Public Meeting 8.11.12


Ø  200 people attended the Public Meeting at St. Andrew's and St. Mark's Junior School Hall, 8.11.12. Unfortunately I arrived for the Q & A session and missed the preceding discussion. Several well considered questions are worth sharing. 

An audience member enquired if the site could be worthy of Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) on account of the ten bat species recorded (see previous post). The features at Seething Wells are of borough (plants) or regional (bats) importance but not of National Importance. 

A site can only be notified as a SSSI if it contains elements deemed to be of National Importance. A SSSI is usually notified on account of a recognisable plant community, forming a specialised suite of habitats and this would not usually be one based on artificial substrate. This was one of the reasons that Ham Lands were never considered suitable, in spite of its diverse range of plants including orchids. Most of the site was infill from bomb rubble and latterly road construction. 

For example our nearest SSSI’s are notified as follows: 

Richmond Park: Acid grassland communities occur in extensive parts of the park the dominant grasses are brown bent; sheep’s fescue; and wavy hair-grass Deschampsia flexuosa. Additional interest is provided by the flora of the ditches and ponds where two species, scarce within Greater London, have been recorded, namely, alternate-flowered watermilfoil within a man-made pond, and lesser skullcap in damp places near several ponds. The ancient parkland and its associated trees supports a nationally significant assemblage of invertebrates. It is one of the prime sites in Britain for beetles associated with dead and decaying wood (lignicolous coleoptera) with over 200 species recorded. Two nationally restricted species occurring in Richmond Park are the click beetles Ampedus cardinalis and Procraerus tibialis, listed as Red Data Book Species. 

Wimbledon Common: Wimbledon Common supports the most extensive area of open, wet heath on acidic soil in Greater London. The site also contains a variety of other acidic heath and grassland communities reflecting the variations in geology, drainage and management. Associated with these habitats are a number of plants uncommon in the London area. The woodland and scrub support a locally important community of breeding birds, including green and great spotted woodpeckers, lesser whitethroat, nuthatch, and in most years, kestrel and lesser spotted woodpecker. 

However there is no reason why the ten bat species recorded locally cannot be a named feature on nearby nationally important habitat in the future.

A second questioner was unsatisfied by my  response regarding the recent deterioration of the natural and heritage features as well as a  lack of enforcement at the site (particularly lack of management, discard of road cones, multiplication of estate agent boards and general filth). 

Clearly, the owners of the site are responsible for the repairs to their property to ensure that the features are not damaged and to prevent the build up of litter. If the railings are in poor condition then the site owners need to address this as they are they  are after all .................the site owners!

The enforcement issue is a tricky one, when Thames Water owned the site they clearly had a management plan, which they adhered to and any departure from this was notified to the Borough (as the site is within  Conservation Area). It was management by necessity, expected standards and consensus. Our M.P. along with the former 'FoSW' group (including myself) met with Thames Water to discuss the management and expectations.

Some members of the FoSW met with the Kingston Society a few months ago, who said they would write to the owners to ask that the site be cleared of rubbish. If my front garden looked a tip then I am sure the council would be on my case. What would you suggest?

I did meet one person who said he was interested in waterworks and thought the development would save the waterworks but he didn't explain why. It is possible to make unedited comments below to explain your point of view but you will have to log in.

Comments

Post a Comment

Please share your thoughts

Most viewed

Heritage Trees part 2: street trees.

Image
  Oaks and maples Cambridge Gardens 2019   Street trees can often be the most beautiful objects in our streets. They are important to their communities as well as having environmental benefits. They are a living history in our landscape and can have particular connections. They may be fragments of a previous landscape incorporated into a modern street scene, such as the oaks at Cambridge Gardens once  part of the Duke of Cambridge's estate.  A great read with information on how to research street trees is a  History of Street Trees by Dr. M. Johnston.  London plane trees CRE 1976 Beech tree, Chesterton Terrace 1976 Studies show that the difference in local tree cover can reflect the various socio-economic groups. In Victorian times middle class areas were planted with many street trees or had higher quality front gardens than working class districts; now referred to as 'green equity'. It can be demonstrated by looking at old photos of the seven...
Read more

Fishing the Hogsmill

Image
Fly-fishing the Hogsmill   It is interesting to see the river from a different perspective: the Hogsmill is popular with anglers at this time of year; although it is unusual to see someone fly- fishing. A chub has just been caught on bread and it looks a good size. Trout are sometimes seen in the Hogsmill and can sit in the weir notch by the school. Our own Richard Jefferies in his book 'Nature Near London'  remarked on the Hogsmill trout as far up as Tolworth Hall Bridge (now the A240). chub    This fish was carefully unhooked and orientated in the swim where it soon finds it way - probably to the next father and son - sitting further upstream. These anglers have caught the 'ghost' koi within the last two weeks and appear to be the second successful pair to catch the pond-escapee in the last few days. Ghost koi are a British invention. They were produced by accident in the early 80’s when a farmer allowed a mirror carp and a koi to spawn together. The offspri...
Read more

Seething Wells: they've done it again

Image
The last day of May, I went to see if I could find the black redstart that had been widely reported, no luck but it will turn up again on one of the old buildings. The lush vegetation was looking beautiful between the Filter Beds at Seething Wells. I made a note of the breeding birds: goldfinches twinkling away, blue tits gathering food, sand martins flying over the FB's (only two this year unfortunately) moorhens and some scruffy little coot chicks entangled in the algal blooms.   Proud parents were showing off their four Canada chicks; they can cover a lot of ground in a short space of time they were soon feeding on water pepper and bistort gleaned from  the ziggerat-sided basins. A song thrush sang from the wharf alongside greenfinches as well as the seasonal chiff chaff; although this year all numbers are down, reflecting not only the topsy-turvy Spring but also the continued tumble in insect numbers (even seed eating birds are dependent on insects to feed their youn...
Read more