A New Dawn for Fleet Pond
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
Hart News The newspaper of Hart District Council www.hart.gov.uk Autum/Winter 2011 Shop best in county Saving money Check the score Revitalised village store Hart has outsourced its New food hygiene is named number one in refuse collections and rating system set Hampshire – p14 made big savings – p16 to start – p15 Hart’s future on Tell us what you think show near you about the ʻCore Strategyʼ THE draft plan for the future development of Hart District until 2028 goes on show in Fleet, Yateley anTdheHHoaorkt Cthoirse mStroantetghy. ‘Preferred Approach’ is now being consulted upon and everyone in the district is being urged to A new give us their views. Why we need to have it More new homes are needed across the country and Hart is no exception. The population is growing, the birth rate is dawn for higher than the death rate and more people are living alone for longer. The Council is currently bound by the housing target in the South East Plan, which for Hart is 220 homes a year. The Gov - Fleet Pond ernment intends to abolish this Plan but it will still require ade - quate numbers of new homes to be built. The Council therefore believes it is best to carry on planning for 220 each year, which is actually a lot less than have been built here in past decades. Our special centre pages article in this issue, ‘Planning for Hart’s future development’, tells you about the key proposals in the Plan, including where, when and how change will take place. When it is finished, the Core Strategy will be the key doc - ument within Hart’s Local Development Framework (LDF), which will guide future development and change in Hart. Three public exhibitions will be held this month where Council planners will be available to answer questions from res - idents on the Core Strategy ‘Preferred Approach’ and support - ing documents. The exhibitions are: •Friday September 9 – Monteagle Hall, Yateley 12 noon to 8pm •Saturday September 10 - Hart Shopping Centre, Fleet 10am– 5pm •Friday September 16 - Elizabeth Hall, Hook 12noon to 8pm All of the consultation documents are available to view from the link on the home page of the Hart website www.hart.gov.uk. Details of how to respond are set out both in our centrefold article and on the Hart website. Hard copies of all these documents are also available to view at the Civic Offices, the libraries in Fleet, Odiham and Yateley, Sunrise over Fleet Pond, the largest freshwater lake in Hampshire, which and the mobile library service. If you would like to buy a copy is to benefit from a £342,000 grant to improve water quality. The grant is a of any of the documents, full details can be found on the Hart major boost to the group of organisations working to improve the pond website. and surrounding nature reserve. Turn to page 2 for a full report. Picture by Vicky Jull. Full details on pages 9-12 CONTACT THE COUNCIL – TEL: 01252 622122 E-MAIL: [email protected] 2 Hart News www.hart.gov.uk Autumn/Winter 2011 Countryside Funds flow in to Fleet Pond Fleet Pond is to get £342,000 of grants to by Adam Green improve water quality. The money will Grounds and Countryside Manager allow partners working to restore the FLEET Pond, the largest freshwater area to move ahead with vital projects lake in Hampshire and easily visible from the main train line between Picture by Colin Gray Hart and London, is to benefit from £342,000 in extra money from the Water Framework directive to eastern side of the lake. This is aimed improve water quality. at reducing the input of silty water at In a co-ordinated bid the Environ - Sandy Bay, providing features such as ment Agency gained £200,000 worth ponds, scrapes and backwaters to trap of funding and Natural England sediment and to create new wetland £142,000 with the possibility of fur - habitat within the woodland ther funds in the coming years. Re-use of dredged sediment to cre - As many of you are aware, much ate islands that will: has been going on at Fleet Pond over control water entering Fleet Pond the years to try to rectify the issues limit sediment input to the lake with the siltation of the lake and the shore near Sandy Bay effect it has had on the wildlife of the create new lake shore water habi - Nature Reserve. tat A working partnership formed a create new areas of reedbed and Project Steering Group of core stake - fringing habitat holders including representatives create new submerged plant habi - from Hart District Council, Fleet tat for fish and invertebrates Pond Society, Johns Associates, Natu - Works proposed for this year and ral England, the Environment needed to even start us on our way. ship (HLS) and Water Framework next will be the first step towards Agency, and the Ministry of Defence. We have now seen a massive step for - Directive (WFD) Funding will give a delivering a full lake restoration mas - However, one thing has always ward in gaining funds to help realise massive boost to the delivery of a terplan, in accordance with detailed been missing and that has been the our aims and ambitions for this much phased series of lake restoration activ - proposals that will be agreed by the funding as vast sums totalling many loved Nature Reserve. Recent suc - ities. Project Steering group. The evolving hundreds of thousands pounds are cesses through Higher Level Steward - But why is this important? Cressida masterplan will also incorporate the Wheelwright from Natural England output of a stakeholder consultation explains: “Fleet Pond makes up part exercise to ensure wider long-term of the 48 hectare Fleet Pond Site of objectives can be met. Special Scientific Interest. The SSSI Jim Story from the Fleet Pond Soci - has been in poor condition for some ety reminds us that there is still much time, partly because of a build up of to do: silt. A scheme is in place to improve “The Fleet Pond Society’s Clearwa - the condition of the SSSI, and ter Campaign aims to raise awareness although this is an excellent step for - and funds towards a variety of meas - ward there is more work to be done. ures to reverse the Pond’s decline and “As well as the pond itself, the sur - to improve the Reserve for the benefit rounding land embraces many rare of the local community. habitats including heathland, wet “Although we are pleased to gain woodland, reedbeds and marsh. these extra funds much more is still Because of this variety visitors can needed to cover the costs of designing look out for 180 different species of projects through to major sums for birds, 26 types of butterfly, 21 species dredging and environmental tasks. of dragonfly and 400 wild flowers, The Clearwater Campaign aims to many rare and some of which are provide funds for those much needed nationally or internationally impor - areas not included in any other fund - tant! ing stream and, importantly, would “The complex problems for the include projects of direct benefit to pond have meant that no one organ - local people and visitors. isation was able to instigate the much “This will include improved seating needed improvements. The Higher areas, a variety of new information Level Environmental Stewardship boards, better footpaths and other (HLS) funding agreement, gathers the public facilities. The Fleet Pond Soci - support and involvement of key part - ety wants to preserve the Pond for our ners to work together to improve the children, grandchildren and way condition of the SSSI.” beyond.“ Matthew Johns from Johns Associ - If you want to donate or are just ates project manages the restoration interested in what the Society is for the Partnership. doing, please visit the Fleet Pond He says: “The funding from both Society website for full information areas has seen a great move forward on the Clearwater Campaign at in enabling the key activities planned www.fleetpond.fccs.org.uk Please for the Pond.” watch the informative video featur - Some of the key issues limiting the ing the Society's patron and TV Natu - condition of the SSSI will soon start ralist, Chris Packham, who fully backs being addressed. These include: the Campaign. There is also an Small-scale dredging of the lake to extremely informative set of FAQs restore its depth in targeted areas regarding the ongoing problems fac - Creation of a new stream channel ing the Pond. to take some of the higher flow from the Gelvert Stream, through areas of New bridges for Fleet Pond – wet woodland, around part of the see page 4 Autumn/Winter 2011 www.hart.gov.uk Hart News 3 Countryside Grazing trial to improve heaths Nature Diary by Ranger Steve Lyons HEATHLAND is a rare and protected habitat, of which the UK has lost 90% Significant in the last century. Britain in fact holds about 20% of the whole world’s low - work ahead in land heathland. Hazeley Heath is one of the largest areas in the region being classified as a Site of Special Scientific wildlife areas Interest and a registered common. It is also within the Thames Basin Heaths Special Protection Area. ELL we had summer in In order to restore and protect spring and April heathland species, Hart District Coun - showers in June and cil is undertaking a heathland restora - July. Flowers held off flowering tion programme. As part of this, with until later on, grasses seeded funding from Natural England and the W Grazing animals help control the growth of scrub early and some trees, SITA Trust Enriching Nature project, a grazing trial is running over a five year ing the richness and diversity of the This generalised feeding behaviour is a particularly oaks put on a period.