Amport Parish CouncilMeetings are normally held in Amport School at 7:45pm on the 3rd Monday of each month. Members of the public are always welcome. The next meeting is on Monday 15th March 2010 at 7.45 pm. at the Weyhill Fairground Hall (agenda...) Members
Mr Ian Morrison (Chairman) Parish Council MinutesOfficial minutes recorded by the Parish Clerk - Amport
Fen Update - June 2009
Amport residents will have noticed that much work was carried out on Amport Fen in the spring (before the nesting season). A report on the current situation may therefore be of interest. The Fen was given to the Parish Council in 2001 by the Trustees of the Amport Village Hall Charitable Trust to be held in perpetuity as a small wildlife reserve with path access and seats for public use. It was specifically not an extension of the Village Green. The Parish Council then asked the Hampshire Wildlife Trust for advice and the Trust conducted a habitat survey with two principal objectives:
and recommended two areas for work:
A
great deal of work has been done in the last six or seven years and the results
have been impressive. The Fen is
now rich in biodiversity and in particular it provides a habitat for species
such as kingfishers, water voles, song birds, butterflies and even the elusive
otter. In
early 2009, Ashley Smith, who is now a Parish Councillor, kindly agreed to take
over the management of the site. This
is a most significant step forward as the Fen is now looked after by real
experts from the Hawk Conservancy and with Ashley’s experienced guidance, the
Parish Council consider that it is now time to move on to the second of the
conditions which the Village Hall Trust asked for, namely, making the Fen
accessible for Amport people. Future
works will therefore have the following objectives:
Much
of this work was done earlier this year. In
particular the millstream was cleared, the trees have been cut and pollarded and
nesting boxes have been put in place. Future
works, hopefully this winter, will include the creation of a path, the
installation of picnic tables and possibly the installation of a video camera in
a nesting box. Some
of this work will depend on grants but the Hawk Conservancy staff are experts in
this area and the Parish Council is optimistic that funding will be available.
There will of course be an annual programme of routine maintenance work. In
summary, the Fen is now expertly managed. It
is well on the way to becoming a nature reserve the Parish can be proud of, with
a tranquil space providing access for all and most importantly it is an area
that will encourage children to become the future custodians of the Fen. Village Design Statement (final version - Feb 2008)Strouds Field Update (Feb 2006)
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