7th April 2025 - Chairman's Report

A very warm welcome to you all to our AGM

It is great to be welcoming you all to our AGM. Thank you for coming and thank you for your unfailing support. Many of you have been faithful and generous members over many years – we know how very fortunate we are!

This time last year we were celebrating the completion of our most ambitious ever project to replace the boardwalk and dipping platform. We were amazed to have achieved such outstanding results but it had been a heartwarming experience for the Management Committee to feel that our work in developing and maintaining the Wildlife Area has been recognised and supported. You all, as members, played your part too.

2024 has felt very quiet in comparison but sometimes quiet is good and enables us to focus on some more of the basics on our 14 acre site! Needless to say, I am glad to report that the new boardwalk and pond-dipping platform have survived being flooded several times since October 2023 and are still looking as robust and beautiful as ever!

We are pleased to have been able to add a small but important postscript to the boardwalk project by designing and constructing a more gradual gradient down to the pond from the main path above. We never forget our responsibility to keep every part accessible to all. We had a small sum left from our fundraising and again Steve Hull and Nigel Emmerson have done the honours. Nigel has also created two benches using wood from a tree in the Wildlife Area as the seats and also the leftover boardwalk supports as the legs. I hope you are impressed by our recycling efforts! We have also used this precious opportunity to remember our dear friend and Treasurer Julie Emmerson with a small plaque in her memory. It is still so very hard for us all as Julie was such a knowledgeable and vital member of our Management Committee who had environmental facts and details at her fingertips but we feel that she would approve of the chance of sitting, reflecting and enjoying the delights of the pond and wetland area.

Our maintenance work on site never ceases and we continue to be indebted to our hard-working Site Manager, Nigel Emmerson who keeps a very thorough and watchful eye on every aspect of the Wildlife Area. As a very small charity trying to fight above its weight with 14 acres to manage, our Management Committee has only limited financial resources so we really couldn’t achieve all we do without our partnerships and willing volunteers. Nigel has continued to be helped by loyal volunteers – mainly this year the small team of staff from our main partners, Network Rail, on their charity days supplemented by local scout groups and a local team of volunteers from Surrey Choices Woking who have done excellent work on several occasions. I would like to particularly thank Nigel who quietly and v efficiently does a whole host of other jobs, amongst them welcoming various groups of cubs, scouts and brownies and also acting as a mentor to teenagers doing their D of E awards. Thank you Nigel.

During the year, we were approached by David Elliott who works as a Lead Ranger for the National Trust. He has been taking a lead in a project which is seeking to reintroduce the almost extinct Water Voles across the River Wey catchment. One of the main reasons for the disappearance of this species, and the problems it causes for a whole host of other waterlife, is the presence of the non-native and highly invasive North American Mink. The eradication of the Mink has already been very successful but there have been gaps in the catchment including our part of the Hoe Stream. Following careful thought, the Management Committee agreed to the introduction of the water borne trap and identified a safe location away from public areas. Three Mink have been dispatched by an expert team since its installation. We will be hearing more from David from the River Wey Water Vole Recovery Network later this evening……………………….

Apart from ongoing maintenance jobs and keeping the green path mown, we have 3 projects planned for 2025:-

Laying the front boundary hedge later in 2025

Resetting the gate at the Bullswater Common entrance

Continuing action on parts of the spinal path which flood in the winter

I end by expressing my heartfelt thanks to the wonderful and hardworking members of the Management Committee. We only have one addition this year - Joanna Plumpton who is helping us get our media connections up to date. In addition, we also still enjoy the skills of Carolyn and Chris Guest who look after our website from Dorset. This great enthusiasm and teamwork continue to make your community wildlife area a delightful place to visit and an a sset on your doorstep.