| September 2006 - Wivenhoe Wood Working Group On Tuesday 5th September members of the working group were joined by Richard Moulsen, Countryside Ranger and a number of prospective volunteers at the Rosabelle Avenue car park. Following some explanation by Richard regarding the practical aspects of volunteer groups, the group enjoyed a conducted tour around parts of the wood, heath and grassland that make up the River Colne Country Park. Highwoods Country Park has a system of volunteer groups. Volunteer Rangers visit all the areas under the Colchester Countryside Management jurisdiction at weekends for inspection, litter picking and conservation maintenance tasks. A regular volunteer group
meets at various locations on Mondays to undertake such tasks as brush and
scrub clearance, fence and path repair, boardwalk construction and
numerous other activities which contribute towards the sensitive
management of our varied conservation sites. Wivenhoe Town Council is establishing a similar group which will hopefully be able to become involved in looking after our local sites under the supervision of Colchester Council ranger service. Not only will this benefit our woodland and riverside areas, but it will hopefully encourage a greater understanding of why management of these sites is necessary if we are to keep them as they should be. It will also give volunteers the chance to enjoy working with a team in an outside environment. The knowledge gained about the countryside by volunteers will add to the satisfaction. There was an Action Plan
walk in the woods on Thursday 14th
September which explained what is planned to take place in the coming year
within the woodland area. It is intended to have a follow up meeting as soon as possible for all volunteers to discuss the first tasks and how we can proceed. Anyone interested in learning some practical skills sooner is welcome to join the Highwoods group at Highwoods Country Park on Mondays at 10AM or contact Highwoods on 01206 853588. Contacts for the local group are Councillors Frances Richards and Brian Sinclair. |