The Wildlife Trust for Sheffield & Rotherham

SHEFFIELD CITY COUNCIL Scrutiny Report 7

Report of: Simon Green, Executive Director Place ______

Date: 1st June 2010 ______

Subject: Sheffield City Council’s Relationship with Sheffield Wildlife Trust: Update & Progress Report

______

Author of Report: Nigel Doar, Chief Executive, Sheffield Wildlife Trust Mary Bagley, Director of Parks & Countryside ______

Summary: Sheffield Wildlife Trust (SWT) has worked closely with Sheffield City Council (SCC) for all of its 25 years, to protect and enhance Sheffield’s natural environment, to increase people’s awareness and understanding of it, and to provide opportunities for people to experience and enjoy it.

SWT is one of SCC’s principal local partners in developing and delivering the recently adopted Green & Open Space Strategy – Sheffield’s Great Outdoors. As part of delivering that Strategy, in each of 2009/10 and 2010/11, SCC’s Parks & Countryside Service made a grant of £25,000 to SWT as part of an agreed Service Level Agreement (SLA). The grants have contributed vital match funding and additional capacity to an agreed programme of work that directly takes forward SCC’s corporate priorities to improve parks & open spaces, to raise aspiration and attainment and to improve public health.

Work delivered under the SLA includes the management and maintenance of 9 nature reserves leased from SCC, the delivery of a number of land management works on other SCC-owned sites (as part of the Trust’s Living Don programme), the delivery of education and training programmes and the operation of an active volunteering programme, totalling about £1,000,000 in value over the two years (about a quarter of the total of SWT’s activity in 2009 to 2011).

In 2010/11, SWT will continue to develop and deliver its contribution to Sheffield’s Green & Open Spaces Strategy, by participating in the Strategy’s Core Management Group and by delivering a number of outputs reported here. In particular, the Trust will work to secure Green Flag accreditation for the nature reserve at Wyming Brook, it will continue to engage the public in the management of Blacka Moor (and to integrate the management of Blacka Moor into a wider strategic approach linking to the Peak District’s Eastern Moors), it will continue to deliver youth engagement and

1 volunteering activities across Sheffield, and it will run a major public campaign to acquire Greno Woods as a public asset. ______

Reasons for Recommendations

The SLA and the operation of the partnership between SCC & SWT is an important part of the delivery of Sheffield’s Green & Open Space Strategy. It is necessary for the City Council to review its performance regularly, and to consider ways to improve the way the partnership works.

Recommendations:

Recommendations are to:

 Acknowledge the contents of the report and the many benefits to the people, economy and natural environment of Sheffield that result from the partnership between the Sheffield Wildlife Trust and Sheffield City Council.  Note the cost effectiveness of the financial arrangements associated with this partnership.  Endorse the substantive contents of this paper (concerning priority areas of work and strategic initiatives) as a basis for the Service Level Agreement between SWT and SCC, for 2010/11.  Consider how the relationship between the Wildlife Trust and the City Council might beneficially be strengthened in future.

______

Background Papers: None

Category of Report: OPEN

2 PLACE DIRECTORATE REPORT TO THE CULTURE, ECONOMY & SUSTAINABILITY SCRUTINY AND POLICY DEVELOPMENT BOARD

1st June 2010

SHEFFIELD CITY COUNCIL & SHEFFIELD WILDLIFE TRUST: NATURAL PARTNERS

1 PURPOSE OF THE REPORT

1.1 The purpose of this report is to inform Members of the Culture, Economy & Sustainability Scrutiny & Policy Development Board of the work undertaken by Sheffield Wildlife Trust, in partnership with Sheffield City Council, and to prompt consideration of this partnership arrangement.

1.2 In particular, the report aims to:  Explain the nature of the partnership between the City Council and the Wildlife Trust.  Highlight some of the financial and operational arrangements relating to the partnership.  Outline some highlights of the work enabled by this partnership, in the 2009/10 financial year.  Set out some of the priority activities and areas of work that are planned for the 2010/11 financial year.  Invite comment by members of the Culture, Economy & Sustainability Scrutiny & Policy Development Board on this partnership (its past activity, its current status and its future development).  Provide an opportunity for the Culture, Economy & Sustainability Scrutiny & Policy Development Board to scrutinise the work undertaken by the Wildlife Trust in partnership with Sheffield City Council.

1. SUMMARY

1.1 Sheffield City Council has been working in close partnership with Sheffield Wildlife Trust (SWT) for 25 years, protecting and enhancing the City’s natural environment, increasing people’s awareness and understanding of it, and providing opportunities for people to experience and enjoy it. Due largely to the closeness of this relationship, over that time, SWT has grown from a very small community organisation delivering all its work through unpaid volunteers, to an organisation with nearly 5,000 members, employing 65 paid staff and both raising and spending around £2,000,000 per year on its activities, the vast majority of which contribute directly to the delivery of Sheffield’s City Strategy and the City Council’s Corporate Plan.

3 1.2 Since its establishment in 1985, SWT has worked to improve Sheffield’s natural environment and to bring the benefits of nature (improved mental and physical health, increased self-esteem and social cohesion, opportunities for learning and acquiring new skills, better economic prospects, regulation of temperature and water, recreation and leisure experiences) to its people. Part of this has involved working with Sheffield City Council and others to develop and deliver clear visions, forward- looking strategies and effective policies relating to nature, green and open spaces and Sheffield’s countryside.

1.3 In the 1980’s and 1990’s, the Trust helped to create and implement the Nature Conservation Strategy, the Parks Regeneration Strategy and Countryside Strategy. In the first decade of the 21st Century, it has contributed to the development and delivery of the Environment Strategy, Waterways Strategy, Climate Change Adaptation Strategy and Green & Open Space Strategy. These (and particularly the Green & Open Space Strategy) provide a focus for and framework to all that the Trust does in 2010. The Trust’s Chief Executive sits on the Steering Group for the Green & Open Spaces Strategy, on the Waterway Strategy Group and on the Climate Change Adaptation Group, all of which report to the Sheffield First Environment Board.

1.4 In 2009/10, SWT worked with SCC to complete Sheffield’s new 20-year vision and strategy for Sheffield’s Green & Open Spaces: Sheffield’s Great Outdoors, and at the same time, the Trust refined and focused its own Strategic Plan to clarify its future role in delivering the City’s Green & Open Spaces Strategy. SWT’s strategic vision is of an environment that is rich in wildlife and brings real benefits to everyone. It will bring this about by working with partners to create a Living Landscape for People and Wildlife. As part of a Regional process involving local authorities (including SCC), National Park Authorities, voluntary sector partners, Natural England, Environment Agency and Forestry Commission, SWT has led the agreement of a number of Living Landscapes in and around Sheffield, which are part of a regional (and national) network and will form the focus of the Trust’s work in future… the basis of its contribution to Sheffield’s Green & Open Spaces Strategy. A summary of the Trust’s new Strategic Plan is attached as Appendix 1.

1.5 In each of 2009/10 and 2010/11, SWT has been given a grant of £25,000 from Sheffield City Council’s Parks & Countryside Service, as part of a Service Level Agreement between the two organisations. The grant enables around £500,000 of activity by providing match-funding to other funding sources and by funding parts of the programme that are not covered from elsewhere.

1.6 The grant was (and is) made as a contribution to a wide programme of works that benefit the people of Sheffield by enhancing their natural environment, increasing their engagement with it and delivering opportunities for them to improve their health & wellbeing in a number of environment-related ways (local food growing, volunteering, natural play, natural exercise, etc). This programme of priority activities has been agreed within the framework of the Green & Open Spaces Strategy.

4 1.7 Currently agreed priorities for the partnership between SCC and SWT (from 2009 to 2011) are as follows:

 Improving Parks and Open Spaces: By supporting the revision and implementation of Sheffield’s Local Biodiversity Action Plan, the establishment, and operation of a Local Sites Partnership, the development and core management of Sheffield’s Green & Open Spaces Strategy, and the delivery of the Living Don Project. By managing and maintaining selected natural sites owned by SCC, as nature reserves that are valued and well used by local people (including working to gain Green Flag accreditation for Wyming Brook and the acquisition of Greno Woods), and by contributing to the enhancement of the biodiversity of other public open spaces. SWT has been, and will continue to be, one of the leading organisations working in Sheffield to take forward the development of an effective Living Landscape: an effective local, regional and national green infrastructure network.  Raising Attainment and Aspiration: Delivering a programme of outdoor educational activities linked to the National Curriculum and appropriate environment-related vocational qualifications, to Early Years providers, Primary and Secondary schools. Running Wildlife Watch groups, developing and delivering youth participation projects and related activity.  Improving Public Health: Including prevention of childhood obesity, through the development and delivery of healthy eating, food growing and active volunteering programmes for people of all ages.

1.8 In 2009/10, SWT delivered practical site works, habitat management and enhancement at selected natural sites (not owned or leased by SWT), as part of the Living Don Project. Works were delivered in the Porter Valley, at Lady Canning’s Plantation, Limb Valley, the Rivelin Valley, Little Matlock Wheel/Loxley Bank, Blackburn Meadows and Woodhouse Washlands. Details are given in Appendix 2.

1.9 In 2009/10, SWT also managed and maintained its nature reserves as part of the City’s approach to the quality management of Sheffield’s parks & open spaces : Developing management systems and approaches, engaging the public and carrying out works at Victoria Hall Community Garden, Norfolk Park Tree Nursery & Allotments, Carrhouse Meadows, Wyming Brook, Fox Hagg, Salmon Pastures, Sunnybank, Crabtree Ponds, Carbrook Ravine, Moss Valley Woodlands and Black Moor. Again, details are given in Appendix 2.

1.10 In 2009/10, the Trust also Engaged 135 Groups from 30 Schools in National Curriculum-Linked Educational Activities (involving more than 3,000 students). It Engaged 49 Learners in 5 Open College Network Accredited Short Courses, delivered 20 Level 2 National Vocational Qualifications (NVQs) – a total of 120 NVQ Units – and enabled 1,000 volunteer-days of project activities.

5 1.11 Additionally, SWT Engaged 305 volunteers in Healthy and Active Volunteer Activities (totalling 1,211 volunteer days), and it developed and supported 6 Wildlife Watch groups across Sheffield, which involved 140 young people, 20 volunteer Group Leaders and a further 60 volunteer assistants in delivering enjoyable and inspiring nature experiences to young people throughout the year. Further details are given in Appendix 2.

1.12 In 2010/11, SWT will be delivering a similar programme. The details are given in Appendix 3.

1.13 In particular, SWT will be starting on a process of getting its nature reserves accredited to Green Flag standard, by putting Wyming Brook through the Green Flag assessment process.

1.14 The Trust will also be running a major public engagement, activity and fundraising campaign to acquire Greno Woods as a public asset for people and biodiversity, and to actively manage it to increase its value to both.

1.15 SWT will continue to develop its work at Blacka Moor by participating in the emerging Sheffield Public Lands Partnership, which will bring together SCC, SWT, Peak District National Park Authority, RSPB and National Trust in a strategic arrangement to enhance the quality and effectiveness of the management of Sheffield’s publicly owned countryside to the South West of the City.

1.16 Finally, during 2010/11, SWT will be celebrating its 25th Anniversary in a number of different ways.

2 BACKGROUND

2.1 Largely as a result of Sheffield’s unique position as the only city in the UK with part of a National Park within its boundary, and the City’s rich heritage of parkland, green & open spaces, woodlands and rivers, the City has a much higher than average level of public interest and engagement in its natural environment. The City has a reputation on the national stage as a place where innovative environmental activities take place, and where standards relating to the natural world (particularly the urban part of it) are set.

2.2 Early in 2010, Sheffield adopted a 20-year vision and associated strategy for the development of its green & open spaces – Sheffield’s Great Outdoors. The strategy will be delivered through a wide-ranging partnership brought together by Sheffield City Council’s Parks & Countryside Service. One of the Council’s principal partners in the development and delivery of the Strategy is Sheffield Wildlife Trust.

2.3 One manifestation of the high profile of the natural environment in Sheffield is that Sheffield boasts one of the largest accumulations of local park user and environmental groups anywhere in the country, one of the largest (and best regarded) City Farms in the country, and the highest density of Wildlife Trust activity anywhere in the UK. What is now the

6 Sheffield Wildlife Trust was founded by a small group of local volunteers, in 1985, as the Sheffield City Urban Wildlife Group. At that time, it was just one of many community-based organisations made up of a small number of committed voluntary activists. Since very early in its existence, it has had a very close (and mutually beneficial) relationship with Sheffield City Council.

2.4 Over the last 25 years, the Trust has worked with the City Council to deliver a very wide range of environmentally positive, socially beneficial and economically advantageous work, the clearest physical manifestation of which is the management of 300 ha of Sheffield’s highest quality natural land (spread across 9 sites from Blacka Moor and Wyming Brook in the West to Carbrook Ravine in the East, and from Carr House Meadows in the North to the Moss Valley Woodlands in the South). Since 2000, the Trust has managed these sites on behalf of the City Council, funded almost entirely from external sources raised by the Trust (for further detail, see paragraph 2.17, below).

2.5 Sheffield Wildlife Trust is an independent, local membership organisation (which currently has more than 4,500 members who provide it with local knowledge, enthusiasm, direction, physical effort, knowledge, skills and cash). It is a company limited by guarantee (company number 2287928) and a registered charity (number 700638). A Board of un-paid trustees elected from amongst the membership govern the organisation and give it its strategic direction.

2.6 In 1992, the Sheffield Wildlife Trust became a full member of the Royal Society for Nature Conservation (now called the Royal Society of Wildlife Trusts), and it is now one of 47 independent Wildlife Trusts that work together as a loose federation to support and develop the cause of local nature conservation and environmental education in communities across the UK. They have collective communication, decision-making and governance arrangements that allow the development of national and regional strategies; influencing, fundraising and support functions (including the shared use of knowledge, expertise and other assets), without compromising local independence and accountability.

2.7 All of the Wildlife Trusts, including the Sheffield one, have essentially the same charitable objectives:  to protect and enhance the natural world,  to increase people’s knowledge and understanding of it, and  to encourage people to experience and enjoy it.

7 2.8 The Wildlife Trusts individually and collectively “stand up for wildlife, inspire people about the natural world and foster sustainable living”. The collective “big vision” for all the Wildlife Trusts is the creation of a Living Landscape across the UK, which is composed of well managed large areas of natural land, linked by ecologically functional green corridors, to form a living network that will both assist the UK in adapting to climate change and provide a range of ecosystem services (flood control, temperature regulation, air quality improvement, soil stabilisation, etc). The achievement of this vision is central to the way in which all the Trusts operate. It is achieved by local people, for local people and by working closely in partnership with appropriate other organisations.

2.9 In the Sheffield Trust’s early years, it ran a number of small projects and programmes of public engagement and education work centred around City Council owned land in Burngreave, Fir Vale and Southey & Owlerton. The Trust raised additional funds to install a boardwalk at Crabtree Ponds and worked closely with the City Council to create the City’s first Urban Nature Park at Sunnybank (amongst other things).

2.10 At various stages The Trust’s activities took it into other parts of Sheffield (Norfolk Park, Arbourthorne, Manor & Castle, Wybourn, Woodthorpe, Broomhall, Sharrow, Upperthorpe & Netherthorpe, etc), and since 2000 it has operated across most of Sheffield in one form or another. When it merged with the Blackburn Meadows Trust, in 1999, it also took on responsibility for education and community engagement activities relating to the Blackburn Meadows Nature Reserve, which serves a principally Rotherham-based community, despite its location in Sheffield.

2.11 In 1987, the Trust carried out Sheffield’s first comprehensive inner city habitat survey, which later (1991/2) formed the basis of Sheffield’s Nature Conservation Strategy (which was one of the first in the country). In 1992, the Trust was the City Council’s principal partner in developing the Parks Regeneration Strategy – seen at the time as being at the cutting edge of good practice.

2.12 Since the early 1990s, the Trust has received an annual grant from the Parks & Countryside Service of Sheffield City Council (£30,000 per year for most of that time, but reducing to £25,000 for the last few years), to support its role in taking forward work agreed to be of benefit to the people of Sheffield. Initially, this grant made up a very large part of the Trust’s total income (as much as 50%), and enabled the Trust to secure additional funds that multiplied the amount of the grant by two or three times. More recently, the Trust has been no less dependent on the stability and flexibility that the Parks and Countryside grant gives the organisation, but it has succeeded in growing the amount of resulting activity many times over.

8 2.13 Over the last decade, the Trust developed itself to become a deliverer of environmental regeneration activity across most of Sheffield’s disadvantaged neighbourhoods, and grew considerably in size, as a result. Since 1998. the Trust’s membership has grown from 150 to 4,650, its staff complement from 14 to 65 (with a peak of 110 in 2004), and its annual income from £184,000 to £2.0 million (with a peak of £2.7 million in 2004). Many of the approaches pioneered by the Trust during this process have received national recognition as good practice. The partnership between Sheffield Wildlife Trust and the City Council has enabled the various approaches used to be strengthened and developed (to huge benefit of the City’s green environment and the quality of life that it offers its citizens), in a time when a high quality (and sustainable) local environment is being increasingly recognised as an essential element in a thriving City.

2.14 In particular, the Trust has worked with the City Council to develop Sheffield’s Local Biodiversity Action Plan and its Unitary Development Plan, it has participated in development of Sheffield’s Environment Strategy (and through it, the Environmental Excellence strand of the City Strategy itself), and it has been a significant contributor to the development of both Sheffield’s draft Waterways Strategy and its Green & Open Spaces Strategy. Within these City-wide strategic initiatives, the Trust has also taken a leading role in shaping and delivering neighbourhood environmental regeneration strategies and programmes in Manor & Castle, Southey & Owlerton, Arbourthorne & Norfolk Park and Gleadless Valley. It has been a significant contributor to the Liveability process (looking at how to create and sustain a high quality public realm in a number of neighbourhoods).

2.15 In 2004 it set up Green Estate Limited, an independent social enterprise in the joint ownership of Sheffield Wildlife Trust and Manor & Castle Development Trust to take forward the sustainable regeneration, management and maintenance of the green & open spaces within Manor & Castle. Green Estate was set up to raise a significant part of the cost needed from “commercial” trading activities, and it now operates sustainably, carrying out management, development and maintenance of green and open spaces in Manor & Castle, delivering innovative, natural landscaping solutions on vacant development land, installing and maintaining green roofs on new and existing buildings, composting greenwaste, selling seeds, compost and other “green products”, and developing Sheffield Manor Lodge and Manor Oaks Farm as a high quality heritage, education and training asset (as well as a centre for public engagement with their local cultural and natural environment).

2.16 In 2008, SWT worked with SCC and Groundwork Sheffield to establish the River Stewardship Company, to support the City’s aspirations for high quality managed and maintained waterways, and it continues as one of three members of that company, appointing 2 directors to the Board.

9 2.17 The breadth of the Trust’s approach to environmental regeneration has taken it into areas of activity that are some way from “traditional” nature conservation. In particular, the belief that local, high quality, accessible and biodiverse natural environments are a right and that the ecosystem services that these perform for society are extremely valuable in a large number of ways. This has taken the Trust into partnerships dealing with sustainable solutions to the problem of flood risk management, the link between poor diet, health, disadvantage and local food growing, and the use of nature-based volunteering to engage young people in positive and healthy activities.

2.18 The Trust’s lifelong learning activities engage thousands of people of all ages each year in healthy outdoor activity, education and training. The Trust works with between 40 and 100 schools each year to deliver outdoor learning activities linked to the National Curriculum and has developed a bespoke “consultation, participation, design, build and use” package of school grounds environmental improvements called “Greener Grounds”. This has been taken up by more than a dozen schools. It is accredited as an Open College Network training provider, and with City & Guilds as a provider of National Vocational Qualifications. Over the years, it has delivered hundreds of accredited qualifications to participants in its environmental skills training programme which has been developed working in partnership with SCC’s Urban & Countryside Ranger Service, and it is now the only remaining (non-college) provider of this type of training in the City.

2.19 For the last 9 years, SWT has been an accredited Investor In People (IIP), and has been commended by our independent assessor for the quality of our business management and performance management systems and in particular, the way in which we place staff and volunteers at the heart of planning and organising everything that we do, including building personal development and training into everyone’s normal working activities. The Trust successfully retained its IIP accreditation in March 2010. Since October 2007, the Trust has also been an accredited Investor in Volunteers (IIV), in recognition of its commitment to supporting, developing and managing volunteers effectively.

2.20 In 2000, SWT took on 30-year leases over about 300ha of Sheffield City Council-owned land, across 9 different sites – aiming to manage these as nature reserves, both to maximise their value for wildlife and their contribution to the City’s Biodiversity Action Plan, and to enhance their value for, and enjoyment by, the people of Sheffield. In the time since, considerably more than £1,000,000 has been secured from external sources towards the restoration, enhancement and use of these sites from a range of different sources (Heritage Lottery Fund, Biodiversity Action Fund, Barclays, Veolia Environmental Trust, Aggregate Levy Sustainability Fund, V, Peak District National Park Sustainable Development Fund, the Abbey Charitable Trust, Living Spaces, Breathing Places, etc, and individual donations – including two donations of £15,000 each from an anonymous individual). In 2008, the Trust gained accreditation under the UK Woodland Assurance Scheme for the management of its woodland holdings, becoming entitled to use the Forest Stewardship Council quality mark.

10 2.21 2010/11 is SWT’s Silver Anniversary Year, during which it will be running a number of projects, programmes and individual activities to celebrate its 25th birthday, and the 25-year-long relationship between SWT and SCC.

2.22 Many other Wildlife Trusts, and many other local authorities, look at the relationship that has developed between SWT and Sheffield City Council with some envy and it is often cited as a good example of effective partnership working. The relationship was included in a national study carried out by the University of Sheffield, which concluded that the partnership brings most of the benefits and strengths that would be expected from the partnership between an effective and well-regarded Groundwork Trust and its partner local authorities, but with two notable additional benefits: a more expert approach to issues of ecology, wildlife and biodiversity; and more effective and sustainable linkage into local communities as a result of the Trust’s “ownership” by an independently motivated local mass membership.

2.23 With such a long-standing and wide-ranging partnership which goes far wider than simply the exchange of £25,000 of public money for £25,000- worth of services to the City, it is very difficult to cover every aspect of it in a relatively brief report such as this. What follows is just a snap-shot covering some of the main priorities where the Wildlife Trust and the City Council are currently working together. In the Service Level Agreement operating between SWT and SCC in 2009/10, a sub-set of SWT’s activities was extracted to illustrate very clearly the relationship between the SCC grant and SWT’s role in delivering SCC’s Corporate Plan priorities (as set out in A City of Opportunity), and to clarify which areas of SWT’s activity were considered by both SCC and SWT to be the Trust’s principal strategic priorities in relation to the receipt of grant funding from P&C. This approach is being continued in 2010/11, with the additional consideration of SWT’s role in developing and delivering Sheffield’s Green & Open Spaces Strategy, Sheffield’s Great Outdoors.

2.24 This report sets out some of the main activities enabled by the partnership between the City Council and SWT in 2009/10, and outlines the principal elements of the partnership arrangement in 2010/11. The work set out here forms the basis of the Service Level Agreements between SWT and SCC, for 2009/10 and 2010/11.

3 CURRENT PRIORITIES FOR THE PARTNERSHIP, 2009-2011

3.1 The main (headline) priorities agreed for the partnership are currently as follows:  Improving Parks and Open Spaces: By supporting the revision and implementation of Sheffield’s Local Biodiversity Action Plan, the establishment, and operation of a Local Sites Partnership, the development and core management of Sheffield’s Green & Open Spaces Strategy, and the delivery of the Living Don Project. By managing and maintaining selected natural sites owned by SCC, as nature reserves that are valued and well used by local people (including working to gain Green Flag accreditation for Wyming Brook and the acquisition of Greno Woods), and by contributing to

11 the enhancement of the biodiversity of other public open spaces. SWT has been, and will continue to be, one of the leading organisations working in Sheffield to take forward the development of an effective Living Landscape: an effective local, regional and national green infrastructure network.  Raising Attainment and Aspiration: Delivering a programme of outdoor educational activities linked to the National Curriculum and appropriate environment-related vocational qualifications, to Early Years providers, Primary and Secondary schools. Running Wildlife Watch groups, developing and delivering youth participation projects and related activity.  Improving Public Health: Including prevention of childhood obesity, through the development and delivery of healthy eating, food growing and active volunteering programmes for people of all ages.

3.2 IMPROVING PARKS & OPEN SPACES

In 2009-10, SWT set out to achieve the following:  Deliver practical site works, habitat management and enhancement at selected natural sites (not owned or leased by SWT), as part of the Living Don Project: Works in the Porter Valley, Lady Canning’s Plantation, Limb Valley, the Rivelin Valley, Little Matlock Wheel/Loxley Bank, Blackburn Meadows and Woodhouse Washlands.  Manage & Maintain SWT’s nature reserves as part of the City’s approach to the quality management of Sheffield’s parks & open spaces : Developing management systems and approaches, engaging the public and carrying out works at Victoria Hall Community Garden, Norfolk Park Tree Nursery & Allotments, Carrhouse Meadows, Wyming Brook, Fox Hagg, Salmon Pastures, Sunnybank, Crabtree Ponds, Carbrook Ravine, Moss Valley Woodlands and Black Moor.

Progress in 2009/10

SWT delivered the agreed works on these sites. Details are enclosed in Appendix 2. Some elements worth emphasising are as follows:

1. Reserve Advisory Groups have been supported and public communication/response processes maintained at all SWT’s nature reserves, and the outcomes of the processes facilitated in this way have fed directly into the planning, funding, management and maintenance of these sites. 2. Blacka Moor: Cattle assessments (risk assessment, etc) for 2009 were carried out; The heathland was grazed as planned for at least 5 months, with no significant reported incidents; The pastures were grazed from October. Bad weather around Christmas and the New Year led to a number of calves being born on Strawberry Lea

12 Pastures (which was not planned), and it was not possible (due to the bad weather) to move them for a few days (which was completed before any issues arose). Monthly volunteer task days at Blacka have proved successful, particularly for sorting out minor, ongoing and fiddly (but still important) issues, and actively engaging site users. Issues relating to site users objecting to the policy of grazing cattle on the reserve have continued to be dealt with through the Reserve Advisory Group, which has met regularly. A number of improvements have been made to the way in which repairs to infrastructure are planned and delivered have been made, incorporating the opinions and knowledge of RAG members. Some issues arose during the year concerning the flying of hang- gliders at Strawberry Lee Pastures, largely relating to the Moor being designated as a Site of Special Scientific Interest and hang gliding being listed as a prohibited activity within the relevant legislation. SWT has endeavoured to reach a workable solution with all the parties involved, and discussions are continuing.

Plans for 2010/11

P&C and SWT have agreed the following for inclusion in the Wildlife Trust’s SLA Work Plan for 2010/11. Further details are enclosed in Appendix 3:

 Deliver practical site works, habitat management and enhancement at selected natural sites (not owned or leased by SWT), as part of the Living Don Project: Works in the Porter Valley, Lady Canning’s Plantation, Limb Valley, the Rivelin Valley, Little Matlock Wheel/Loxley Bank, Blackburn Meadows and Woodhouse Washlands.  Manage & Maintain SWT’s nature reserves as part of the City’s approach to the quality management of Sheffield’s parks & open spaces : Developing management systems and approaches, engaging the public and carrying out works at Victoria Hall Community Garden, Norfolk Park Tree Nursery & Allotments, Carrhouse Meadows, Wyming Brook, Fox Hagg, Salmon Pastures, Sunnybank, Crabtree Ponds, Carbrook Ravine, Moss Valley Woodlands, Black Moor and Greno Woods.

Outputs & Outcomes

1. Secure Green Flag Accreditation for Wyming Brook. SWT has committed itself to move the management of all its reserves onto a recognised quality standard approach over the next decade. In line with the Sheffield Green Open Space Strategy’s priorities, the Trust will be bringing one of its reserves up to Green Flag standard each year, starting with Wyming Brook in 2010/11. 2. Support Reserve Advisory Groups and maintain public communication/response processes. This will remain at the heart of SWT’s approach to site management, so-as to engage people as effectively as possible and use their eyes, ears, knowledge, skills

13 and enthusiasm to improve the quality of the reserves and enhance the benefits received from them by local people. 3. Greno Woods: Run public engagement and awareness-raising activities and participatory planning processes as part of a public campaign to buy 420 acres of high quality woodland as a community asset for the people and wildlife of Sheffield. Greno Woods are Sheffield’s biggest contiguous area of woodland, and one of the largest noted by the Forestry Commission to be of biodiversity importance, in Yorkshire & Humber Region. They are a significant part of a much larger woodland and heathland complex heading north from Sheffield past Stocksbridge, and so represent a significant part of the Upper Don Living Landscape. There is huge potential to enhance them for biodiversity, and to create a nationally significant centre for mountain biking, orienteering and other outdoor pursuits. The woods came on the open market in 2009, and SWT has persuaded the Esmée Fairbairn Foundation (EFF) to buy them so as to prevent them being sold to another private investor looking simply to generate a commercial return from the woods. SWT is working with a small biofuel wood-chip producer (SilvaPower Ltd) to secure the woods and run them for multiple benefit, linked to heritage conservation, recreational provision, education & training provision, climate change adaptation and carbon reduction. The Trust will manage the woods on behalf of EFF and Silvapower Ltd, from Summer 2010, and has a two-year window to secure the funds to buy the woods off EFF (for £605K), before they are put back on the open market. SCC is supporting this campaign with expertise and enthusiasm. A crucial part of the campaign will be the engagement of local people, development of audience engagement plans and securing support from Heritage Lottery Fund.

3.3 RAISING ATTAINMENT & ASPIRATION

In 2009-10, SWT set out to achieve the following:

 Run an Outdoor Learning Educational Service for Schools and Early Years providers: Working with teachers and supervisors to deliver environment-based educational activities linked to the National Curriculum, to children of all ages.  Offer positive diversionary activities on an environmental theme, that tackle current youth issues: Engage young people in 2,000 volunteer-days of project activities in 2009 – including ongoing work with at least 50 young people, mainly from disadvantaged backgrounds.  Support and Develop 4 Wildlife Watch groups, providing monthly environmental activities for young people: Engaging 120 young people and 18 volunteer Group Leaders in 45 activity sessions throughout the year

14 Progress in 2009/10

SWT delivered the agreed learning & volunteering programmes. Details are enclosed in Appendix 2. Some elements worth emphasising are as follows:

 Engaged 135 Groups from 30 Schools in National Curriculum- Linked Educational Activities.  Engaged 49 Learners in 5 Open College Network Accredited Short Courses,  Signed up participants who will have achieved 20 whole Level 2 NVQs by the end of March 2010 (a total of 120 NVQ Units).  Engaged young people in 1,000 volunteer-days of project activities in 2009  Engaged 140 young people, 20 volunteer Group Leaders and a further 60 volunteer assistants in Wildlife Watch Groups.

Plans for 2010/11

P&C and SWT have agreed the following for inclusion in the Wildlife Trust’s SLA Work Plan for 2010/11. Further details are enclosed in Appendix 3:

 Run an Outdoor Learning Educational Service for Schools and Early Years providers: Working with teachers and supervisors to deliver environment-based educational activities linked to the National Curriculum, to children of all ages.  Offer positive diversionary activities on an environmental theme, that tackle current youth issues: Engage young people in 1,600 volunteer-days of project activities in 2009 – including ongoing work with at least 20 young people, mainly from disadvantaged backgrounds.  Support and Develop 4 Wildlife Watch groups, providing monthly environmental activities for young people: Engaging 120 young people and 18 volunteer Group Leaders in 45 activity sessions throughout the year

Outputs & Outcomes

 Engage 70 Groups from 45 Schools in National Curriculum-Linked Educational Activities: (Aiming to work directly with at least 2,000 young people this year).  Engage 84 Learners in a range of OCN-Accredited and non- Accredited Short Courses  Deliver 273 NVQ Units (192 at Level 2 and 81 at level 3)  Engage young people in 1,600 volunteer-days of project activities in 2010/11

15  Engage 120 young people and 18 volunteer Group Leaders in Wildlife Watch Groups

3.4 IMPROVING PUBLIC HEALTH

In 2009-10, SWT set out to achieve the following:  Run an Active Volunteer Programme: Looking to engage volunteers in a range of active and healthy activities.

Progress in 2009/10

Plans for 2010/11

P&C and SWT have agreed the following for inclusion in the Wildlife Trust’s SLA Work Plan for 2010/11. Further details are enclosed in Appendix 3:

 Run an Active Volunteer Programme: Looking to engage volunteers in a range of active and healthy activities.  Provide a range of activities that support physical activity outdoors: Looking to engage people in “Active Outdoors” activities in green and open spaces.  Support people from disadvantaged communities to access healthier food: delivering “cook & eat” courses. Outputs & Outcomes

 Engage 150 Volunteers in Healthy and Active activities.  Engage 1,000 people in “Active Outdoors” activities in green & open spaces.  Deliver 56 “Cook & Eat” courses

16 4 CONSULTATION

4.1 Each individual project and/or programme entered into jointly between the Wildlife Trust and the City Council is subject to its own separate programme of public consultation and engagement. In each case, Community Forums, Residents’ Associations, Environment Groups, Community Assemblies, Development Trusts and other relevant bodies are engaged in discussion of the intended project, and through them, local people have a route into shaping the projects.

4.2 All the Trust’s work is delivered working closely with local people (the Trust has members in virtually every community across the City, but those that we engage in delivering our projects go far wider than just our members). The nature reserves have Reserve Advisory Groups, large projects have project steering groups and smaller projects are usually led by a local partner whose activities and aspirations are supported and facilitated by the Trust.

4.3 The Trust uses a customised project evaluation tool, called “Change”, to get feedback from participants and other stakeholders, which is then fed into the Trust’s annual round of business planning.

4.4 Every 5 years (or so) SWT revises its Strategic Development Plan, and part of the process involves consulting all its major stakeholders about their hopes and aspirations for the future work of the Trust. As the Trust’s most significant local partner, discussions with the City Council in this process, and the contents of adopted and draft policies and strategies developed and/or adopted by the City Council always carry a great deal of weight.

5 OWNERSHIP AND MANAGEMENT

5.1 The partnership between SWT and Sheffield City Council is very much one of “joint ownership”. Sheffield City Council has leased a number of its environmental assets to the Trust at no significant direct cost to the Trust, but it retains freehold ownership of those assets and a very engaged interest in their onward management and wellbeing. As a result, the Trust and the Council share a risk that would otherwise be carried by the Council alone.

5.2 Outside the sites leased as nature reserves (see above), the Trust owns a number of other assets:  its Headquarters building at Stafford Road,  the Community Wildlife Garden at Stafford Road (both freehold),  the Urban Wetland Nature Park at Centenary Riverside, Rotherham (leasehold),  a restricted endowment fund (£435,000) established to finance the onward sustainable management and maintenance of Centenary Riverside Urban Wetland Nature Park,  a number of vehicles and items of equipment and machinery, plus

17  its own restricted and unrestricted charitable funds.

5.3 The relationship between SWT and SCC’s Parks & Countryside Service is managed through regular liaison meetings between the Chief Executive of Sheffield Wildlife Trust and either the Director of Parks & Countryside or a member of her Senior Management Team. Precise details of management and liaison arrangements are set out in an annual Service Level Agreement between the two organisations, together with a schedule of works to be undertaken, issues to be addressed, priorities to be taken forward together, etc, and this is used as the basis for ongoing discussion and work planning during the year. The SLA for 2010/11 has been drawn up based on the information given in this report.

5.4 At least once per year, the two senior management teams from Parks & Countryside and the Wildlife Trust meet together to discuss and agree strategic priorities for inclusion in the two organisations’ business and delivery plans, and to address any significant planning and/or operational issues that may need addressing.

5.5 Various individual projects and programmes within the wider partnership arrangement have their own nominated contact officers within each organisation, and they work together to agree appropriate working arrangements suited to the needs of the project(s) in question, including reporting and monitoring arrangements. In particular, the Living Don Steering Group oversees the delivery and development of SWT’s Living Don Project and (within it) the management of SWT’s nature reserves.

6 FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS

6.1 Each year (including both 2009/10 and 2010/11), SWT receives a grant of £25,000 from the budget of the Parks & Countryside Service towards the cost of delivering its work programme and priority areas of activity for the year.

6.2 In 2009/10, the total cost of the programme described above was about £500,000 over the year, including the contribution of £25,000 from SCC’s Parks & Countryside Service. Other funds have been secured from Sheffield PCT, National Lottery, Natural England, Environment Agency, Biodiversity Action Fund, Landfill Tax Communities Fund, Learning & Skills Council, individual school budgets (partial contributions towards the cost of school sessions) and the Wildlife Trust’s unrestricted charitable income (principally from its members). This is around £30,000 more than our start of year forecast (March 2009).

6.3 Up to the end of March 2010, the Living Don Programme alone has enabled SWT to secure (from independent external sources) and spend £40,000 directly on capital site works on Sheffield City Council-owned land in which SWT has no legal stake and no ongoing site management responsibility (Porter Valley, Lady Canning’s Plantation, Limb Valley, Rivelin Valley, Little Matlock Wheel/Loxley Bank and Blackburn Meadows). £14,000 was raised and spent in this way on SCC sites in 2008/9, and a further £26,000 in 2009/10. The Living Don Programme

18 alone has therefore generated more real, direct cash benefit to Sheffield City Council than the total value of the Trust’s grant from the P&C under the SLA. In 2010/11, we are anticipating that the equivalent figure will be £30,000 of funding that is effectively handed straight back to Sheffield City Council for its own purposes in this way, as a direct result of the partnership between the two organisations.

6.4 To date in 2009/10, in addition to more than £90,000 of restricted grant income raised to fund particular works and projects on our nature reserves in Sheffield, SWT has spent £35,000 of its own unrestricted charitable funds on their management and maintenance, to the benefit of their biodiversity and the people who visit them and those who live and work nearby.

6.5 We are expecting the financial activity enabled by the P&C Grant to SWT in 2010/11, to be similar in scale, but slightly larger than in 2009/10, at £550,000 in total.

6.6 With an ongoing future commitment to achieve Green Flag accreditation for the management of SWT’s nature reserves (starting with Wyming Brook in 2010/11), the cost of managing these sites is likely to rise in future. While SWT will continue to be committed to securing external funding to support this, and to putting its own resources in where required, it is likely that significant additional benefit would be gained from further input and closer joint working from SCC.

7 RISK MANAGEMENT

7.1 The financial risk to Sheffield City Council is minimal. If SWT succeeds in multiplying up the grant monies, then the benefits to the City are far larger than the initial £25,000 out-lay. If the Trust fails, then the City Council is still guaranteed through the SLA process and associated liaison and management arrangements to receive £25,000-worth of work. The risk falls largely on SWT.

7.2 SWT carries out an annual risk management process with its Board of Trustees, within which all the significant risks faced by the organisation are reviewed and allocated to a priority class. Annual work plans are drawn up and monitored throughout the year to keep the principal risks identified within acceptable limits.

7.3 The aspects of the risk profile that are of most significance to Sheffield City Council are as follows:

 Operational risk of Sheffield City Council being unable to effectively take forward its strategic objectives around biodiversity conservation, greenspace management and climate change adaptation, as a result of ineffective (or insufficient) support to its principal voluntary sector partner in these areas;

19  Operational risk that land owned by Sheffield City Council and leased to SWT to be managed would revert to SCC in the event that SWT became unable to cover its responsibilities relating to those sites – reverting the associated additional costs directly to the Council;  Reputational risk if a long-standing, widely respected partner should flounder as a result of insufficient support from its principal partner;  Reputational risk of a partner operating to vastly inferior standards, on jointly branded projects;  Reputational risk (by association) of SWT being unable to fulfil its Health & Safety commitments on leased sites and suffering a significant incident (and associated claim).

7.4 All of these risks can be effectively managed through the SLA process and well established management and liaison arrangements between SWT and the Parks & Countryside Service. It is noticeable that the risk increases considerably if the size of the grant falls below a certain level as this would contribute to the likelihood of the identified risks being realised.

8 EQUAL OPPORTUNITIES IMPLICATIONS

8.1 All of the Trust’s work is carried out in accordance with an Equal Opportunities Policy that has been reviewed by staff within the Parks & Countryside Service and judged to meet the Council’s requirements. The operation of suitable equal opportunities policies and procedures is a prerequisite for receipt of many funding streams that the Trust has accessed (and continues to do so), such as Heritage Lottery Fund, Big Lottery and Esmée Fairbairn Foundation.

8.2 All the Trust’s projects and programmes are carried out in a non- discriminatory and fair manner. As so much of the Trust’s funding is from external restricted sources, this is a very well scrutinised aspect of the Trust’s work.

9 HUMAN RIGHTS IMPLICATIONS

9.1 All of the activities of Sheffield Wildlife Trust are in a sense brought about by the belief held by the Trust’s founders that everyone has a human right to live somewhere that is rich and healthy in nature and natural features, and to have equal and open access to these and to the many social and economic benefits that they bring with them (such as physical and mental health, clean air, clean water, affordable and healthy food, enjoyment, etc).

20 9.2 While none of these are listed explicitly in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the right to life, liberty and security of person (Article 3), the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and his family (Article 25), and the right to freely participate in the cultural life of the community, to enjoy the arts and to share in scientific advancement and its benefits (Article 27) are all securely tied to the way in which a society manages its natural resources – including its green and open spaces and the biodiversity with which people share them.

10 ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY

10.1 As with 11, above, the partnership between SWT and Sheffield City Council delivers a great deal towards the sustainability of Sheffield’s environment. It is the principal motivator behind the partnership. The Trust has a very well developed set of environmental policies and procedures, which are embedded at the heart of the Trust’s performance management arrangements. An internal Ecological Good Practice Guide is used to set appropriate standards for all of the Trust’s practical delivery, and its contents are reviewed and updated regularly by the Trust’s Environment & Biodiversity Working Group.

11 COMMUNITY SAFETY IMPLICATIONS

11.1 Community safety is taken into account in individual strands of work and projects undertaken by the Wildlife Trust working with the City Council, but there are no overarching implications for public safety relating to the partnership as a whole.

12 COMMUNITY ASSEMBLY IMPLICATIONS

12.1 Sheffield Wildlife Trust has developed good relationships with many Community Assemblies, and will continue to be an active participant in the Community Assembly process. Much of the Trust’s work contributes directly to realising the visions and strategies agreed locally by individual Community Assemblies, and some of its projects depend on the engagement of and support from Community Assemblies for their continuing success.

13 RECOMMENDATIONS

13.1 Recommendations are to:

21  Endorse the substantive contents of this paper (concerning priority areas of work and strategic initiatives) as a basis for the Service Level Agreement between SWT and SCC, for 2010/11.  Consider how the relationship between the Wildlife Trust and the City Council might beneficially be strengthened in future.

Nigel Doar Chief Executive Sheffield Wildlife Trust

Mary Bagley Director of Parks and Countryside Sheffield City Council

1st June 2010

22 APPENDIX 1: An Outline of SWT’s Current Strategic Plan

The Wildlife Trust for Sheffield & Rotherham

Strategic Plan, 2009-2012

The Wildlife Trust for Sheffield & Rotherham is here to maximise the benefits received by the people of Sheffield & Rotherham, from their local natural environment. It is here to engage people with nature where they live and work, in ways that are meaningful to them and valued by them, and in ways that will enable them to play a part both in protecting and enhancing the natural world, and in engaging other people with it. Living Landscapes will enable this to happen. A Living Landscape is a large area of land that has nature at its heart. It provides for the needs of people – providing jobs and income; improving public health & personal wellbeing; bringing local communities together & empowering them; providing opportunities for leisure, recreation & enjoyment; regulating water and helping our towns, cities and countryside to cope with climate change. And it does all this naturally – helping biodiversity to thrive, ecological processes to function effectively and giving people easy access to the natural world. Living Landscapes connect high quality natural places to each other, urban areas with the surrounding countryside, and communities and neighbourhoods with each other. They connect small and isolated populations of plants and animals to each other and they connect people with nature. Living Landscapes will be a vital part of Great Britain in the 21st century and beyond, and it is one of the great challenges of our age to bring them into being.

Nigel Doar Chief Executive 23 The Living Landscapes of South Yorkshire

The Living Landscape areas indicated on the map below have been identified through a lengthy and wide-ranging process involving assessment of known social, economic and ecological information, and consultation with SWT’s staff and its principal partners in the biodiversity community (through Yorkshire & Humber Biodiversity Forum, South Yorkshire Biodiversity Forum, Sheffield & Rotherham Biodiversity Groups). These are the principal strategic areas where it is considered that biodiversity gains can be made, and those where they should be made to ensure a healthy, connected, biodiverse, accessible and ecologically functioning landscape around where people live and work, for decades and centuries to come. If planned, developed, managed, maintained and used correctly, these areas should assist Sheffield & Rotherham in coping with climate change and in becoming resilient to whatever challenges it poses in future. These are where SWT will concentrate its principal efforts during this Strategic Plan period.

These Living Landscapes are not the only areas important for biodiversity, and nor are they the only areas where a high quality natural approach can add to the health, happiness, wealth and wellbeing of the people who live and work in Sheffield and Rotherham and those who visit the area. Between the Living Landscape areas set out, SWT will work to engage people with their local nature, to increase their awareness and understanding of it, and to inspire and empower them to play a part in its protection and enhancement – as a supporting and complementary framework to the priority Living Landscapes themselves.

Across the whole network of Living Landscapes, the Trust will work with others to achieve its vision. Particular partnerships will be particularly valuable in different places (working with the Environment Agency along the River Don and its tributaries, or with the Peak District National Park Authority, RSPB and National Trust on the Eastern Moors, or with particular Local Authorities and local communities “on their patch”. Forestry Commission and South Yorkshire Forest Partnership will be important in wooded landscapes, and NHS Primary Care Trusts in matters relating to health & wellbeing. Natural England will be important throughout.

Many private businesses and organisations from the Voluntary, Community & Faith (VCF) Sector will have a role in delivering the Wildlife Trust’s Vision of a Living Landscape, and in particular, the Wildlife Trust for Sheffield & Rotherham will work with and through its subsidiary and associated companies24 – Wildscapes CIC; Green Estate Ltd; and the River Stewardship Company – and with its sister Wildlife Trusts and the Royal Society of Wildlife Trusts. Creating a Living Landscape for People & Wildlife

The Wildlife Trust for Sheffield & Rotherham is working to bring about An environment that is rich in wildlife and brings real benefits to everyone

The Trust’s Purpose is: To rebuild biodiversity & engage people with nature

It will achieve this through the following Strategic Objectives (SO’s):

SO 1: Being SO 2: Being SO 3: Being An Engaging & SO 4: Being A Recognised, SO 5: Being SO 6: Being Well An A Guardian Inspiring Environmental Respected & Co-Operative Adequately Led Influential of Nature Enabler Partner Resourced Champion It will deliver these through the following Priority Actions (PA’s):

PA 1.1: Develop PA 2.1: Develop PA 3.1: Increase People’s Awareness PA 4.1: Develop & Implement a PA 5.1: Grow & PA 6.1: Develop the & Promote a & Deliver Living & Understanding of Nature Marketing & Communication Plan (JG) Develop our Trust’s Board & Living Landscape Membership Governance (PV) Landscape Partnership PA 3.2: Enable People to Experience PA 4.2: Understand the Needs and (CS) Vision & Projects and Enjoy Open Spaces & Nature Expectations of our Principal Partners PA 6.2: Develop the Strategy (JG) Trust’s Executive Team & Leadership PA 3.3: Empower People to Influence PA 1.2: Develop PA 2.2: Develop the Planning, Development & Use of PA 4.3: Delight Our Principal Partners PA 5.2: Develop PA 6.3: Make the Trust & Communicate Living their Local Environment Wildscapes CIC Respectful, Responsible, Key Messages Landscape PA 4.4: Use IT Effectively to Enhance as a Trading Accessible, Inclusive & our External Relationships (JG) (JG) Delivery Plans PA 3.4: Inspire People to Make Company (VS) Safe (CC) Lifestyle Changes that Benefit Nature PA 4.5: Work Effectively with Other PA 6.4: Operate Effective PA 1.3: Engage PA 2.3: Manage Wildlife Trusts & RSWT (ND) & Efficient Management Local Politicians our Nature PA 3.5: Enhance Public Health & PA 5.3: Systems & Processes & Other Leaders Reserves Well Wellbeing Through Outdoor Exercise, Maintain our (CC) Volunteering, Gardening, Food PA 4.6: Work Effectively with Key Local Restricted Partners PA 1.4: Shape PA 2.4: Extend Growing, Healthy Eating, Personal; Project Income PA 6.5: Communicate Local Strategies our Nature Development & Training (CS) Effectively Within the Trust & Plans Reserves PA 4.7: Contribute Effectively to (CC) Regional Initiatives and Campaigns (ND) PA 5.4: Improve PA 3.6: Provide Volunteering our Premises & PA 1.5: PA 2.5: Provide Opportunities that Benefit Participants PA 6.6: Operate to PA 4.8: Contribute Effectively to National Assets Generate Public Good Advice and Support the Delivery of Living Recognised Quality25 Support (JG) Landscapes (SC) Initiatives and Campaigns (ND) Standards (CC) The Trust’s Success at achieving its Strategic Objectives will be measured using the following Strategic Measures (SM’s). The specific Ambitions that the Trust has for each Measure during this Plan Period are set out in Appendix 1:

SO 1: Being SO 2: Being A SO 3: Being An Engaging & SO 4: Being A SO 5: Being SO 6: Being Well An Guardian of Inspiring Environmental Recognised, Respected Adequately Led Influential Nature Enabler & Co-Operative Partner Resourced Champion SM 1.1: SM 2.1: Percentage of SM 3.1: Percentage of SWT projects SM 4.1: Unprompted Brand SM 5.1: Total SM 6.1: Number of Trustees Proportion of Key Biodiversity Objectives meeting their stated aims concerning Awareness Annual Income Stakeholders for SWT Nature the engagement of people Supporting SWT’s Reserves Achieved SM 6.2: Proportion of SM 4.2: Net Promoter Score Views on Key Identified Key Trustee Skills SM 5.2: Number Represented on the Board Issues, through of Members Action & SM 4.3: Number of Funders Behaviour SM 2.2: Number of SM 3.2: Number of People Directly making repeat offers of funds to SM 6.3: Percentage of Accredited Green Flag Engaged by SWT in Visits, Courses, SWT Trustees Actively Engaged as Nature Reserves Portfolio-Holders SM 1.2: Events & Other Activity SM 5.3: Annual Proportion of Key SM 4.4: Proportion of Principal Income from Strategies, Partners Indicating Overall Members SM 6.4: Percentage of Policies & Plans Satisfaction (or Better) with SWT Trustees & Senior Staff SM 2.3: UK Woodland Incorporating as a Partner Believing that the Board is Assurance Scheme SWT’s Views on Leading Effectively Accreditation SM 3.3: Percentage of Project SM 5.4: Key Issues Participants Indicating Predominantly Membership SM 4.5: Proportion of Principal Lapse Rate SM 6.5: Percentage of Staff Positive Experiences of their Partners Indicating that they & Volunteers Who Are Clear Participation Respect SWT’s Role & Work About SWT’s Priorities SM 1.3: Number SM 2.4: Number of of MPs Sharing Managed Sites SM 5.5: Value of SWT’s Position on Connected to Credit Facility with SM 6.6: Percentage of Staff the Trust’s Key Neighbouring Managed SWT, Used by & Volunteers Who Are Clear SM 4.6: Number & Nature of Issues Sites within Living Wildscapes CIC About Their Own Work Interactions with RSWT Priorities Landscape Areas SM 3.4: Number of Individual Achievements Acquired SM 6.7: Percentage of Staff SM 1.4: Number SM 5.6: & Volunteers Considering the of Planning SM 2.5: Area of SM 4.7: Number & Nature of Percentage of Trust to be a Good Place to Applications Biodiversity Action Plan Interactions with Other Wildlife Staff & Volunteers Work Altered or Refused Priority Habitat Created Trusts Considering the or Restored (ha) after Trust Trust to be SM 6.8: Percentage of Tasks Involvement SM 3.5: Number of Personal Stories Adequately in the Annual Plan Traceable (Case Studies & Portfolios) SM 4.8: Number of External Equipped to SWT’s Strategic Objectives Partnership Projects Running SM 2.6: Number of SWT Demonstrating that SWT’s Work has SM 1.5: Number Nature Reserves Changed the way they Live SM 5.7: SM 6.9: Percentage of of Members Proportion of Strategic Measures on Target Actively SM 4.9: Number of External computers 4 or Supporting SWT’s Partners Running Repeat and/or Fewer Years Old SM 2.7: Area of SWT SM 6.10: Externally Campaigns Continuation Projects with SWT Nature Reserves (ha) Accredited Quality Standards Secured / Retained26 27 28 APPENDIX 2: Delivery Against SWT’s SLA, 2009/10

IMPROVING PARKS & OPEN SPACES

Progress in 2009/10

SWT has achieved the following against the Outputs & Outcomes identified in the SLA Work Plan for 2009/10:

 Natural habitats being protected and enhanced: 1. Porter Valley: 0.2 ha of meadow was mowed; 1.5 ha of invasive rhododendron and cherry laurel was removed; 1.8 ha of scrub was removed; 3,000 m of Japanese knotweed was controlled. 2. Lady Canning’s Plantation: 200m of ride management and 0.3 ha scrub removal were delivered in January 2010. 3. Limb Valley: 0.7ha grassland/heath was managed; 1,000 m of Japanese knotweed was controlled. The restoration of 10ha of conifer plantation to broadleaf (planned for 2009/10) was postponed into the 2010/11 financial year for operational reasons. 4. Rivelin Valley: 0.5 ha of woodland was managed; 0.5 ha of Japanese knotweed was controlled; 1 ha of bracken was controlled. 5. Little Matlock Wheel/Loxley Bank: One day of invasive species removal from the 0.3ha of ponds here was completed (Himalayan balsam removal) along with some hydrological improvements, and 2 days spent felling trees (work identified as a result of survey work also carried out during the year). 6. Blackburn Meadows: 0.1 ha of willow scrub was removed; maintenance of the access path and sensory trail has been delivered in January, February and March 2010. The construction of a sand martin nesting bank, installation of 2 floating nesting islands and 2 pole-mounted barn owl nest boxes was completed in March 2010. 7. Woodhouse Washlands: New reserve signs have been designed & made, and were installed by the end of March. Some fly tipping was cleared in the final quarter of the financial year; ragwort has been removed & disposed of; and some willow trees have been pollarded.

 Increased quality of management & maintenance at SWT’s nature reserves: 3. Reserve Advisory Groups have been supported and public communication/response processes maintained at all SWT’s nature reserves, and the outcomes of the processes facilitated in this way have fed directly into the planning, funding, management and maintenance of these sites;

29 4. Carrhouse Meadows: 2 ha of grassland was actively managed (ragwort & thistle control); 250m of new hedge has been planted – about half of which was instead of planned hedge laying over the same length of hedge (due to the condition of the hedges making laying impractical); 10m drystone wall was rebuilt & repaired (against a start of year target of 100m, which proved infeasible); 5. Wyming Brook: glade creation over an area of 5ha to encourage natural regeneration was delivered in February 2010; woodland edge was coppiced as planned; The car park & picnic area have been maintained to a high standard, but the car park surface is starting to need significant attention to fill potholes; paths have been strimmed and bridges maintained; a new ditch has been put in on Wyming Brook Drive and stepping stones maintained; several fly tipping incidents have been dealt with, and planted conifers maintained. Planned repair work to walls has not proved necessary. 6. Fox Hagg: Access works (to control access by motorbikes) has been completed; Bracken has been controlled (compartments 1,2 and 7); paths were strimmed, sight-lines cleared and site infrastructure repaired; a number of fly tipping incidents were responded to. All planned works were complete for the year, and some additional (unplanned) works were delivered in the last quarter. 7. Salmon Pastures: Grass, scrub & bramble were cut, and arisings removed; scrapes were created and seed for heathland establishment; woodland was thinned and bracken removed. 8. Sunnybank: Hurdles were constructed & installed to control access to scrub areas; The meadow was cut & arisings removed; knotweed was controlled, paths maintained to a high standard; infrastructure repaired as required; fly tipping incidents were all responded to; litter was cleared regularly; bramble was controlled. All planned works were completed, but: Work with Hanover TARA to install compost bins was halted as part way through the year permission was given to site the bins off the reserve, within the Hanover Estate. Additional resources were secured to enable refurbishment of the pond and associated marginal wetland vegetation (completed in March 2010). 9. Crabtree Ponds: All planned works were completed (Controlled rats; maintained paths; cleared litter; maintained sight-lines; responded to fly tipping incidents; repaired infrastructure as necessary). Also, additional work was carried out on the main pond’s marginal plantings to improve their quality by increasing their wetness (lowering the surface level of soil to increase water depth and persistence). 10. Carbrook Ravine: New wetland & pools were created; willow & scrub was removed from along the watercourse; woodland edge was coppiced; Japanese knotweed was controlled; meadow & amenity grassland areas were cut and arisings removed; paths were maintained (herbicide treatment, vegetation clearance, sight- line clearance); fly tipping was removed; infrastructure was

30 repaired as necessary; steps & a bridge were replaced in Spring Wood. The laying of 75m of hedge has been completed. The creation of scrapes to facilitate the extension of heathland was not possible within the time available with heavy machinery on site (creating wetland and pools); additional funding will need to be secured to revisit this in future. 11. Moss Valley Woodlands: Bracken was pulled in Dowey Lumb; paths & sight-lines were maintained; hay cut at Dowey Lumb was not carried out due to inclement weather; A boundary fence was repaired in Coalpit Wood; Woodland management & sylvicultural works were completed as per the England Woodland Grant Scheme agreement for the woods. Of the planned actions in Moss Valley, only the hay cut at Dowey Lumb and removal of the arisings was not completed (due to excessively wet weather at the time when this was planned). 12. Blacka Moor: 30 metres of footpath were repaired; 10ha of heathland was maintained/improved (scrub clearance at Bole Hill, bracken pulling at Lenny Hill); Cattle assessments (risk assessment, etc) for 2009 were carried out; The heathland was grazed as planned for at least 5 months, with no significant reported incidents; The pastures were grazed from October. Bad weather around Christmas and the New Year led to a number of calves being born on Strawberry Lea Pastures (which was not planned), and it was not possible (due to the bad weather) to move them for a few days (which was completed before any issues arose). Woodland management works in compartments 597, 598 and 593c, d & e have not been completed due to delays in receiving woodland grant scheme funding, but are now planned for November 2010; infrastructure has been maintained (walls, fences, gates, etc repaired, scrapes maintained, fly-tipping responded to); Bracken was sprayed in compartments 1, 2a; thistles and tussocks in Strawberry Lee Pastures were not cut as planned (due to changing management opinion/advice). Strawberry Lee Plantation concessionary bridleway is scheduled to be upgraded to statutory bridleway by April 2010, after some delays caused by negotiations with various parties. SCC’s Public Rights of Way Unit has been involved in discussions over the appropriate specification for the surfacing works. Monthly volunteer task days at Blacka have proved successful, particularly for sorting out minor, ongoing and fiddly (but still important) issues, and actively engaging site users.

31 RAISING ATTAINMENT & ASPIRATION

Progress in 2009/10

SWT has achieved the following against the Outputs & Outcomes identified in the SLA Work Plan for 2009/10:

 Engaged 135 Groups from 30 Schools in National Curriculum- Linked Educational Activities: This represents 55 sessions more than planned, though these were delivered to groups of young people from 20 fewer schools. Sessions have also been delivered to 9 non-school groups.  Engaged 49 Learners in 5 Open College Network Accredited Short Courses: Running Level 2 Courses in Aquatic Fauna, Practical conservation and Vegetation Management, Working with Children & Young People in the Environment and Food Education, and Level 1 Courses in Healthy Eating and Geographical Information Systems  Signed up participants who will have achieved 20 whole Level 2 NVQs by the end of March 2010 (a total of 120 NVQ Units): We have performed less well than anticipated concerning NVQs at Levels 1 & 3 (and did not reach our specific annual targets for these, due to lack of capacity), but the delivery of 120 units at Level 2 represents three times as many units as the whole number originally planned at all three levels (hence our lack of capacity to deliver NVQ units at the other levels).  Engaged young people in 1,000 volunteer-days of project activities in 2009: including ongoing work with at least 50 young people, mainly from disadvantaged backgrounds. This is less than originally planned (1,000 volunteer days less), partly due to funding failure on a number of our youth engagement projects and partly due to incomplete recording and reporting of participant numbers and details.  Engaged 140 young people, 20 volunteer Group Leaders and a further 60 volunteer assistants in Wildlife Watch Groups: Supporting and developing 6 Groups across the City and establishing another new Group, to enable delivery of 55 sessions during the year. These figures are higher than the start of year forecast (2 more Groups supported plus one additional one established, 20 more young people, 2 more Group leaders and 10 more sessions). The network of Wildlife Watch groups (at Handsworth, Shire Brook Valley, Weston Park, Meersbrook Park, Crookes, Hillsborough Park and Whirlow Hall Farm) has engaged young people between the ages of 3 and 16 in a wide range of activity, including 2 City-wide Watch events: The Sheffield Watch / Breathing Places event at Parkwood Springs in June (including walks, reptile and falconry displays, hay art and felt making) and a coach trip to Donna Nook Nature Reserve and Mablethorpe Seal Sanctuary on the Lincolnshire coast (where 52 people were able to see and be inspired by a range of coastal wildlife, including a breeding colony of grey seals).

32 IMPROVING PUBLIC HEALTH

Progress in 2009/10

SWT has achieved the following against the Outputs & Outcomes identified in the SLA Work Plan for 2009/10:  Engaged 305 volunteers in Healthy and Active Volunteer Activities: Delivering a total of 1,211 days of volunteer activity during the year (against a total target for the year of 1,300), on a range of activities and projects, including nature reserve management, running walks, talks and events, and working with children. The start of year forecast envisaged engaging 70 long- term and full-time volunteers in an average of 18.5 days per volunteer, but various things have caused this to be altered to a provision of a far larger number of shorter-term and part-time volunteer experiences, amounting to approximately the same number of volunteer days of input across a much larger number of individuals. The launch of RSWT’s DWP-funded Future Jobs Fund scheme in November resulted in a number of full time volunteer positions being converted into paid employment training opportunities instead.

33 APPENDIX 3: Work Included in SWT’s SLA, 2010/11

IMPROVING PARKS & OPEN SPACES

Plans for 2010/11

P&C and SWT have agreed the following for inclusion in the Wildlife Trust’s SLA Work Plan for 2010/11:

Outputs & Outcomes

 Natural habitats being protected and enhanced:

1. Porter Valley: Mow 0.2 ha of meadow; Remove 0.5 ha of rhododendron and cherry laurel; Remove 1.8 ha of scrub; Control Japanese knotweed and Himalyan balsam along 3,000m of river. 2. Lady Canning’s Plantation: Manage 200m of woodland rides; Remove 0.3 ha of scrub. 3. Limb Valley: Manage 0.8ha grassland/heath/coppice; Control 1,000 m of Japanese knotweed; Restore 10ha of conifer plantation to broadleaved woodland. 4. Rivelin Valley: Manage 4 ha of woodland; Restore 2 ha of heathland. 5. Little Matlock Wheel/Loxley Bank: Remove invasive species from 0.3ha of ponds. 6. Parkwood Springs: Manage 3ha of heathland. 7. Blackburn Meadows: Remove 0.1 ha of willow scrub; Enhance 200m of sensory trail. 8. Woodhouse Washlands: Restore 200 m of ditch; lay 150 m of hedge; remove & dispose of ragwort (two skips); remove & dispose of fly tipping; pollard willow trees; install two kissing gates.

34  Increased quality of management & maintenance at SWT’s nature reserves:

1. Secure Green Flag Accreditation for Wyming Brook; 2. Support Reserve Advisory Groups and maintain public communication/response processes; 3. Carrhouse Meadows: Manage 2 ha of grassland (ragwort & thistle control, grazing and hay cut); Plant 100m of native hedge and protect from grazing livestock with stock fencing; Maintain existing hedges with mulching and pruning; maintain infrastructure and gateways, maintain drainage ditches and culverts. 4. Wyming Brook: Create glades over an area of 5ha to encourage natural regeneration; Coppice woodland edge; Remove beech and sycamore regeneration (Compartments 590g,h,i,j,k); Maintain car park & picnic area to a high standard; Repair walls; strim paths; maintain Wyming Brook Drive; maintain bridges; respond to fly tipping incidents; maintain planted conifers. 5. Fox Hagg: Improve access restriction for motorbikes; Control bracken (compartments 1,2, 6 and 7); remove birch from compartments 2 and 4, strim paths; clear sight-lines; Repair infrastructure; respond to fly tipping incidents. 6. Salmon Pastures: Cut grass, scrub & bramble and remove arisings; maintain heather seeded scrapes; Remove bracken; carry out tree safety works. 7. Sunnybank: Maintain hurdles to control access to scrub areas; cut meadow & remove arisings; control knotweed, maintain paths to a high standard; Repair infrastructure; respond to fly tipping incidents; clear litter; control bramble; install new interpretation feature. 8. Crabtree Ponds: Control rats; Maintain paths; Clear litter; Maintain sight-lines; respond to flytipping incidents; repair infrastructure; maintain island and marginal area. 9. Carbrook Ravine: Create new wetland & pools; remove willow & scrub from along watercourse; coppice woodland edge; lay 50m of hedge; Control Japanese knotweed; Cut meadow & amenity grassland areas, and remove arisings; create scrapes for heathland extension; Maintain paths (herbicide treatment, vegetation clearance, sight-line clearance); remove fly tipping; Repair infrastructure. 10. Moss Valley Woodlands: Pull bracken in Dowey Lumb; Maintain paths & sight-lines; Cut hay at Dowey Lumb, and remove arisings; Woodland management & sylvicultural works as per EWGS agreement. 11. Blacka Moor: Repair 30 metres of footpath; Maintain and improve 10ha of heathland; Carry out cattle assessments (risk assessment, etc) for 2010; Graze heathland for at least 5 months; Graze pastures from October; Carry out woodland management works as per England Woodland Grant Scheme agreement in compartments

35 597, 598 and 593c, d & e; maintain infrastructure (walls, fences, gates, etc repaired, scrapes maintained, fly-tipping responded to); spray bracken in compartments 1a, 2a; Upgrade Strawberry Lee Plantation concessionary bridleway to statutory bridleway. 12. Greno Woods: Run public engagement and awareness-raising activities and participatory planning processes as part of a public campaign to buy 420 acres of high quality woodland as a community asset for the people and wildlife of Sheffield.

RAISING ATTAINMENT & ASPIRATION

Plans for 2010/11

P&C and SWT have agreed the following for inclusion in the Wildlife Trust’s SLA Work Plan for 2010/11:

 Run an Outdoor Learning Educational Service for Schools and Early Years providers: Working with teachers and supervisors to deliver environment-based educational activities linked to the National Curriculum, to children of all ages.  Offer positive diversionary activities on an environmental theme, that tackle current youth issues: Engage young people in 1,600 volunteer-days of project activities in 2009 – including ongoing work with at least 20 young people, mainly from disadvantaged backgrounds.  Support and Develop 4 Wildlife Watch groups, providing monthly environmental activities for young people: Engaging 120 young people and 18 volunteer Group Leaders in 45 activity sessions throughout the year

Outputs & Outcomes

 Engage 70 Groups from 45 Schools in National Curriculum- Linked Educational Activities: Working with teachers to agree the best programme content to support their wider educational aims and to serve the best interests of participating young people. Aiming to work directly with at least 2,000 young people this year.  Engage 84 Learners in a range of OCN-Accredited and non- Accredited Short Courses: Woodland Management, Grassland Management, National Vegetation Classification, Phase 1 Vegetation Survey, Geographical Information Systems, Drystone Walling, Hedge Laying.  Deliver 273 NVQ Units (192 at Level 2 and 81 at level 3): Ensuring candidate registration, support and appropriate assessment and moderation.  Engage young people in 1,600 volunteer-days of project activities in 2010/11: including ongoing work with at least 20 young people, mainly from disadvantaged backgrounds.

36  Engage 120 young people and 18 volunteer Group Leaders in Wildlife Watch Groups: Supporting and developing 4 Groups across the City, to enable delivery of 45 sessions during the year.

IMPROVING PUBLIC HEALTH

Plans for 2010/11

P&C and SWT have agreed the following for inclusion in the Wildlife Trust’s SLA Work Plan for 2010/11:

 Engage 150 Volunteers in Healthy and Active activities.  Engage 1,000 people in “Active Outdoors” activities in green & open spaces.  Deliver 56 “Cook & Eat” courses