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Ewelme Watercress Beds and Local Nature Reserve

Management Committee Newsletter No. 8

An important step forward has been taken by the Management Committee, and approved by the Chiltern Society Executive Council, to establish a Review Group to work on the revision of the Management Plan published in 2004. It has the following membership, independent of the Management Committee and representing knowledge of village history, flora and fauna, and heritage:- Gemma Benoliel, George Cannon, Dr Anne Millar, David Langston, David Pamington (from the Society Historic Buildings & Landscape Group) and Tom Stevenson. The Review Group will be chaired by John Griffin (Chairman of Crowmarsh Parish Council and Oxfordshire Parish Council representative on the Chilterns Conservation Board). A consultant, Sarah Coulson-Phillips, experienced in environmental management, has been appointed to work closely with the Review Group, with a brief to produce a 10 year management plan for Ewelme Watercress Beds Local Nature Reserve with detailed management prescriptions for five years.

The important elements of the revised plan are:

  • The management plan should define a long term shared vision for the site which, while taking account of the Chiltern Society’s legal obligations to its sponsors, balances the sometimes conflicting management objectives covering heritage, landscape, wildlife and education.
  • The production of the plan will need to involve wide-scale public consultation within the village and with the various parties which have interests in the site to attempt to obtain a consensus over the vision and the strategic direction of the management.
  • The plan should consider the impacts of the management and running of the site on village issues (parking, congestion etc)
  • The plan should include clear and realistic management prescriptions which are within the capability of the largely volunteer workforce.
  • The plan will define an annual work programme based on the management prescriptions.
  • The final say over the content of the plan will rest with the site owners (the Chiltern Society).
  • The Consultant working with the Review Group will be undertaking consultations within the village with the aim of completing the project by the end of March next year.

    In the meantime there is much work to be done on the regular work days on the first Saturday and third Wednesday of each month, starting at 9.30 a.m. until 12.30. New volunteers are very welcome. Just turn up and please bring your wellies. Until April next year, Guided Walks have replaced the Open Afternoons and take place on the first Sunday of the month, when visitors meet at 10.30 am at the Visitor Centre before going on a guided walk of the two sites.

    Robin Peirce, Chairman, Ewelme Watercress Beds Management Committee

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