The 2024 newsletter was circulated to members and residents during January/February. Click here for the on-line version.
The 2024 AGM was held on Monday 8th April in the meeting room at St Michael and All Angels Church and was followed by a presentation by Nigel Chote who gave a talk on 'Surrey on the Wild Side'.
The Chairman's Report (from the minutes):
The chairman presented her report for the year January–December 2023 (copy on file). Catherine started by welcoming everyone to the AGM and thanked the
members for their generous support over the last year as we launched our Boardwalk Appeal. We can now celebrate the completion of the project with help from
Peter Morley our fundraising officer, Heather Coverly our PR officer, Nigel Emmerson our site manager and Steve Hull our contractor. Peter worked hard to
raise funds with grants from National Lottery and Your Fund Surrey. Good donations were received from Pirbright Parish Council and Pirbright Institute.
Heather designed an appeal flyer to publicise our project which was delivered to the local area and we received generous donations from our wonderful members
and residents.
The design and construction of the boardwalk by Steve and Nigel is outstanding. The official opening in October by Cllr Keith Witham was accompanied by a
deluge of rain but the photos showed the colourful umbrellas. The boardwalk recently showed its durability by being totally submerged after storms and heavy
rain.
The hedge along the Back Lane boundary was laid over the winter and has been effective in opening up and enhancing this area. We are indebted to our site
Manager Nigel Emmerson who keeps a watchful eye on all aspects of the wildlife area, keeps the green paths mown and organises volunteers including NetWork Rail.
He also mentors D of E students and welcomes various groups of cubs, scouts and brownies. We had an amazing volunteer day with around 70 staff from Allianz
Insurance in Guildford who tackled ditches and invasive Himalayan Balsam supervised by Heather and Roy Coverly.
We have other projects in mind, lay the front hedge, improve the ingress and exit of water through the wetland area and pond with weirs, reset the gate at the
Bullswater Common entrance, take action on parts of the spine path which can flood in winter and review the green path network.
Catherine thanked all the hardworking members of the Management Committee and also Chris & Carolyn Guest who continue look after our Website from Dorset. We
have one change this year with the retirement of our Treasurer Bruce Acton, we have been fortunate to have had Bruce’s dedication and skills during a
particularly busy year with the boardwalk project finances, thank you so much Bruce. We are delighted that Keith Rowe has agreed to be our new Treasurer. The
enthusiasm and teamwork continues to make our Community Wildlife Area a delightful place to visit.
The Wildlife Area is an ideal place for families to visit and have picnics. Running a wildlife area inevitably involves a delicate balance of priorities - protecting and encouraging wildlife and also providing an area which gives pleasure to visitors and residents alike. Most of these are reflected in our Fox Corner Country Code.
Dogs are a particular issue. If uncontrolled, they can alarm wildlife, disturb nests and leave unwelcome excrement anywhere on the site. Groups of children are encouraged to visit to enjoy pond-dipping and mini-beast hunts. For their sake, it is vital that they do not come into contact with the results of dog-fouling. At one stage, we felt that it would be a good idea to ban dogs altogether but after representations from local people, agreed that they could be allowed but strictly only on leads.
We respectfully, but firmly, ask you to abide by this particular rule.