Fleet Pond Customer Needs Consultation

Fleet Pond Customer Needs Consultation

UPDATE as of 23^rd November 2012

The Fleet Pond Customer Needs Report has been brought together by the steering group of the Environment Agency, Fleet Pond Society, Hart District Council, and Natural England.

We want you to tell us what would make your visit to Fleet Pond more enjoyable and encourage those who have not yet visited the pond to enjoy their visit and wish to return.  This is your opportunity to tell us what you like about Fleet Pond and suggest how it might be improved.

To date the steering group has engaged an independent researcher and the resulting documents are available for consultation from 7^th December at:

www.hart.gov.uk

Hard copies will be available to the public in the Fleet Library and the Civic Offices in Fleet from 7^th December.  The consultation will take place from 7^th December 2012 to 20^th January 2013.

We will analyse all responses and create a visitor strategy for Fleet Pond Nature Reserve covering the next few years.

We are inviting a variety of stakeholders and groups as well as individual members of the public to review the document and respond with their comments.  So please take the time to read the document; you can comment on any aspect of it.  We would be grateful if you could highlight the paragraph or page that you are referring to in order for us to see your comments in context.

You can respond to the consultation process by emailing:

countryside@hart.gov.uk

or alternatively you can post your responses to:

Fleet Pond Visitor Strategy Consultation

Leisure and Environmental Promotion

Civic Offices, Fleet

Hampshire, GU51 4AE

Essential Dredging Work Beginning at Brookly Bay

The next stage in the Fleet Pond Restoration Project involves dredging the area around Brookly Bay.  This essential work is necessary as the area is heavily laden with silt mainly consisting of rotting leaves.

We would like to notify residents in the area closest to Brookly Bay, that once the work starts, if the wind is in your direction, you may notice an unpleasant smell.  Please note this odour is not harmful, just unpleasant.  There is a possibility the smell may persist for a few months after the work is completed.

Hart District Council does apologise for any inconvenience this essential work may cause. For more information please email the Countryside Rangers at countryside@hart.gov.uk or phone 01252 623443.

Fleet Pond’s Common Terns Benefit from Clearwater Campaign Funds

The Common Tern is the beneficiary of recent work carried out on one of the new islands in the middle of Fleet Pond.  Volunteers from the Fleet Pond Society worked together with Hart Countryside Rangers to cover the central island with gravel paid for with funds raised through the Society’s ‘Clearwater Campaign’.

Common Terns like to nest in bare scrapes on flat, poorly vegetated islands. This makes the eggs and young vulnerable to predation by mammals such as rats and mink as well as large birds including gulls, owls and herons. It is hoped that their speckled eggs will be well camouflaged against the gravel, with protection for the chicks provided by the low level roofing tile hideaways.  Fencing has been placed round the island to stop mink accessing it.

Fleet Pond Ranger, Louise Greenwood stated her hopes for the newly covered island: ‘In the summer of 2012 seven pairs of Terns nested on this new island but unfortunately none of them fledged as they were predated. By providing this gravel topping and the hideaways we hope that next year we will have a new colony of Terns on Fleet Pond.’

Colin Gray of Fleet Pond Society said: ‘We would like to thank the company, W M Longreach for kindly transporting the gravel over to the island for us. It is a very exciting project to have spent some campaign funds on.  In fact we named the island, ‘Clearwater’ and if you look closely you might be able to see the flag we planted with the ‘Clearwater Campaign’ logo on.’