Minutes of Steering Group Meeting
4th April 2024

Present: Martin Calvert (Chair), Adam & Carol Bull, Steve Jones-Blackett, David Miles Adrian Coltman, David Lumb, Theresa Williams, Emily Wilde, Jeremy Kitto, Geoff Holden, Claire Johnson, Martin Lewis.

Apologies for Absence Minutes of the Meeting Held 29th February 2024 Matters Arising Action Mornings Trustees Update Gledhow Lake - Phase 2 Update

Gledhow Lake - Phase 3 Update King's Award for Enterprise Green Fair - One Day Closure of Gledhow Valley Road Succession Plans for FGVW AOB Dates of Next Meetings

1. Apologies for Absence

None.

2. Minutes of the Meeting Held 29th February 2024

Agreed as a true record.

3. Matters Arising

• A "retirement" gift was given to Joan & Mervyn Clayton to show our appreciation for their huge contribution and dedication to the Group over many years. Joan & Mervyn passed on their thanks to the Group for the gift voucher.

4. Action Mornings

• Sunday 10 March 2024
  Postponed due to lack of supervisors.
• Sunday 14 April 2024
  Work will include clearing and painting the bath house railings, footpath clearing, step clearing, cutting back the ivy, tidying up the fallen trees and litter picking.
  Volunteers to meet at the bath house on Gledhow Valley Road.
• Sunday 12 May 2024
  Work will include tidying up and finishing off the planting, removal of some camping site rubbish near the crossroads and metal dumped in the lake. There will also be some hedging to finish off after Gledhow Primary School has done some of the planting.

5. Trustees Update

• The Trustee meeting will be held later this month. The Annual Trustees Report is being prepared. A date will also be agreed for the FGVW AGM.

6. Gledhow Lake - Phase 2 Update

The wetland areas will be planted up next week.

The Beck Pasture gate post has been completed.

Some path work has been completed using wooden pallets but it is not level so could cause accessibility problems. Extra work is needed to level it out.

The new fascines are being put in. There are 400 of them and work should be completed next week.

There are some issues with the "leaky dams" and there is a meeting with Flood Risk Management next week to discuss it.

There was a proposal to put up some information to explain why wetland areas are important, which was agreed by the Group.

There has been a £1,000 additional cost to the Group due to vandalism during the Phase 2 project. This included additional work and repairs due to the removal of leaky dams and damage to pond liners.

The plan to divert water to the far channel to help spread out the silt is not working as expected. There is a meeting with Groundworks next week and Steve agreed to send them an e-mail to in advance to explain what was happening and why there was a problem. The flow dynamics is not working as expected and it is hoped Groundworks can provide a solution.

The Group agreed to re-visit the plans in a year's time so they could assess the work when the planting was establish and bedded in.

7. Gledhow Lake - Phase 3 Update

The plan is to clear the bamboo and knotweed near the junction of Gledhow Valley Road and Gledhow Lane. Funding applications and the consent form to Leeds City Council Flood Risk Management (FRM) to carry out the work were submitted. The funding has been confirmed.

The West Yorkshire Bat Group would like to do a bat survey in the woods over several months with the first one taking place on 30th April. Adam to send out a mailing asking for volunteers to help with the survey.

8. King's Award for Enterprise

Cllr's Jane Dowson and Lisa Martin have decided to nominate FGVW for the King's Award for Community Service national award. The Group agreed to submit an application, due between June and September.

9. Green Fair - One Day Closure of Gledhow Valley Road

The event will take place on Sunday 14th July 2024.

Two different closure letters have been agreed for residents living in the centre of the road closures and for those who live in the surrounding streets. David M circulated a copy of the letters at the meeting. David M and Adrian have agreed to deliver the letters and speak to residents who are most affected on Gledhow Valley Road on Saturday. The letters for those in the surrounding area need to be printed and delivered next week. A poster has also been drafted that needs to be printed when completed.

The Group has agreed to provide £600 of extra funding for the event. £5K has been agreed with Climate Action.

On the day, the Group will be getting people's views on the work in the woods and future projects. We are also working with Leeds Beckett University. Climate Action Leeds also want to do a case study of the event afterwards to encourage other groups to do similar activities. Leeds University is also making a contribution to the day.

Stalls will be on the FunDay field. There will be events on Gledhow Valley Road but no stalls. There is an ongoing discussion about having independent traders that have a Green theme.

The Group are asking for volunteers to help on the day. There was a suggestion to contact Leeds Culture who still have a pool of volunteers for other events.

10. Succession Plans for FGVW

Succession plans for FGVW Action Morning management and the Steering Group are a cause for concern.

Action Mornings need a minimum amount of supervisors for safe working. The event in July could be a vehicle to recruit if we provide job descriptions and skills needed to potential recruits.

There was an acknowledgement that we need to attract a younger generation of volunteers. David L is looking at approaching Universities and graduates in the area. He also suggested looking to local companies for volunteers at the Action Mornings.

Planting takes a long time to get established so the only way to continue the long term sustainability of the woods is to bring in new and younger people over time.

Anyone is welcome to put themselves forward as a trustee, supervisor or one of the other key roles.

11. AOB

• Reimbursement for hedging costs of £2,700 has been agreed by The Tree Council.
• Claire has volunteered to help do refreshments at the Action Mornings.
• Water monitoring: A workshops with Leeds and York Universities will take place in Spring to assess the data. It is hoped the Citizen Science water quality monitoring projects will be able to provide consistency across Yorkshire and funding for better kits to do the water testing. Sending E. coli kits to Burton on Trent is not ideal as it restricts when the water samples can be taken. If the Universities are successful then we hope to be able to have self sampling kits. There is also a new team at Yorkshire Water that we can approach to arrange a meeting. Some other local groups have also been in contact with David M and are interested in joining up.
• Sticklebacks have been spotted in the lake.
• Adrian has repaired some of the paths and a handrail. If anyone spots any work that needs doing please let Adrian know.
• The Group agreed that Adrian could apply for the Group to be part of the Open Heritage Days and Chapel Allerton Arts Festival again this year.
• It was agreed to acknowledge Trevor & Diane Kitto's work for the Group.
• We reached the final two projects nominated nationally for the prestigious Ashden Award for UK climate innovation. Unfortunately, we did not win but we can list ourselves as having been shortlisted. This was a global award and the Group and Sweco were really pleased that we reached the finals.
• Next to the gas pumping station along Gledhow Valley Road there is an information board on the "History and wildlife of Gledhow Beck". It was raised that the map and some of the information is wrong in relation to the beck's route before it arrives at Gledhow Valley, especially where it is suggested that the beck flows (uphill!) alongside King's Lane.

12. Dates of Next Meetings (Provisional)

• Action Morning - Sun 14 Apr 2024
• Steering Group Meeting - Thu 2 May2024
• Action Morning - Sun 12 May 2024
• Action Morning - Sun 16 Jun 2024