PAPER B

                                                                                                          Purpose : For Information

Committee :    BEMBRIDGE AND BRADING DOWN MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE

Date :              24 OCTOBER 2002

Title :              REPORT OF THE COUNTRYSIDE SECTION ON MANAGEMENT WORK ON BRADING DOWN

REPORT OF THE STRATEGIC DIRECTOR OF CORPORATE AND ENVIRONMENT SERVICES

Since the last meeting of the Bembridge and Brading Down Management Committee on 14 February 2002, the Committee has been invited to two outdoor meetings. The annual walk was due to take place on 6 June 2002 but was postponed after a brief site discussion. The Committee reconvened on 28 June for a guided walk around Bembridge Fort led by the National Trust Property Manager, Tony Tutton. The walk around Bembridge Fort was an opportunity for members of the Committee to view the latest management work and to hear the National Trust proposals for opening the fort to the visiting public. Tony Tutton took the members deep into lower casemates to look at the management work taking place. All present agreed that the National Trust work should be supported and information, when made more widely available, would be passed on.

Prior to the June meeting few problems had been reported. The cutting of the car park areas took place as previously agreed and fence repair, litter clearance and gate repair took place. Ragwort was cleared with the help of a large group of volunteers. The major work of the past year was a good investment with a much more scattered spread of infestation. The sheep flock was taken off at the end of March. There were some casualties but again, these were dealt with quickly. Few problems with dog owners were found.

In July, the tragic death of the Danish student Camilla Peterson resulted in an international focus on Brading Down. The Countryside Section of the Council were involved in providing assistance to the Police. The detailed analysis of the investigation meant that the rubbish collected over the previous week was taken away by officers from our work base at Parkhurst. The Police Caravan set up on Brading Down acted as a control point and the fingertip search involved some clearance of the surrounding vegetation.

Since July the management work has concentrated on cutting of the grass areas. The area above Little Jane’s Quarry has been flail cut and more work will take place during the winter. Mr Proctor has been very supportive about the clearance work which was started on the field below Upper Adgestone Road. Further work will take place on this area later in the year.

Contact Point : Bob Edney, Countryside Officer, F 823890

                                                                                 M J A FISHER

                                                                              Strategic Director

                                                               Corporate and Environment Services