PAPER B
Purpose
: For Information
Committee : AFTON MARSH MANAGEMENT ADVISORY
COMMITTEE
Date : 12 NOVEMBER 2002
Title : REPORT OF THE COUNTRYSIDE
SECTION ON MANAGEMENT WORK ON AFTON MARSH LOCAL NATURE RESERVE
REPORT OF
THE STRATEGIC DIRECTOR, CORPORATE AND ENVIRONMENT SERVICES
Since the
last meeting of the Management Committee on 19 March the work of the
Environment Agency has dominated the management approach to the Local Nature
Reserve. The work downstream of the old railway bridge and on the river stretch
leading to the old railway bridge from Afton Road in July and August has shown
that the water levels in the Council owned reserve are dependent on maintenance work taking place downstream. Once
the clearance work had taken place the water level dropped immediately. The
highway bridge at Afton Road did not prove to be an obstruction and remains the
responsibility of the Highways Department of the Council.
Once the
work was underway members of the public phoned the Countryside Section Office to
say that they were pleased with the results. I visited Mr Cooper in Afton Road,
one of the main critics of the previous management, and he monitored the
changes in water level on site. Mr Cooper was pleased with the results of the
work and has been keen to see further work take place.
The Afton
Marsh walk which was time tabled for the summer was postponed owing to the
delay over the maintenance work. Once the work was completed and the water
levels had fallen, Cllr. Lillywhite and
Mrs Rogerson walked around the North Marsh. I accompanied them on their visit
and it was decided to wait until the summer of 2003 to press ahead with the
opening of the path to the public. This results from the timetable imposed
because of the status of Freshwater Marshes as a Site of Special Scientific
Interest, ( SSSI ). The path has been closed to the public for almost a year
and in that time the vegetation has grown strongly making the walking path very
difficult to negotiate. The lower lying parts of the path will need to be built
up to form a good foundation for the surfacing material. The English Nature
Conservation Officer, Mr Andrew Gordon, has requested that we carry out a major
project in the North Marsh and a consequence of this is that the opening to the
public would have to be put back. The usual wording for the permission is that
work can take place A when conditions are right A and this would probably mean August and September in the case of the
North Marsh.