Berwick Wildlife Group

Present: Fiona Aungier, Elizabeth Bamford, Leslie Cook, John Inglis, John Rae, Enid Turnbull, M. Williams.

Apologies: Molly Hardie, Malcolm Hutcheson.

Items	Subject	Decisions to Make	Outcome
1	Minutes of last meeting (October)	Agreed?	.
2	Matters arising not below	Discuss briefly.	JR. New members should be circulated with survey lists. Agreed.
3	Molly Hardie	Has agreed to join Committee. Wonderful – and thank you so much. Already proofreading and typing.	Molly Hardie, although unable to be present, was welcomed to the committee
4	Recent/forthcoming events.	Indoor meetings. Geoff Sample – excellent. Next is David Rollo, 12th March at Berwick United Reformed Church. Outdoor meetings. Spring walk at Plantation, Sat. 5th April, Ross Weddle can't come. Can we do it on our own? Displays. Library was 4th Feb for 10 days. Lots of programmes taken. Thank you everyone. Next is at Berwick Organic Gardeners potato day at Kelso on Sunday 2nd March.	Indoor meetings. Geoff Sample on Birdsong was excellent. Next is David Rollo, 12th March at Berwick United Reformed Church. Event was publicised in ‘The Point’, and FA has thanked the editor. Outdoor meetings. Spring walk at Plantation, Sat. 5th April, Ross Weddle is unable to lead, but members will lead instead. Displays. Library was 4th Feb for 10 days. More than 20 programmes taken. Thank you everyone. Next display is Berwick Organic Gardeners potato day at Kelso on Sunday 2nd March. Venue is the showground, and direction signs will be displayed. 6 tables and 6 chairs have been booked by BWG.
5	Surveys	Estuary Bird Survey. Good weather. Reasonable turn out. 4 years' results now. Squirrel surveys already started. Beach Litter 13th March. Butterflies (T the M and Cocklawburn) begin Tuesday April 1st	Estuary Bird Survey. FA thanked all helpers. Reasonable turn out. 4 years' results now. Survey maps showing distribution of total numbers and species numbers were shown, but there appears to be no consistency of use. Squirrel surveys. EB reported excellent results of recent Kyloe survey. Plenty of evidence of reds, none of greys. Has contacted President of Northumberland WI and she has agreed to propose to the Federation that members help by reporting red sightings. Richard Wales’ red survey is drawing to a close, and he has applied for more funding. Beach Litter. 13th March. Need for more equipment. Butterflies. (T the M and Cocklawburn) begin Tuesday April 1st
6	B & Q	Richard Wales has suggested we get grant from B & Q for squirrel food, tubes, etc. Is £1000 minimum, B & Q goods only, to be in by 28th March, used by end Sept. Possibly we could do in co-op with other group(s) (who?). Ideas, please.	Richard Wales has suggested we get grant from B & Q for squirrel food, tubes, etc. Is £1000 minimum, B & Q goods only, to be in by 28th March, used by end Sept. Possibly we could do in co-operation with other groups. Felt that B&Q grant was not viable. JR reported Morrisons give £50 grants, and up to 3 can be applied for in a year. The scheme runs from March – July.Discussion on types of equipment needed.
7	Governor's Garden	Full plans submitted for new development. No bats found there by developer's environmental consultants! What do we do?	Full plans submitted for new development. LC taken aback that no bats found there by developer's environmental consultant Steve Betts.BWG to continue to monitor bat activity.
8	Tesco	Have only got outline planning permission Advised by BBC to draft letter NOW re. suggestions for tree-planting now, will go on file at Council awaiting full p.p. Agreed? Details?	Have only got outline planning permission. Advised by BBC to draft letter re. suggestions for tree-planting now. It will go on file at Council awaiting full p.p. Agreed.FA to write.
9	Cocklawburn Dunes Possible Cattle Erosion	Meeting with Steve Pullen, Jo Wilkinson, MH & FA on (prob.) Mon 3rd March re. fixed pt photos. Anyone else? FA to confirm date.	Meeting with Steve Pullen, Jo Wilkinson, MH & FA. Fixed pt photos 3-4 times per.an. to monitor erosion could be tried. FA to ask MH to talk to J Whiteford, owner of cattle.
10	Tapee	Series of meetings with Margaret Shaw, Philomena, FA, MH, others.	Series of meetings with Margaret Shaw, Philomena, FA, MH, others re. proposed killing and leave standing sycamore trees. Margaret Shaw to discuss with BBC. Northern Gas Networks have money for green projects... FA to further consult Tappee Management Plan.
11	BBC – licence for OS maps	Huge document. Assume I sign?	Agreed FA should sign Document.
12	Any Other Business	.	BBLSP. Questionnaire received based on their vague plans for looking into the future of Berwick. BWG felt that to provide answers was not appropriate as resulting data could be used to prove almost anything. Agreed that BWG response to Masterplan be returned instead. FA to update and circulate to committee first. Donation of £10 received from Mrs. Aungier senior. Thanks expressed. Bat Equipment. LC needs more sophisticated bat recording equipment. Could be expensive. FA to talk to Northern Gas Networks.
13	Date/venue of next Meeting	Wednesday 19th Mar (then Wed. 16th April – to be booked)	.