Duncan Down

Sunday Afternoon Walk

Last Sunday we went to Whitstable to have a look at another village green. This one is surrounded by housing and not that easy to find. It was land that was saved from development by a Village Green Application.

The following pictures show what can be achieved when the community work with their local Council (Canterbury) and the Kent Wildlife Trust. This site was awarded the Green Flag by Breathing Spaces.







Biodiversity

Access is from a number entrances from the housing estate. On entering you are immediately into countryside. There are hedgerows, thicket, a meadow for wild flowers, trees and a number of ponds. There is considerable evidence of wildlife as well as space for people to enjoy walks. I must congratulate The Friends of Duncan Down, Canterbury City Council and Kent Wildlife Trust for creating this haven within a built up area. Despite being within a mixed area of housing there would appear to be no evidence of vandalism and it is no doubt used and appreciated by local people.
Visit the website below for information on this site and others.

http://www.canterbury.gov.uk/main.cfm?objectid=1430

Who wants to help with our survival?

The big threat

Some of you may have seen the Panorama program a month or two ago. It showed the importance of bees and other insects and how they pollinate our plants to deliver us our fruit. It showed what would happen if this job was not done by these guys and how this would devastate our economy and the supply of food. We take these little fellows for granted and their numbers have decreased.

Don't get me wrong, I am no tree hugger but it makes sense that we should do all we can to encourage them.

Thanet and biodiversity

Unfortunately Thanet is not well off for open spaces and natural habitats. However moves are afoot to stem the decline and increase Biodiversity. Kent Wildlife Trust has been meeting with our council and looking for opportunities along our clifftops and parks etc. to be used to create biodiversity under the Living Landscapes project. Using volunteers it is hoped that sites will be managed by them to encourage more wild flowers and plants. This is a win win situation as the council gets to save the money they don't have to maintain these areas and they can be used to create natural beauty and biodiversity. The local community will be able to get involved in making Thanet a better place. No doubt this could be part of "The Big Society" which none of us really understand.

The land on Westbrook Promenade is one of these likely areas which are ideal. WASPS have been campaigning to save this piece of land from development and now there is the opportunity to create a valuable natural resource!

It is not certain when agreements will be in place but it would be good to know who is interested.

If you would like to help make this happen please let us know. You can be involved as little or as much as you like. Whether its hands on conservation, offering your knowledge of flora and fauna, administration or fund raising. You can contact us through the e-mail address link at top of this blog.

September Newsletter

What’s been going on?

Well there has been a lot going on and those that have e-mail have been updated. Where are we now? The site has been assessed by the Kent Wildlife Trust and these are some of their findings.
"The Westbrook site boundary falls within a Special Area of Conservation (SAC), a Special Protection Area (SPA) and a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI). As such it is protected under both European and national law. An assessment by Natural England (in 2009) found that the SSSI area was in an ‘unfavourable but recovering’ condition due to the disturbance effects of dog walkers on roosting and feeding birds.
The site’s grassland is also important as a ‘stepping stone’ for wildlife in an ecological corridor of chalk cliff and chalk grassland sites around the coast of Thanet. These support nationally rare invertebrate and plant species.
At present the site consists of rank grassland and chalk cliffs. A number of interesting plant species were found in small numbers and the site seems to be well-used by a range of bird species, provides an important feeding and roosting point for coastal birds and waders and a stopping-off point for migratory species.
The grassland is predominantly coastal and neutral in nature, but due to a lack of management, has become rank in places with the development of some scrub. Being on a thin chalky soil, it has the potential to support many of the flowers associated with chalk grassland and retains some of these species in places. Appropriate management would create a more flower-rich grassland – providing nectar for a wide range of bumblebee and butterfly species and providing cover for ground nesting (and roosting) birds"

Meeting TDC/WASPS
On 24 August, 4 of us met with Councillors Roger Latchford, Simon Moores and with Doug Brown, who is the TDC Major Development Officer.
We presented to them how we thought that this site could be used, if it was not handed over to a developer. The presentation was well received. The TDC believed that our aspirations for the site were similar to theirs.
The most attractive and viable option is to set up a project with the Kent Wildlife Trust to eco-manage the site and to plan its continued use to the benefit of the community. Consequently, we might be eligible for funding to help create biodiversity and, to this end, we would involve local volunteers and schools. A balance could be created between current users; for example, dog walkers and the wildlife. There is also a possibility of adding an additional bench (or two) bordering the promenade and, maybe, a picnic table (or two) bordering the car park. These would be vandal-proof and made from re-cycled materials. Part of the site would be managed to maximise wild flowers and, at the cliffs at the back, to set up some wood-piles and projects for schoolchildren to get hands-on conservation.
The TDC has taken this land off the Asset Disposal list to allow these ideas to be developed. It seems, therefore, to be appropriate to ask for a delay on the Village Green Application while negotiations and investigations into funding and partners take place. I believe that we could create something of real value to Westbrook and wildlife. Please send me your comments and/or offers to help to:
Email:waspsis@hotmail.co.uk