<p> 9th Annual General Meeting of the Nettleham Woodland Trust</p><p>Chairman’s Report</p><p>This report covers the twelve months since the previous AGM in May 2016. It is written at the end of another good year for NWT. </p><p>1. Events in 2015-2016: </p><p>The priority in 2015-2016 was again consolidation rather then expansion. We have not gone looking for new planting projects and none have been suggested. The emphasis has been on maintenance, improvement and enjoying what we have done in the last nine and a half years</p><p>Public engagement: </p><p>Summer 2015: Nettleham Scouts installed five duck houses on an island in the Coop Lake in a project initiated by Mark Lawrence. So far we have no reports of any nesting activity IN them, but coots and greylag geese are nesting elsewhere in the area; Summer 2015: The Chairman was contacted by a Welton-based member of Butterfly Conservation and we now receive occasional reports of the abundant butterfly and moth population in the Ashing Lane Nature Reserve</p><p>August 2015: John Law of the South Lincolnshire and Rutland Local Access Forum made a first contact which has now led to the production of a special map of the AAA path. Other accessibility improvements are imminent;</p><p>Autumn 2015: The Book of Oaks was carved, brought into the South Glade at Monks Wood and unveiled by the Dean of Lincoln Cathedral on 7th November. This ceremony was the culmination of two years collaboration. The stone recognizes the pledge by NWT to donate 100 oaks for the cathedral roof a century or two from now</p><p>Spring 2016: we now have a new website and two flyers for the wider community to access and use;</p><p>March 2016: Robyn Bright led a Facebook training session for other committee members. Her success was soon apparent with some enthusiastic newcomers going on line. </p><p>On the road: </p><p>In May 2016, Rod Newborough produced a lovely display for the Nettleham Methodists’ Flower Festival at which about 25 local groups were represented </p><p>Hosting: </p><p>1 22nd June 2015: the Chairman hosted teachers from Lincoln area schools for a workshop on ‘Water’ as part of a series in the Global Learning Programme. Discussion centred on sustainability and outdoor education. Predictably the session was accompanied by torrential rain. August: Ursula Lidbetter, CEO of the Coop, went for an early morning walk around the Ashing Lane Nature Reserve with Rod and Chris to look at progress. Ursula and the Community team at the Coop would like Dunholme store to feature NWT</p><p>Behind the scenes: </p><p>PC Wood, Nettleham: planted in 2008, it is growing well Bishops’ Meadow, Nettleham: this is a long and unpleasant story. The Parish Council took responsibility for the area in the middle of 2015 as planned because LWT does not have the resources to maintain it. There had already been negative comments about the size and health of the seven memorial trees we had recommended and the state of the hay meadow. Late in 2015 it was reported that two small commemorative copses of nine trees south of the path had been removed by a professional contractor and replaced by a smaller number of trees. The Parish Council justified this by saying that the copses had not been authorized and they were growing badly. They also stated that a cost effective maintenance regime was required to provide value for money. </p><p>Increasingly acrimonious dialogues took place in January and February between the Chairman, the Clerk to the Parish Council and a representative of one of the groups which had donated the copses. The Parish Council declined to respond in detail to some of the Chairman’s specific questions about the decision-making process prior to the destruction of the copses, and in essence blamed NWT for the situation. At this point, having consulted Directors, the Chairman decided that there were limits to how much more time, physical and emotional energy he could put into this David and Goliath situation on behalf of NWT and has had no further correspondence with the Parish Council. </p><p>The Chairman has resolved that as long as he is Chairman, NWT will not engage with Nettleham Parish Council on any matter and will concentrate on the Ashing Lane Nature Reserve. This view has been endorsed by the Committee.</p><p>One NWT Trustee has continued to pursue aspects of the matter in a private capacity with a letter to Nettleham News which has been printed in the May 2016 edition (p15) together with a brief comment from the Parish Council (p9)</p><p>Ashing Lane – Monks Wood: The Lincoln Conservation Group has been helpful with several working visits in the last year. Removal of guards, drainage and spreading woodchip have been priorities;</p><p>Ashing Lane - All Abilities Area: at the 2015 AGM I mentioned the need to “repair the leak in the pond. It seems as if this might have been successful, but the 2016 AGM will be a better moment to report this”. At one glorious moment in the mid-winter, after months of rain, the water table was high and the pond was full. It has dropped since then. New benches/seats and a picnic table have been installed along the AAA. These were funded by the Dulverton Trust, a source of grants identified and successfully pursued by Susie Mendel. </p><p>Ashing Lane – Coop Wood: mostly planted in 2012, it is growing well Equipment and resources: we have two new paper resources, the Coop flyer with a map crafted by Su Colman and the South Lincolnshire and Rutland Local Access Forum leaflet showing the AAA paths</p><p>2 Committee: members have continued to enjoy the reduction of meetings to one every two months. Much committee work is done by email, but major decisions are face-to-face</p><p>2. Looking into 2016-2017: </p><p>The continuing consolidation of the Ashing Lane Nature Reserve is now our sole project, and will remain so without a major influx of active supporters and Committee members. On the ground, the further development of the AAA area with improved drainage of the surfaced path and the addition of a small wildflower meadow is likely to be the most conspicuous change to report to the 10th AGM in May 2017. However, life brings the unexpected and so nothing can ever be ruled out </p><p>Readers of this report will probably already know that NWT entered the Lincolnshire Environmental Awards (LEA) in 2009 and 2013 with considerable success. In the medium term, it should be possible to submit an entry in 2017 focused on the flora and fauna of the ALNR, and how we have recorded its evolution over several years. While this entry will lack the glamour of a sparkling new project, it is important to demonstrate sustainability, long-term commitment and the changing biodiversity of the area to the LEA organisers and the wider public;</p><p>3. Mentioned in dispatches: 3.1 Sustaining NWT: I must highlight the following organisations, supporters and friends for their active support since the May 2015 AGM: Grant aid and sponsorship: - The Forestry Commission for on-going financial support through the annual Farm Woodlands Payments of £1700 for Monks Wood to 2024, and £400 for Coop Wood to 2027 - Lincolnshire Co-operative Society, notably Richard Whittaker, for unflinching financial support, most recently in organizing and funding the new flyer with considerable input from NWT stalwarts, especially Su Colman who drew the map; - The Dulverton Trust, for a grant of £2000 for benches and a picnic table in the AAA; - Waitrose, for a donation of £283 from the Lincoln store; In kind: - Charles Pickering of Ashlin Farm, a really good neighbour; - John Carcass of Woodpecker Tree Services for woodchip for paths; In manpower and/or time and/or technical advice and support: - Micky Watson, Lincolnshire Wildlife Trust voluntary warden for sightings and advice; - Mark Johnson, photographer, for sightings; - Nigel Kingston, Nettleham News; - Maurice Nauta and Brian Chapman, RSPB, for monthly bird surveys which are then posted on the website; - PCSO 2297 Ange Law for advice;</p><p>3 - Richard Davidson, Julian Bartup, Jonathan Hill and Lincoln Conservation Group volunteers. 6.2 People: Charitable trusts are totally dependent on a small band of brothers and sisters who give freely of their time. Nettleham Woodland Trust is no exception here. I wrote about the importance of volunteers at length in my report to the 8th AGM in May 2015. Nothing has changed. Without the graft and dedication of volunteers, groups like NWT would not exist and the community-enriching projects such as PC Wood and the Ashing Lane Nature Reserve simply would not exist. In 2015-2016 the Committee was: - Chairman: Chris Williams - Secretary: vacancy - Treasurer: Julia Ambrose - Woodland Adviser: Rod Newborough - Land & Business Adviser: Dennis Tate - Minutes Secretary: Leticia Hamilton (to March 2016), Susie Mendel (to present) - Website: Michael Denton (to Spring 2016), Su Colman (to present) - Child Protection and Scouts Liaison: Mark Lawrence (to May 2016) - General member and Facebook Tutor: Robyn Bright, now at Durham University; - General member: Sara Bright Outside the committee - Grants Officer: Susie Mendel - Supporters Secretary: Elizabeth Hipgrave - Willow Warden: Su Colman I would like to pay particular tribute to Mike Denton and Mark Lawrence who have now stepped down from the Committee after nearly a decade for reasons relating to pressures at work. Both made significant contributions in those early years, Mike with the website and Mark with engagement with the scouts including some of those thorny issues of child protection and risk assessment. Both are essentially problem-solvers and thrived on practical matters. They will be missed. Leticia Hamilton has stepped down from NWT and has been thanked for her contribution over the years including a good stint as Minutes Secretary. In recent months Su Colman has taken over and redesigned the website, while Susie has become Minutes Secretary for which I am very grateful. Both have been and are excellent in these new roles. However, we still have no Secretary and really do need three or four more people to join the Committee to do as much or as little as they are able. This will allow us to ensure that we both maintain some impetus and perhaps give some new recruits the experience and confidence to take on more ‘senior’ responsibilities in due course 4.3 To conclude Things are generally going well. Please continue to enjoy what has been achieved by NWT Chris Williams Chairman 23rd May 2016</p><p>4 5</p>