Thanet Nature Conservation Umbrella Group

2. Minutes of the last meeting and matters arising. Thanks goes to Dr Alisdair Bruce for his press article published in the Isle of Thanet Gazette.

3. Alterations of dates for the future meetings
Although the Chairman booked the dates with the Walpole Bay Hotel well in advance double booking problems with other with the Civic Society group have arisen. This affects people who are members of both groups who have to miss one of the meetings. As a result the dates have been revised and are as follows The new dates for 2003 are as follows: June 12^th, August 7^th, September 25^th, November 27^th (AGM).

4. Presentation by Jon Shelton, Countryside Manager of the Kentish Stour Countryside Project. {The Work of the Project}

There are in general four types of landscape in Kent; Coastal, Downland, Flood plain and Urban Fringe the work of the Kentish Stour Countryside Project is mainly carried out in one of them, the flood plains although some urban fringe work is carried out around Ashford.

Thanet’s landscape is mostly coastal and urban fringe but is surrounded by flood plain on two sides. The area covered by the Project runs from Ashford, the Kent Downs AONB, through Canterbury and on to Sandwich. This Eastern area has not, so far, been prioritised due to funding allocations. With relation to Thanet the areas where The Kentish Stour Valley project would be most interested are the Chislet Marshes and the Ash levels.

The project has 8 major funders and these also make up the steering group. They are: Brett, The Countryside Agency, English Nature, The Environment Agency, Kent County Council, Canterbury City Council, Dover District Council and Ashford Borough Council. Some of the funding is gained through the Landfill Tax.

Conservation of the Rivers and Wetlands in this area allow for the targeting of work to encourage of otters. Otters are a key species according to the Kent Biodiversity Action Plan. This process involves contacting landowners in order to obtain agreement to work on the land and then to construct otter holts with the help of volunteers. These consist of a series of chambers fashioned from blocks and concrete pipes. Surprisingly these have proved to be more successful than holts made from more natural materials.

Volunteers who carryout work for the Project go out in either mid-week or weekend groups and achieve about 1,500 work days per year.

Other Key species for the Kent Biodiversity Action Plan are the Bittern. Here the Stour Valley Countryside Project has helped English Nature in the raising of water levels at Stodmarsh. Water Voles (on the Wingham River)

The Stour near Thanet would have had a higher water level and would originally have been grazed at this time there would have been water voles and aquatic plants which declined as drainage took place in the 50’s and 60’s. Other problems have been the ploughing up to the margins of the rivers and the use of fertilizers which cause the growth of duckweed. Further upstream in some areas it has been returned to grazing with the result of increased wildlife value. Another Key species for the Kent Biodiversity Action Plan is the Water Vole, these occur in high numbers in Stodmarsh. We are working with farmers through the Countryside Stewardship scheme. With this scheme, over a ten-year period, farmers are paid each year to manage their land for wildlife. Returning the land to pasture improves the landscape and increases wildlife value.

30 Barn Owl boxes have been set up along the river some with the aid of the Countryside Stewardship Scheme we know that some of them are being used by owls. Smaller work schemes such as fencing off the river bank has been carried out with the volunteers rather than contractors. Mostly this has been carried out to the West of Canterbury, this encourages taller vegetation and a more diverse habitat. Also quite a lot of tree planting and scrub planting has been carried out. Our work also includes work on ponds, there are more in the Ashford area, not so many in Thanet although there are some in the Ash area.

For Thanet the plateau tops are very good for agriculture and it is unlikely that farmers would want to manage for wildlife here. So it is more appropriate that the focus should be on the river valley and urban fringe areas to encourage wildlife. It is most likely that funding can be acquired through the Countryside Stewardship Scheme along the corridor from Sandwich to the Ash levels. The local nature reserves of Stodmarsh and Pegwell make an important contribution to the area as do the Ash levels and Chislet Marshes because of the wildlife value of their ditches.

the Kent Downs Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty by putting down Board walks and styles. In Kingswood Environmental Art has been encouraged and seats of many different and original styles have been commissioned near Challock.

We also promote walks and cycle routes and produce guides such as the one for the Crab and Winkle Way and the Elham Valley Way.

5. Chairman’s Report

The Chairman has written to both TDC and to KCC On the subject of he proposed plant at Richborough. Questions asked include who will monitor the plant and it’s emissions? Does either council or the EA have the power to close down the plant? What emergency procedures? What pollution control measures will be installed?

He also spoke to an officer at TDC who said that at this stage the proposal had been turned down due to lack of information about the detail of the proposal.

Nigel Collingwood’s concern about oil spillage in the Medway.

Nigel wrote to Sandy Bruce-Lockhart about this issue and was passed on to Simon Weston cabinet member for the environment at KCC. The problem seems to be that the Environment Agency, whose job it is to monitor rivers pollution, are not regulated by KCC. So if there response is poor, as in this case, then there is nothing KCC can do about it.

The chairman also wrote to DEFRA regarding Southern Water’s present control and future proposals for the discharge and treatment of sewage around Thanet. This was to endorse the appeal made by Foreness Environmental Action Group for DEFRA to call in the applications made by Southern Water for sewage discharge consent on 12^th March.

6. Any other Business

Thanet BeachWatch Press Release: Re September Volunteer Thanet Beach Clean Up.

3,136 items recorded and collected. These levels of beach litter are too high and present a threat to wildlife according to the Marine Conservation Society and Beachwatch. The annual Beachwatch clean up for 2003 will take place on the weekend of 20^th and 21^st of September. Volunteers for this or the Adopt-a Beach Campaign can obtain further details by ringing 01843 577672.

The meeting closed at 9pm

Next Meeting:12th June, 7:30pm
Speaker: Richard Moyes
Kent WildlifeTrust
"Standing Up for Thanet"
All meetings are open to anyone concerned for conservation in Thanet