Haydon Wick Parish Council is escalating its complaint to Natural England to seek improvements to the maintenance and future protection of the special scientific interest (SSSI) status of Clifford Meadow in Oakhurst, North Swindon.
Haydon Wick Parish Council, working with and behalf of local concerned residents, has logged a serious complaint with Natural England regarding breaches to the agreed management plan and lack of maintenance to the meadow over the past several years.
The main concerns are the gaps in the fencing which are allowing livestock to escape the meadow into a nearby play area, or on to residential streets. And a failure to maintain the perimeter hedgerows, which have not been cut for seven years, despite the management plan confirming this should be every three years.
Clifford Meadow, also known as Haydon Meadow, is significant to the local area because it is a SSSI site and home to a rare species of protected orchids – the Anacamptis morio. The flower is used in the logo for the nearby Priory Vale housing development and Orchid Vale primary school. In early to mid-May the meadow is awash with the rare green-winged orchids. These flowers only last a few days before other meadow plants appear, resulting in a meadow rich in biodiversity for moths, butterflies, birds, bats and more.
It is understood the annual orchid count has not been conducted since 2015 due to a lack of resources between Natural England and Wiltshire Wildlife Trust. The SSSI condition was last assessed by Natural England in 2021 and there is a proposal to conduct an annual orchid count in Summer 2023. However, it is not yet known is this will go ahead as Natural England is in contact with the Landowner to see if trained volunteers could assist with the orchid count.
Having logged the complaint, the Council received a very unsatisfactory ‘tier one response’ from Natural England, leaving them in no doubt to escalate the matter further to ‘tier two’ of Natural England’s complaints process.
Councillor V Manro, Chairman of Haydon Wick Parish Council and Swindon Borough Ward Councillor for Priory Vale had this to say: “The meadow is private and therefore there is no public access or right of way. It is important that the land is left to protect the orchids and maintain the SSSI status. Losing the SSSI status could make the meadow subject to land development. The initial response to the Parish Council’s complaint was disappointing. Natural England must act, and work with the landowner and agent to ensure this land is maintained and protected. The meadow is a diamond within the urban setting of Priory Vale and Haydon Wick and must see some investment to protect it.”
Councillor R Ross, Chairman of the Community Development Committee said: “The Parish Council and residents have been impressed with the response from the local tenant farmer, and whilst their funds are limited, and at the discretion of the landowner, they have been providing temporary fencing measures. Sadly, these are being removed by trespassing members of public.”
Local resident, Paul Exell, said: “In the last 50 years of the 20th century over 97% of the lowland meadow in this country was lost. Clifford Meadow is valuable, both as a part of the surviving lowland meadow, as a green lung for North Swindon and for the rich biodiversity it contains. We are calling on the MP for North Swindon to apply pressure to Natural England and the land agent to protect this valuable jewel, so that future generations can continue to benefit from the wide range of wildflowers and animals that live there.”
The Parish Council has already contacted their local MP, Justin Tomlinson MP to support the complaint and recognise the importance of maintaining the status of the meadow for the benefit of the wider community. Justin Tomlinson MP said “As Swindon continues to expand, protected sites such as Clifford Meadow become more and more important for residents’ health and wellbeing. Over the years the meadow has attracted a diverse variety of wildlife, not least great crested newts, brown moths and red kites – some of which are key to the site being given it’s SSSI status. I know the Parish Council is trying to raise awareness why the meadow should be kept private and protected, but without the cooperation of the Land Agent this is proving difficult. Natural England must help and support the community to protect this important site for North Swindon.”