The sheep are grazing peacefully again in Cooper’s Meadow – and will be until the grazing licence runs out on October 31. And it looks very much as though peace has broken out between the various sides of the arguments over what Cooper’s Meadow should be and the accessibility of the river bank.
It has seemed recently that wherever the River Kennet flows through publicly owned land it brings with it conflict between those who want public access to all the river bank (so they can dangle their feet in its waters) and those who want to look after the river and its wildlife (so they can watch the water voles and be sure the water is unpolluted.)
At a recent Town Council committee meeting three such areas were on the agenda.
First up was Cooper’s meadow: in this instance if there may not be what the newspapers might call ‘full blown peace’, then there is the possibility of a long term truce.
The latest meeting of the Cooper’s Meadow Users Group (code name: C-mug) had seen everyone talking from the same river bank – so to speak. Action for the River Kennet (ARK) had said that if next year the community did not want sheep grazing there, that was fine by them.
But – and down by the river there is always a ‘but’ – Councillor Stewart Dobson wanted C-mug’s terms of reference to substitute ‘users’ for ‘residents’. A bit tough on the current Town Mayor who lives in Axford.
At the C-mug meeting ARK had quoted the legislation that protects water voles. This law, they said, meant staying clear of parts of the river bank.
But you always have to look at the smallest print – Councillor Dobson had read the whole Act of Parliament: “We shall be able to reduce the vegetation on the river bank and keep within the law.” That could yet pierce the peace bubble and get the water voles’ lawyers involved.
All the time the committee chair, Councillor Loosmore, was emphasising how well the council was working with the community and how compromise had to be the answer. And Councillor Marian Hannaford-Dobson agreed: “I am sure that compromise is the word now. We all love water voles and sheep – we need to co-exist.”
Such was the feeling of good will towards Cooper’s Meadow that a letter from the Marlborough Area Development Trust (MADT) was barely mentioned. MADT had been part of the restoration of the Kennet in 2008-2009 and its chair, Martin Cook, was worried about the transfer of ownership from Wiltshire Council to Town Council (which was underway and of which he approved in principle.)
He asked the Town Mayor to make sure that the Town Council was not going to use its ownership to ‘wrestle back control of this land’ and urged her to ensure the committee that would in future oversee the Meadow continued ‘to follow the advice of ARK in maintaining and improving this important asset even further.’
Those who enjoy the meadow – whether users or residents or both – have been warned: this truce may not last.
Next came Stonebridge Meadow. Here the chairman kept the peace splendidly. Councillor Hannaford-Dobson’s repeated warning about the dangers of sharp flints (see earlier report) was noted again and Richard Beale, the Council’s endlessly patient Grounds and Estate Manager, said stone picking would be done if it became necessary.
The river banks in Cooper’s Meadow are already close to perfection compared to those as the Kennet runs through Jubilee Field in Manton. There the river is shielded from residents’/users’ eyes by a bank (sorry Kennet, but you do not have a monopoly on banks) of nettles over five feet tall and six feet deep.
Councillor Dobson, who knew and walked in Jubilee Field during the thirty years he lived in Manton, was bemused by its current state: “While other towns are trying to open up their rivers, we seem to have this wonderful view we should hide the river.”
Chairman Loosmore was not getting into that argument and was moving on: “We will deal with the nettle situation.”