The new management plan for Marlborough’s Stonebridge Meadow has been ruffling feathers for some months – as access and water voles vie for centre stage. At Monday’s meeting of the full Town Council it was the turn of some large flints to take centre stage.
The Meadow is 51 per cent owned by the Council – or the town – and 49 per cent owned by Action for the River Kennet (ARK.) The management plan is a joint one and is designed to please all sides in the arguments over access versus wildlife.
The bag of large flints was produced by Councillor Marian Hannaford Dobson as evidence to councillors that such stones had not gone back into the soil – as the Council’s Estate Manager and ARK predicted. She said they are not only large, but also sharp and could cause injury to people and damage to the town’s mowing equipment. Why weren’t they being picked up? Why didn’t the management plan say they must be picked up?
An attempt by Councillor Dobson to alter the plan to make access rights more obvious and general, was voted down. As Councillor Castle pointed out the plan said “Progress will be reviewed annually and actions altered accordingly.”
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