Notes of a Meeting of the Hawkshill Freedown Working Group Held on Thursday 31St August

WALMER PARISH COUNCIL Minutes of a meeting of the Hawkshill Freedown Working Group held on Thursday 22 January 2009 at the Parish Council Offices, 10 Victoria Road, Deal at 7pm

Present: Councillors C Grant (Chairman), R Spindler John Gooding, Graham Harris, Sue Pitcher, Brian Pitcher, Stan Stockley and Michael Sykes

Officer Present: Ms J Warrington

173. APOLOGIES Apologies were accepted from Cllr R Hobbs, Mrs Lindsay Gorringe, Graham Harlow and Mark Styles.

174. NOTES OF THE PREVIOUS MEETING Notes of the meeting held on Thursday 20 November 2008 were approved as a correct record and signed by the Chairman.

175. MATTERS ARISING NOT COVERED ELSEWHERE (a) Minute 169(c ) - Ragwort The Clerk confirm that the Ragwort fork had now been purchased at a cost of approximately £20. Stan Stockley agreed to take the tool for trial out on the Common and it would be kept in the on site store.

(b) Minute 169(d) – Dog Bin It was confirmed that the new dog bin was now in place.

176. MANAGEMENT ISSUES (a) Working Parties Report Back & Priorities for 2009 Stan Stockley reported that they had had a successful January session and a new member, David Pike, had joined the group. They had almost finished cutting back the scrub on the eastern edge and were tackling the brambles on the western edge and should now be able to concentrate on strimming areas that required it.

The Clerk reported that Graham Harlow had indicated he would no longer be able to support the Sunday working parties and was finding it increasingly difficult to commit time since moving to Maidstone. He does intend to continue with the wildflower monitoring.

Members expressed concern that the growth of the trees adjacent to the car park entrance on Liverpool. Graham Harris agreed to talk to Mark Styles on this issue on his return from holiday.

RESOLVED: That an approach be made to Graham Harlow to see if a wild flower monitoring training session could be held to enable other members to become involved in this area of work.

(b) Hedge Cutting The Clerk reported that Simon Chapman was intending to cut the southern end of the eastern hedge during February.

(c) Grass/Bank Cutting Members considered the quotation from English Landscapes for cutting of the plateau and the bank. RECOMMENDATION: That the working group should continue to use our current contractors for the main plateau grass cut as this was substantially cheaper than that offered by English Landscapes but should invite English Landscapes to do one single cut of the bank at the end of March or beginning of April at cost of approximately £319.

1 (d) Fire Break The Clerk reported that she had been in contact with the Station Officer at Deal Fire Station who had indicated that they did not generally get involved in this type of risk assessment. He felt that it could be carried out in-house. The main issue would be to assess any potential ignition sources and whether it was reasonable for any control measures to be put in place. RESOLVED: That the Clerk and Cllr Grant should undertake a specific risk assessment on this issue and report back to the group.

177. MONITORING Members received a copy of the wildflower survey report for 2008 from Graham Harlow. Michael Sykes had also produced a butterfly monitoring report and this would be circulated at the next meeting.

178. TRAINING Stan Stockley and Graham Harris reported on their attendance at the recent Emergency First Aid course. They reported that this had been much more comprehensive than the last one attended. They had been advised that when working on the Common a litre of eye fluid should be available to enable any eye injuries to be tackled. RESOLVED: That the report be noted and Stan Stockley to check the contents of the existing first aid box and give any out of date items to the Clerk for replacement.

179. PUBLICITY & EVENTS (a) Green Gang – Sponsorship The Clerk reported that she had once again received agreement from Pfizer to donate £400 towards the 2009 Green Gang projects on Hawkshill Common. The payment had already been received by the Parish Council and in the light of this two Green Gang events would be arranged through Penny Bearman once again.

(b) Programme of Events for 2009 The Clerk circulated a copy of the 2008 programme which the group had already agreed they wanted to repeat. The Clerk indicated that she still had had no response from Pete Findley regarding the potential bird walk despite two letters, but would try once again.

The following basic draft programme was agreed:- - May 2009 – date to be agreed – Bird Walk with Pete Findley - Wednesday 27 May 2009 – Green Gang Event – “Wiggly Worms & Caterpillars” with Loose Cannon Arts Company - June 2009 – date to be agreed – Bird Walk with Pete Findley - Wednesday 5 August 2009 – “Gulls Song” with Loose Cannon Arts Company - Sunday 9 August 2009 – Butterfly Walk with Michael Sykes - Middle of October 2009 – “Food for Free Walk” with Martin Newcombe

180. DATE OF NEXT MEETING Thursday 19 March 2009 at 7pm at the Parish Council Office.

The meeting closed at 7.55pm

Signature: ……………………………….. Date: ………………………..