Attendence
Clarie Miles (Sustainable Southmead), Alistair Backwell (Friends of Blaise), Alex Dunn (SusWoT), Liz Viggars (SusWoT), Roger Moses (Friends of Badock’s Wood), Bryony Cole (Sea Mills and Coombe Dingle Climate Action Group), Zac Jones ((Sustainable Brentry and Henbury).
Apologies
Alice Clevely (Sustainable Brentry and Henbury)
Andrew Wootton (Sea Mills and Coombe Dingle Together)
Discussion
The River Fly Monitoring is progressing very well and there are now three registered sites.
The Balsam Bashing Plan was approved. It was agreed that we would attempt to eliminate all balsam in 2021 concentrating on the most severe infestations as well as generally working downstream. There would be a lot of work but by organising activities for as many different times as possible it may be possible to attract a large number of volunteers. There would also be a social aspect to the work and possible assistance from organisations offering volunteers such as businesses and the scouts. It was agreed to invite Theo Pike to next months meeting to talk about how the river could be made more attractive to wildlife without the need for significant
Actions
| Balsam Bashing | ||
| What | Who | Progress |
| Map of Catchment area | Liz | Map is being developed. Will show: bird restrictions, known balsam, progress, activities/ events, land ownership. etc. |
| Data mapping | Liz/All | By 1 May. Request information from all groups to allow mapping of all historic balsam, bird restrictions, land ownership and other features. |
| Plan | Alex | Draft Approved at meeting 31/4/21. This will be a living document on the website. Publish plan on Website. |
| Golf Club | Alex | Written to the golf club, awaiting reply. |
| Volunteer training | All groups. | All groups to identify volunteers for Parks Training. |
| Neil Green | Roger Moses | Roger has contacted Neil who will help us. Neil is an invasive plant expert. |
| Publicity | All Groups | Identify local media to use publicise Balsam Bashing. (A standard article will need to be written). Target is for people to start helping in June. |
| Volunteers | Alex | List of volunteers created and maintained. Volunteers needed to survey the catchment area and to kill the balsam. |
| Bird Issues | Roger and all Groups | Areas where protecting birds will delay balsam bashing need to be identified and mapped. Alastair and others will walk with Roger in their areas to map these areas. |
| Theo Pike | Alex | Contact Theo and invite to meeting on 11 May. |
Balsam Bashing Complete
- Liz has already had a Health & Safety plan covering this year’s Balsam Bashing events for the entire catchment passed by the council.
- Clarie, Alistair, Liz, Alex, Max, Di and Roger are already trained Council leaders. More would be great.
- Council insured for their land. SusWoT also has insurance.
River Fly Monitoring
- 3 sites are best – on the Hazel Brook, on the upper end of the Trym (Southmead), after the confluence of Trym and Hazel Brook (possibly by Coombe Dingle Car park
- Potential monitors: Clarie and Viki (Southmead), Tim and Groundforce (Hazel Brook), Lydia and Pete (Coombe Dingle)
- Monitoring to be done quarterly at identified sites.
- Monitoring will provide a) baseline for any further improvements Trout in the Tryma chive in river quality and b) baseline for identifying pollution incidents with the EA
| River Fly Monitoring | ||
| Clarie to give Tim, Alistair and Lydia details for Jessy Grant for training with BART | 9/3/21 | Clarie |
| Alistair to pass details to Groundforce | By 28/3/21 (lifting of this stage of lockdown, as training won’t happen till after lockdown) | Alistair Backwell |
| Trainees to meet with Pete to determine sites (Southmead/Badocks: Clarie & Viki, Blaise: Tim P, Confluence: Lydia K) | After training | Clarie M, Viki K, Tim P, Groundforce, Lydia K, Pete Coleman-Smith |
| Pete to register sites with BART | After above. | Pete Coleman-Smith |
Other Business:
- Wyck Beck (a tributary of Hazel Brook) comes from the railway line and can be a source of mineral pollution. EA put in a reedbed 5 years ago which has helped.
- There is an attenuation pond at the top of the Hazelbrook with a remotely controlled sluice.
- Next meeting it would be good to start the discussion on some of the bigger problems to tackle (for example, sewage and variable water flow)
| Other | ||
| Determine who owns and manages the sluice. | Tim Parkinson | 13/4/21 |
| Link with council and other bodies about bigger projects | Alistair Backwell | 13/4/21 |
| Read Wild Trout Trust report and University of Bristol reports | All interested | |
| Send FOBW Uni of Bristol report to Liz V for hosting on website | Roger Moses | Complete |
| Send BTO survey to Pete CS | Roger Moses | 13/4/21 |