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Minutes of Core Group Meeting
6th February 2017

Present: Information not available.

  1. Apologies for Absence
  2. Minutes of the Meeting Held 4th January 2017
  3. Matters Arising
  4. Correspondence
  5. Action Mornings
  6. FGVW Field
  7. Lake Action Group (LAG)
  1. Kay's Field report
  2. Woodland Trust Grant
  3. AGM - Nomination of Trustees
  4. FGVW Membership
  5. AOB
  6. Dates of Next Meetings

1. Apologies for Absence

Martin Calvert, Steve Jones-Blackett, Adam & Carol Bull, Steve Johns, Malcolm Robertson.

2. Minutes of the Meeting Held 4th January 2017

Agreed as a true record.

3. Matters Arising

  • Extra fencing for the bath house has arrived and is awaiting installation. This will be used to extend existing fencing and to give better protection from vandals.

4. Correspondence

  • We received an e-mail from REAP - this will be dealt with in AOB.
  • We received a phone call from Murty (Yorkshire Water) - this will be dealt with in AOB.

5. Action Mornings

  • Sunday 8 January 2017
    We had 37 volunteers. Old fencing was taken down at the front of the new field and a temporary fence installed. Barbed wire was cut off from old fencing as it very dangerous to handle. Bushes were cut back to find the fence line. The valley was litter picked, with dumped rubbish from Hilda's Wood and above the lake collected.

Future Action Mornings

Proposed dates and tasks (subject to change):

  • Sunday 12 February 2017
    We will continue field clearing field, tidy verges and clear the path from the new field to Gledhow Lane. Wire fencing will be installed at the top of the field. There will also be general litter picking. Please meet on Gledhow Valley Road at the newly acquired field.
  • Saturday 11 March 2017
  • Sunday 23 April 2017
  • Sunday 14 May 2017

6. FGVW Field

John Mudd from J.M. Tree Services came and cut back certain bushes and tree branches that overhung the new field. This was done to clear the edges of the field to make room for the new fencing.

Lots of extra work has been done over the last few weeks. Nearly all timber and large logs have been removed. A drain cover has been discovered on the right hand side and what looks like a spring coming in from Mr Light's land next door. The water is now going towards the drain and underground. Land around this area is very boggy but may dry out now the water has been redirected.

Legacy Habitat Management have now installed new fencing to 3 sides of the field. They have done a great job and have only charged for materials and not labour. It took 3 days to complete. We are now looking at the cost of planting quality hedgerows around the field. David has applied to Tesco for funds for hedging project and feels there is a high likelihood of success as very few groups apply.

The new field will need cutting and scything at some point. Legacy Habitat Management has machinery that can do this. Martin will ask him if he can do this for us as well as look to use the stump grinder to remove existing stumps on the fence line.

The group discussed having a horse on the field. The field is very boggy and wet at the moment as well as cold and icy during winter with no shelter. In summer the horse may eat flowers in field and defeat our objectives. The group felt that we should not have a horse on it at this stage but leave it for another year.

7. Lake Action Group (LAG)

The LAG presented an update on their work so far and ideas. They have identified 5 main areas for their work and are actively working with outside partners to develop their ideas. They are looking to draw up an initial brief that would cost approximately £2,950. This would have detailed maps/priorities and expertise required. Funding for this is being sought from a range of sources.

The Core Group supported this work and agreed that if there was a small shortfall in raising the funds for this report then FGVW trustees could make it up from FGVW funds. Parks and Countryside have indicted at the end of the year there may be some money left to help with the project as well.

8. Kay's Field report

Kay was thanked for her super ecology report on the new field. It was very detailed with lots of good thinking points for the field and it's future management. It was decided that we should watch and wait this year and see what grows and flowers, but in some areas we may put some plant plugs in. At some point this spring the field will need cutting.

9. Woodland Trust Grant

Martin met with Justin and is trying to get 3 quotes for the work. There will be a public meeting regarding the work in the Autumn as well as a consultation at the FunDay. Only dangerous or dying trees will be chosen for the scheme.

10. AGM - Nomination of Trustees

Core Group members were encouraged to think about becoming trustees. The AGM is in fact a General Meeting and will be last act of old FGVW. There will be election of trustees and a financial report up to that date. Adam will be commissioned to update the website to reflect the change of status of the group.

11. FGVW Membership

Geoff Holden has stepped down as Membership Secretary. A volunteer is needed to do the job. There are currently 14 members of which 4 are life members.

12. AOB

  • Finance update - £4771.75. This does not include the Aviva grant. Legacy Habitat Management have been paid.
  • Martin and Adrian went to see Mr Light the next door neighbour to our field the meeting went well with positive response to the work we are doing.
  • Access to the field - it was decided to restrict access to Core Group members only and they could ask for the key from Mervyn. If in the field to work/visit you must wear a high viz jacket/vest at all times.
  • Kay will be bring 2 groups to visit field in July, one from Bradford Botany Group and the other Leeds Naturalists.
  • Meanwood Waitrose is accepting votes for FGVW to receive a grant, so please get down there to support!
  • David suggested the need to count the number of people who use the valley to support grant applications in the future. It was suggested that we do a quick questionnaire on valley usage at the FunDay. Adrian agreed to follow this up.
  • FunDay - Steve updated group about bands for the Sunday via e-mail. A bookstall will run again this year so please save CDs, DVDs, books and jigsaws .
  • Swans - Only one cygnet is left. Avril and Steve will attempt to capture it and take it to Roundhay Lake to rejoin the other swans. There are concerns that there is not enough food at Gledhow Valley Lake for them.
  • Murty Shah from Yorkshire Water rings Mervyn every month to update him on surface drain from the Brakenwoods estate. They have found 10 cross connections and believe there may be many more. Residents are given 30 days to correct the issue, if they do not do so then the matter is passed on to the Environment Agency who will take action if they have not complied.
  • REAP - Would FGVW like to share their stall in March to sell merchandise and to let people know about the field? Would someone like to do display boards of progress - Jenny? Jen to do stall others to help?

13. Dates of Next Meetings

  • Action Morning - Sun 12 February 2017
  • Core Group Meeting - Mon 6 March 2017 (Gledhow Sports & Social Club)
  • Action Morning - Sat 11 March 2017
  • General Meeting - Fri 24 March 2017 (The Three Hulats, Harrogate Road)
  • Core Group Meeting - Mon 17 April 2017 (Gledhow Sports & Social Club)
  • Action Morning - Sun 23 April 2017
  • Core Group Meeting - Mon 8 May 2017 (Gledhow Sports & Social Club)
  • Action Morning - Sun 14 May 2017
  • Chapel Allerton Open Gardens Event - Sun 11 June 2017 (provisional)
  • FGVW FunDay - Sat 17 June 2017 (provisional)

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