Ouse Washes: The Heart of the Fens

Ouse Washes Landscape Partnership Scheme Steering Group Meeting

Friday 16 December 2011
The Barn, Main Street, Littleport, CB6 1PH

Present:

Alysoun Hodges ROW Access Team, Cambridgeshire County Council
Ashley Seaborne Green Light Trust
Graham Elliott RSPB
Graham Phillips Norfolk Our World Festivals
James Baddeley Big Society Funding CIC
email: james@jamesbaddeleyconsulting.co.uk

Jenny Julian RSPB
John Heading Land Owner, Middle Level Drainage Board
Kasia Gdaniec Historic Environment Team, Cambridgeshire County Council
Kirsten Bennett Cambridgeshire ACRE
Mark Ereira-Guyer Big Society Funding CIC
email: mark@egconsulting.co.uk

Nicky Stockman Norfolk Our World Festivals
Paul McCloskey Somersham Parish Council
Pauline Dunham Prickwillow Engine Trust
Rachael Brown Cambridgeshire ACRE
Stuart Hall Greater Fens Museum Partnership
Tim Bennett Welney Parish Council

Items on the agenda
1. Welcome and introductions
Kirsten Bennett welcomed everyone to the meeting and those present introduced themselves.

2. Election of the Chair Person
Kirsten asked those present if they agreed that she should chair this meeting and the next meeting in January. This is due to the face that the Terms of Reference for the LP Board are still being drafted and would need to be agreed by the Board before a chair person has an understanding of the level of commitment to the role. At the next January meeting the Terms of Reference will be an agenda item, as well as the election of Chair Person and Vice-Chair Person.

3. Introduction to Mark Ereira-Guyer and James Baddeley from Big Society CIC
This was covered in item 1 on the agenda

4. Update on progress
Kirsten made the following points:
• James and Mark have been engaging a wider range of partners connected to the landscape area and through conversations were beginning to develop a clear strategy for the scheme
• The meeting James, Mark and ACRE had with the HLF in November was positive regarding their feedback for from the Expression of Interest Stage.
• Kirsten and James had visited the Turning the Tides LP in Suffolk to gain further understanding of the scheme and the level of partner’s involvement in moving forward to stage 1 of the bid.
• An overall scheme budget of £1 million was proposed at the present; this will mean the match funding requirements will be 10% (5% can be in kind, 5% in cash). A budget of over £1 million would require match funding of 25%. Depending upon project proposals and the development of the budget in the New Year the scheme financial requirements may altered.
• The deadline for the first round application is 28 February 2012, the decision as to its success will be announced in July 2012. There will be a second round of project development (which it is estimated could be completed within nine months) and then the start date for the scheme would be April 2013. At this stage development funding is available and a Programme Manager would be appointed.

5. Timescales of bid and partners
Covered in item 4 on the agenda

6. Setting the vision
A draft vision was presented by Mark, the following comments were made:
• It was felt by some present that the use of the words ‘Ouse Washes’ did not define the landscape area sufficiently. The RSPB use the term ‘Ouse Washes and Wetlands’ however consensus was reached that the term ‘Ouse Washes’ would be kept but that the following phrase ‘Gateway to the Fens’ in the scheme title was inappropriate. It was agreed to change the title of the scheme to ‘Ouse Washes: The Heart of the Fens’
• It was agreed that there should be some amendment to the final paragraph in the vision to stress the focus on the people living in the landscape area and the social impact the scheme would have upon them.
• There was discussion as to whether the landscape area itself was undergoing a significant population increase, it was felt that pressures on the land would come from population increases within the local area.

7. Exploration of project ideas
Mark and James presented a paper contain summaries of the project ideas gathered through talking to partners over the last four weeks. They had written two overarching goals which captured the four programme strands in the scheme. So far there were 47 project proposals and they had been listed in reference to the four HLF programmes of delivery:

Conserving or restoring built and natural features/environment
• The RSPB wished to note that they had details of projects to add to this programme
• It was agreed that the management of the land was already excellent and that it was not the intention of the scheme to interfere with this
• It was noted that if access to the land is to be promoted it needs to be done with sensitivity so that wildlife is not disturbed as a result. It was agreed that this access needs to be understood more fully and the sensitivity of this issue stressed in the bid
• There was discussion over the proposed costs of each project; it was noted that the figures quoted were rough estimates. Some of the more expensive projects from the large agencies will be required to bring in match funding and this may alter the overall bid size (i.e. over £1 million)
• Natural England pointed out that projects 7, 8,9 & 10 (listed as Natural England) were linked with other agencies and had been derived from the Fens IBDA list of projects.
• It was noted that projects involving droves were a sensitive issue and that Alysoun strongly advised contacting the Highways Department of Cambridgeshire County Council for advice on this.
• The conflict of projects encouraging angling and wildlife was noted; James added that addressing these land use conflicts will hopefully be a key part of this scheme
• The importance of developing Denver Sluice was noted and also the importance of the pumping stations and the difficulty of finding funds to maintain and protect them.

Increasing community participation in local heritage
• It was noted that transportation and health and safety issues may become an issue with access and participation projects.
• It was suggested that the Community Heritage Fund should have a name change to Community Cultural Heritage Fund in order to distinguish it from another HLF scheme
• Nicky and Graham from Norfolk Our Worlds Festival suggested that there were more key contacts to be made and that they could supply some of these.
• Alysoun suggested that the W.E. A. should be contacted
• The heritage of farming as an important land use was discussed as a key component of this programme, not just farming in the past but also in the present.
•

Increasing access to and learning about the landscape and its heritage
• John Heading commented that there are many good reasons why land owners do not want a lot of people on their land however he felt that if the project assists in the development of the right way to create responsible access to land there may well be a good response from the farming community
• It was noted that this needed to be well thought out and was a critical area for funding and that education and understanding about all access issues was important
• Whether migration – birds, people, water movement could become a theme was discussed
Increasing training opportunities in local heritage skills
• It was noted that many projects could fit into this programme and that this would address the need for more countryside volunteers which would benefit projects and the LP programme as a whole.

8. Letters of support
Partners were asked to consider their level of commitment to the scheme and whether they would be prepared to write a letter of support – ACRE could provide a template for this if necessary. It would make for a stronger bid if we could have these and if they were signed by senior management and endorsed by Boards/Cabinets . A Partnership Agreement was also currently being drafted and would be presented at the next meeting. The governance of the scheme and board of partners would also be discussed at the next meeting.

The proposed timescales going forward are:
1. Week beginning January 16: send out draft versions and letter of support templates
2. 31.01.12: next steering group meeting to discuss governance, partnership involvement, budget and draft application to HLF. Starting 10.30am, The Barn Littleport.
3. Week beginning February 6: letters of support received
4. 28.02.12: deadline for submission of application.

We are holding a steering group meeting on 16 December and have invited the project partners who are interested in developing this bid further. James and Mark(working with us to develop the bid) have been talking to a wide range of potential new partners and some new faces will be coming along to the meeting. The agenda is as follows:

Ouse Washes Landscape Partnership Scheme

AGENDA

Date: Friday 16 December

Timing: 10.30am – 1pm

Venue: The Barn, Main Street, Littleport, CB6 1PH

		Item Lead
1.	Welcome and apologies	Kirsten Bennett
2.	Election of Chair (Elected Chair will not be expected to chair this meeting)	Kirsten Bennett
3.	Introduction to Mark Ereira-Guyer and James Baddeley from Big Society Funding CIC	Kirsten Bennett
4.	Update on Progress	Kirsten Bennett
5.	Timescales of bid and partners	Kirsten Bennett
6.	Setting the vision	Mark Ereira-Guyer
7.	Exploration of project ideas	James Baddeley
8.	Letters of support	Kirsten Bennett
9.	Any other business	Kirsten Bennett

LUNCH (12.30pm – 1pm)

Ouse Washes: The Heart of the Fens

A Landscape Partnership Scheme

Summary of the Ouse Washes Landscape Partnership Scheme

Update on Ouse Washes LPS application assessment

New Partners Join the Partnership

Ouse Washes: The Heart of the Fens

Minutes of the Steering Group Meeting Held on the 16th December 2011

Steering group meeting in December

AGENDA

Date: Friday 16 December

Timing: 10.30am – 1pm

Venue: The Barn, Main Street, Littleport, CB6 1PH

Welcome and apologies

Timescales of bid and partners

Setting the vision

Exploration of project ideas

Letters of support

Any other business

Why the Ouse Washes?

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