New cutting season about to start

Dear All 

Winter would not be the same without an e-mail every few days imploring you to do great things for the good of  Southrepps residents and visitors.  At last your patience is rewarded because the new cutting season starts at 10:00am on Sunday 5th October on the reedbed.  We will meet on the boardwalk between The Beck and the Chadwick seat and I look forward to seeing you there.

 

This year we have to cut  Area B which is the Warren Road section furthest from Lower Street, half the reedbed and the usual central part.  You may have noticed that the variety and proportion of species is changing, in particular Grass of Parnassus has proliferated, Cotton Grass continues to reduce, and there is a lot more reed in the centre, but I am probably most concerned about the losing battle we are fighting with alder and hazel saplings in Area B. We have discussed what all this means with Natural England but nobody really knows, so basically we’ll just carry on  doing what we do best in our own way.  This seems to tick boxes and won us a first in the prestigious Norfolk Bio-diversity Group Awards 2014. 

 

An addition to the regular working parties which will run every second Sunday, various jobs arise which are more suitable for small groups to manage, e.g. consolidation under the bridge, painting the Information Point, bulrushes in The Pit, renovating the Chadwick Bench (if the Chadwick’s don’t do it), etc.  Please let me know if any of this suits you.

 

I have attached two documents, viz. Working Party dates and Health & Safety Guidance.  The former needs to be taken straight to your calendar and the dates transcribed.  The dreaded H&S document describes your responsibilities under H&S law and is a reminder that we have a written H&S Policy (available on request) with which we endeavour to comply.  When you sign in at the start of each working party, it’s not just for Duncan’s benefit, consummate archivist that he is, but it’s also drawing your attention to the risk assessment which one of us carries out before each session.

 

Next year there is cause to celebrate because it’s 25 years since Southrepps Parish Council assumed ownership and responsibility for The Commons and 10 years since Southrepps Commons Trust became a Registered Charity.  We are having an event on Midsummer’s Day, Sunday 21st. June, when we shall make a fuss of all Volunteers past and present. 

 

I am looking forward to another successful season and I hope you are too. 

 

Kind regards

John