Meetings with the Parks Officer
The Council has introduced online “surgery” meetings for Friends of Parks groups raise and discuss issues particular to their park. in the first of these I raised a number of topics. Twenty minutes was not long enough but I supplied a paper to the Parks Officer prior to the meeting.
The proposal to graze cattle in Whitewebbs Park has been withdrawn
The Friends of Whitewebbs have submitted an outline plan for management of the areas either side of Cuffley Brook.
Details of the original proposal
The proposal to trial cattle grazing applies to three parks, Trent Park, Forty Hall and Whitewebbs. The Council has invited comments on the proposal and these should be submitted by 10th July
An on site meeting with the proponents of this scheme has been arranged for Thursday 7th July at 5.30. Meet at the Café in Beggars Hollow to address the issues below.
In this post I am looking at the situation in Whitewebbs. The proposed area is small, about 8 hectares. Of these only about 2 -3 hectares could be described as grazing.
| 1 | Ancient woodland and established mature trees along Cuffley Brook and the southern boundary | 3.0 hectares |
| 2 | Large areas of young but well established trees | 1.0 hectare |
| 3 | Large areas of thick brambles | 1.0 hectare |
| 4 | Grassy area with young trees 3 – 5 years old Grassy area with very young trees 1-2 years old | 2-3 hectares |
| 6 | Cuffley Brook and the old course of the new river |
Continuous grazing from April to September would damage biodiversity as the grasses and wild flowers already present would not get a chance to seed and flower. No flowers, no butterflies.
There is a need to do some management of this area to prevent woodland taking over completely in 50 years time. A few volunteers with some secateurs could do the job in a day or so.
This is a busy area for walkers, runners and families seeking to enjoy the natural surroundings. Whatever may be claimed about these cattle there have been enough incidents in the papers to deter some people. Please read the document below before responding to the consultation.
Email received 20 June 2022
Classification: OFFICIAL
Dear All
I’m pleased to inform you of an exciting opportunity to trial out Conservation Grazing within certain areas of Trent Park, Forty Hall and Whitewebbs Park.
Conservation Grazing is a traditional and sustainable form of land management, usually using a small number of cattle. This technique is widely used in Epping Forest and Cambridgeshire.
Please see the attached consultation document that we hope will be online this week, which has more information on the project and its benefits. We are hoping to conduct a face to face consultation at Forty Hall next week, the date is yet to be confirmed. This face to face consultation will enable consultees to meet the Red Poll cattle who will be grazing within the parks.
We are also happy to have a more focused discussion with yourselves sometime this week on a Teams call, if this is something you’d be interested in?
Please let me know if you have any queries regarding this scheme.
I will be in touch again regarding the date of the face to face, “meet the cattle” event and the date the consultation will be online.
All the best
Jamie
Jamie Kukadia
Senior Engineer | Watercourses Team
Redevelopment and Environmental Works | Place Department
Enfield Council