AGM minutes 2011
THE FRIENDS OF THE TRAP GROUNDS
Minutes of the Annual General Meeting held on 29 March 2011
At St Margaret’s Institute, Polstead Road, Oxford
1. Introduction: Alan Allport, in the Chair, welcomed approximately 30 people to the fourth AGM of The Friends of the Trap Grounds. A quorum was confirmed to be present.
2. Minutes of the AGM held on 23 March 2010 were unanimously approved.
3. Progress Report: Committee members reported on work carried out in the previous 12 months, in accordance with a five-year management plan produced by a professional ecologist to conserve and enhance the site for wildlife, recreation, and education. Wildlife conservation work, in collaboration with teams supplied by Oxford Conservation Volunteers, included continuing work to clear invasive brambles and alien species of vegetation. Dense scrub had been thinned out on the north side of the big pond and the south side of the swamp in the western reedbed, to encourage dragonflies. The city council’s Tree Team felled some unsafe willows at the entrance to Frog Lane, and removed several sycamores in the woodland to open a flight path for small birds and insects between the main reedbed and the meadow. Volunteers installed six hibernacula for solitary bees, and planted English bluebells in the woodland and 12 oak saplings along the southern boundary fence. A small pond was dug on the edge of the western reedbed, linked with the swamp. Projects to enhance community recreation had focused on improving access by clearing new paths and maintaining old ones; and by overseeing the installation of a boardwalk alongside the stream (funded by the National Lottery and the Trust for Oxfordshire’s Environment) for wheelchair users and families with pushchairs; volunteers have since extended the boardwalk with a hard-core path, ending in a viewing platform overlooking the new pond. Educational activities included a May Morning Birdsong Walk, a Bat Night in July; and several guided glow-worm expeditions in July. Interesting wildlife sightings (most notably evidence of nocturnal visits by an Otter) are registered on the interactive front page of our website, and the booklet entitled ‘The Wildlife of the Trap Grounds’ continues to be up-dated regularly.
4. Financial Report: The accounts for 2010 show a total income of £3354 and expenditure of £8814. The bank balance at 31/12/2010 was £4385. The largest item of expenditure was the boardwalk, which required a contribution of £2765 from our own funds, in addition to external grants.
5. Election of new Committee: Members of the current committee were re-appointed to serve for the coming year (proposer: Catherine Hilliard; seconder: Judith Middleton): Alan Allport, Norman Gregory, Peter Higgins, Caroline Jackson-Houlston, Linda Losito, Catherine Robinson, Martin Townsend, and Diane Wilson.
6. Any other business: the meeting voted unanimously (24–0) against the proposed installation of a new gate at the south end of the site, on the grounds that it was unnecessary, that it would lead to the Trap Grounds being used as a thoroughfare, and that the ensuing disturbance would damage the wildlife value of the site, for the enjoyment of which it was registered as a Town Green in 2006.
7. After a break for refreshments Rumi Mohideen gave an illustrated talk entitled ‘The Return of Otters to the Oxford Canal Corridor’. The meeting ended at 9.30 pm.