly acidic Folkestone Beds surface geology of the Common is
what gives it its individual character. Semi-natural ‘moor’ vegetation on the
local Wealden Folkestone Beds is now very rare, and the loss of this surface
geology to new imported soils will thus damage the character and sense of place
of the whole Common.
I ask you, please, to secure the cessation of all further activity pertinent to
the football pitch project until these issues of nature conservation have been
addressed. This is a matter of urgency,
With best wishes
Dave Bangs
Virus-free. www.avg.com
[Adastra] Park Wood Hellingly for sale!
I've just been alerted to this proposed sale of Park Wood, Hellingly: http://www.rightmove.co.uk/commercial-property-for-sale/property-48900174.html It is managed by East Sussex County Council, which will also be trying to shed its load of public high nature value land shortly too (see Cabinet agenda for 27th June), Dave Bangs
[Adastra] Henfuield Common breaches of NERC act biodiversity duty
Does anyone know who I can approach at Nat England about enforcement of the NERC Act 2006 in breaches of duty to consider biodiversity? Dave Bangs
[Adastra] Fwd: Henfield Common LATEST NEWS
The latest news is not good. The SWT and I were to have a meeting with the parish council at the cricket club on Friday morning. When we arrived the chair of the PC, Malcolm Eastwood, histrionically banned me from the meeting, to which he had earlier invited me, and attempted to remove me from the common (not realising that as it was a registered common I had a statutory right of access!!). His justification was that he thought my BBC R Sussex radio interview (BBC Radio Sussex Neil Pringle 24th May 1hr 48 mins into prog) was 'unbalanced' and untruthful...for instance by saying there was a chamomile lawn. He said it did not exist!! I refused to leave and they were obliged to re-convene the meeting at the parish offices in Henfield ! We have also missed a major media opportunity, for BBC TV South Today wished to do a piece but would not proceed without the participation of the SxWT, who didn't want to engage. (Clearly South Today don't have much time for individual whistleblowers like myself). I haven't got any feedback yet from Tony/the SWT and I wasn't around to seek it later on Friday. I hope the SWT will have got something from the meeting...With the media moving our way and the parish council so defensive they refused to be interviewed by the media, we have them on the back foot, Dave Bangs
[Adastra] chamomile photos Henfield common
A journalist wants a picture of the chamomile lawn at Henfield Common in flower. They're considering doing a piece on the issue. Does anyone have any pics I can use? I don't have any decent ones and he won't want my pics of it all withered up Dave Bangs
[Adastra] dead trees, nightingales...dying nature
Walking in the Cowfold Stream valley east of Crateman's Farm and to the south to listen to the Nightingales last night we passed lines of oaks with brown withered crowns. Often the whole foliage of fresh tender leaves and catkins was withered brown, but sometimes the top of the crown was still green. Amongst them the Ashes, which are co-dominant in this Wealden Clay landscape, had stayed as dead as winter...almost every one. It was not a scene of coppery/golden spring leaf green as it had been a few weeks ago, but a scene of death. We have noticed how strong the hold of Ash Die Back is in this area since last year and this spring, but the sight of the oaks, now, was dreadful. Is this just water stress from the drought ? The Stream was flowing and in reasonably good water. I did not notice that the Oaks in the shaws on our walk in to the Stream were affected. It feels like the ending of the world Dave Bangs
Re: [Adastra] Henfield Common
Here's a footnote on Henri's 2nd piece. It's not worth going over in detail what happened at the meeting of the parish council/SWT/myself on the common. Henri was not present. What is worth repeating, though, is that the Wildlife Trust did not defend my presence at the meeting, though it was a joint initiative between us, and though the chair of the parish council had himself earlier invited me by email. Everyone knows the slogan of the labour movement and the Three Musketeers..."All for one and one for all...united we stand divided we fall". It wouldn't fit as a motto for the Wildlife Trust(s)... Dave Bangs Original message >From : henribrockleb...@sussexwt.org.uk Date : 31/05/2017 - 11:47 (GMTST) To : adastra@lists.sxbrc.org.uk Subject : [Adastra] Henfield Common Dear Adastrans, I appreciate that Adastra is a forum that focusses on biological recording chat and from time to time veers into other conservation related topics. In light of this I will keep this brief. · My email to Dave (copied into his previous post) was not an ‘SWT position’, simply an informal email from me to Dave, to update him on the outcome of a meeting. An SWT position statement is naturally a far more formal piece of text with more context and justifications. · The word ‘positive’ was used in reflection of the start of the meeting, which involved heated discussion between Dave and the Parish Council as he described in a previous email. The fact that we could have some constructive discussion after that, I take as positive. · The unfortunate situation with Henfield PC needed some realism and pragmatism as they were legally able to get on with the work without making any changes to their proposed plans. They had been aggravated by the previous press work and more press work (either national or local) could have closed the door for dialogue entirely. It is fair to say that SWT and Dave have a difference in opinion on this topic. · SWT can’t be everywhere all the time and it is fantastic when local naturalists and communities can inform us of issues like this and we respond when we are able. We may not always agree on what the approach is, but as we are all essentially wanting to do what is right for the wildlife of Sussex it is great when we can strengthen each other and work together. Cheers Henri Strategy Lead – Conservation Policy Sussex Wildlife Trust Sussex Wildlife Trust is a company limited by guarantee under the Companies Act. Registered in England, Company No. 698851. Registered Charity No. 207005. VAT Registration No. 191 305969. Registered Office: Woods Mill, Henfield, West Sussex BN5 9SD. Telephone 01273 492630
