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Minutes of the Annual General Meeting of Walberton Action Group
Held at 7.30 on 20 November 2006 at Walberton Pavilion
1. Those present: 23 people were present including officers and committee. Apologies: Mike Tristram, Emily Allison, Don Carter, Norman Dingemans, Christine Llewellyn, Robert Baly, Andy Blumer, Wendy Coen.
2. Membership. The certified list of members was approved. An attendance list was circulated. ET will update the membership list. Membership is free but a voluntary subscription of £5 per year is suggested.
3. Minutes of last year’s meeting. These were approved and there were no matters arising.
4. Treasurer’s report. We now have £1016.93 in the bank, whereas last year the total was £799.88. Last year £250 had been received in small grants, this year £650. The main expense was the insurance (£190.63) which was provided by BTCV. The Landscape Project which received a grant from SITA (the Landfill Tax) is accounted for separately as no money goes into WAG’s account. The accounts have been audited by Alan Crook. A vote of thanks to him was agreed and we will also give him a tape called ‘The wit of cricket’.
5. Chairman’s report. PB’s report had been circulated. Further points:
- The Landscape Project organised by Mike Tristram was finished this year. It included planting trees and new hedges all over the parish, flint wall mending, pond surveys and pond clearance.
- The theft of a large number of capping bricks from the wall in Yapton Lane (restored as part of the Landscape Project) was a blow. [The latest news is that the police have recovered at least some of these and we may get them back. The best solution is not yet clear but a meeting of the Conservation Committee on 19 Dec will decide what to do next.]
- The Churchyard Flora Survey: the data needs analysing, to compare with what species were found 5 years ago and evaluate the new management regime. It is clear that several new plants were found.
- Eyesores and Icons. This survey for South Downs Joint Committee was almost finished. ET had made a display and invited further suggestions. John Mills suggested the Pigeon House at Pigeon House Farm as an icon.
- John Knight had done more moth trapping in Walberton churchyard and found 22 species, including two migrants.
- The Parish Map book, A Sense of Place, was now published. Available at £18 from David Morton of Barrack Row (published price is £35). The Walberton Parish Map is featured.
6. Future programme.
- Flint walls: a talk on these was given by Brian Dawson hosted jointly by the History Group and WAG. Newton Coen has agreed to lead a survey to map all those in the Parish, leading to a grant application to look after those in worst condition.
- Walberton Place Gates; a plan for the restoration and rehanging of the broken down metal gates at the Nursing Home entrance in Yapton Lane, also restoring the flint and brick gate piers with historic graffiti, is being put together led by Peter Hatley. The gap for traffic would be widened by a metre, the roadway would be realigned into the centre and metal bollards would protect the gate piers and gates (in a permanently open position).
- Wildflower walk leaflet: Jan Wood has nearly finished writing this, ET is adding a few points of local history. Publication will be next year.
Other points:
- Madonna Pond: there is some regrowth of Parrot Feather which was removed in the Landscape Project. Paul Humphrey will deal with the regrowth. Trees leaning into the pond are not seen as a problem.
- Alan Rollinson suggested we should try and record all the work of the village blacksmith that still exists. Apparently it has a leaf trademark. It would be good to know if he made the metal gates in Yapton Lane. Mike Roddam would be the person to ask.
7. Elections.
The officers and the committee were re-elected (Peter Brown as Chairman; Emma Tristram as Secretary; Martin Bond as Treasurer; Geoff Alder, John Bushrod, Don Carter, Newton Coen, Peter Hatley, John Heathcote, Christine Lewellyn, Mike Tristram, Jan Wood as committee members).
TALK BY TONY WHITBREAD
The business of the meeting was followed by a very interesting talk by Tony Whitbread, head of the Sussex Wildlife Trust, on alien species of plants and animals. There was competition for particular ecological niches so an introduced species using the same niche could drive out a native species. But he felt scares about certain species were an over-reaction – for instance, sycamore, though a non-native in English woodland, seldom reached the canopy and might not take over if left, in spite of the large number of seedlings. The threat to the native English bluebell from the Spanish variety caused concern – especially as the Spanish kind is scentless, whereas the English kind with its sweet smell is an icon of our woodland. But he felt the two kinds might find two slightly different niches and could then co-exist. The worst threat to other species was Homo sapiens himself.