Ferring Conservation Group

Affiliated to the Federation of
Sussex Amenity Societies

Chairman: Carol Dyball, 13, Somerset Road, Ferring, West Sussex.
Tel: 01903 249337
Email: carol.dyball@tiscali.co.uk

Secretary: Ed Miller,
17 West Drive, Ferring BN12 5QZ.
Tel: 01903 502267
e-mail: EdMiller43@msn.com

Invitation to join the Conservation Group

Meetings take place in the village hall at 2-30pm on the last Friday in the month from September to March and at 7-30pm in May June and July. In August we have a "Summer Social". The AGM takes place on last Friday in April. Occasional outings are also arranged. New members are always welcome and can enrol at the door.

25 May 2012: The next meeting will be a Presentation by WADARS (Worthing and District Animal Rescue Service).

It is the first evening meeting of the year at 7:30 pm on Friday, May 25th. It will be in the Club Room, as there is a performance in the main hall at that time.

Visitors are welcome at £2 each, members £1.50. New members are welcome to join at the door (the yearly sub. is still only £1).

SPRING 2012 GUIDED WALKS

DATES FOR YOUR DIARIES:

1. WADERS AND GULLS WALK – Weds 1st February at 10am - meeting in Bluebird Cafe car park. Walk along the sand at low tide to Goring Gap with Clive Hope to identify waders and gulls. Return along shingle to look for shells, egg cases etc, and end at the Bluebird for a coffee.

2. RIFE CLEAN – Thursday 8th March at 11am – meeting again at Bluebird Cafe car park. Start at sea end of Rife and end at Ferring Country Centre. Do your bit to keep the Rife clean. Bags and pickers provided.

3. WALK TO THE BLACK ROCKS (off Kingston beach) – Saturday 10th March – meet at Bluebird Cafe car park at 4pm. Walk out to the rocks at very low tide, led by Tricia Hall to see interesting rock pool specimens.

4. WALK ON HIGHDOWN to look for Marbled White butterflies and Downland flowers in July – exact date and time to be confirmed. Watch this space.

The Conservation Group was formed 24 years ago. Our Aims are to:

PRESERVE FERRING'S BEAUTY AND CHARACTER
CHERISH THE WILDLIFE
KEEP THE OPEN COUNTRY AROUND US
OPPOSE IN-FILLING OF THE VILLAGE

Our monthly meetings have speakers on local wildlife and many other local and regional conservation issues.

The grounds on which Ferring Conservation Group objects to in-filling when it comments on planning applications:

Putting additional houses very close together on plots which elsewhere in the road accommodate one house and a reasonable amount of garden is not respecting the character of the area (contrary to Government guidelines and Arun's own plan)

Every additional house adds to the burden of traffic, parking, drainage and other demands which the infrastructure cannot support---increasing housing density is not sustainable in Ferring

Every extra building in Ferring destroys a little more of the open space and habitat of the wildlife, with which Ferring still abounds----the gardens are an essential part of the green environment in which we live.

We do not want to see any more "two for one" developments that threaten to change the character of Ferring for ever.

We need more members to lend more weight to the protests we make to Arun District Council. If you would like to join, or rejoin, please let us have your name and address and £1 per member.

If you are on the internet you can be kept informed by the Chairman of all applications for unwelcome development in Ferring and at all meetings current information on planning applications is also discussed, along with other issues that threaten the quality of life in the village.

Ferring Conservation Group Surveys Rife Trees

Members of Ferring Conservation Group met up last Thursday on the Ferring Rife to survey the nearly 350 trees they planted back in March of this year alongside the river. These trees had been provided by the Woodland Trust, and the work was carried out by members in partnership with the Environment Agency. The main idea was to improve the natural environment in the area, and to specifically provide a wildlife corridor up and down the river which is such an important site.

Despite an incredibly dry Spring and Summer in the area, it was really pleasing to find that the vast majority had survived their first season. A total of 321 were counted, of which 276 were alive and only 45 had died. So, 86% of those that were counted had survived, and the remainder had probably succumbed to vandalism or other outside factors.

The most outstanding survivor was the Oak with 60, while the losers were Hawthorn with 37 and Blackthorn with 38. The other trees planted were: Hazel, Silver Birch and Mountain Ash, as well as some willows.

The survey was combined with an interesting tree identification walk in the area which was led by group member, Tricia Hall, where participants were able to see and identify some 17 species of trees. An additional treat was to see a Merlin - a relatively rare bird of prey – fly overhead, and it confirmed what a valuable habitat the Rife is. This was the thirteenth trip or outing of the year that Ferring Conservation Group has organised for members, in addition to their monthly meetings.

Group Vice-Chairman, David Bettiss said, “ It was great for members to return to the site where we carried out our tree planting in March, and good news that so many of the trees had survived their first eight months, especially when we have had such a dry Spring and Summer – hardly perfect growing conditions! We will watch with interest how they progress over the coming months and years to provide a fantastic habitat that will really benefit all sorts of wildlife. It goes to show how local people can work together to improve their environment in the face of so many challenges that it faces, including various attempts to build on the strategic gap”.