At our March meeting an audience of around 75 keen members and visitors enjoyed an illustrated talk from Paul Stevens on Amphibians and Reptiles in Sussex. As chairman of the Sussex Amphibians and Reptiles Group and with his other role as Grounds Manager at Arundel WWT, Paul came well equipped to educate us in his usual relaxed and informative manner. Paul began by concentrating on amphibians and reptiles that are found in the wet habitat of Arundel WWT, namely grass snakes, common lizards, slowworms, palmate newts, smooth newts, spotted newts, common frogs and common toads. Paul said there was evidence that the frogs had already spawned but the toads were still on the move but when they eventually breed the females will each produce 2,000 to 4,000 eggs. Paul explained that the ideal habitat for water voles and dormice can conflict with that of birds and bats so careful thought must be given to creating a good compromise. Grass snakes are easy to identify with their distinctive yellow and black collar and corrugated tin sheets laid flat on the ground provide excellent protection during the winter months. Each snake has a unique pattern on its underside and 3 snakes named ‘Terry, Pat and Bob’ are currently monitored for their breeding patterns. ‘Bob’ and ‘Terry’ travel widely around the WWT site but as Pat is the female of the trio she is sedentary. Elsewhere in the UK, heathlands are the most important area for reptiles as all 6 species can be found there (the common lizard, sand lizard, adder, grass snake, smooth snake and slowworm). Heathlands provide the perfect habitat, with open areas for reptiles to bask and an ample food source can be found due to the invertebrate populations. Amphibians also thrive (the common frog, common toad and the rare natterjack toad), using the damper areas close to water where they can lay their eggs. The common newt, palmate newt and great crested newt, favour ponds to breed in and can be quite at home in a garden pond, they may also take advantage of nearby grass and dried leaves.

After tea Tricia Hall delivered her Nature Notes with the news of tree planting by some of our members on the west side of the Rife. These small, holly, downy birch, mountain ash, hazel, crab apple and hawthorn trees will hopefully provide food and shelter for wild birds as well as acting as a good wind break. Also 150 willow stakes (all from one tree) were planted along the western boundary of Ferring Country Centre.

To follow Ed Miller updated us with news of planning issues including the newly erected ‘no overnight parking’ notices along Marine Drive to prevent motorhome owners sleeping in their vehicles in this area. The planning application at 44, Ferringham Lane for 5 properties in addition to the existing house has been withdrawn by the applicant. The Kingsley Group have applied for planning permission for the conversion of a garage building, behind their current site, into offices to accommodate an increase in staff from 57 to 91 with no provision for additional parking. This application also includes a request for extended opening hours for the offices and café from 7am to 10pm. The Bluebird Café has applied for a full licence to serve alcohol from 10am until midnight and to permit dancing and live and recorded music to 12.30am.

David Bettiss concluded the meeting by thanking the sponsors and planters of the Community Orchard and informed us that John Coote from the Brighton Permaculture Trust, and also a local resident, has kindly offered to help us maintain the fruit trees.

Our meeting opened with Ed Miller informing us that David Bettiss and Tricia Hall presented a cheque for £600 to Caroline Roberts-Quigley, head of fund-raising at Chestnut Tree House Children’s Hospice. This money was raised from the sale of Christmas cards, calendars and painted pebbles designed and painted by Tricia. Ed went on to say that the Community Orchard trees were doing well at the Glebelands recreation ground and that a tree planting session was planned on Tuesday 15th March for the banks of the river Rife for a 10am start, meeting at the footbridge. The Woodland Trust have donated 100 small trees for this project. Also our annual Rife Clean is planned for Saturday 19th March, meeting at 11am at the Bluebird Café car park. Refreshments at the Country Centre will follow both events. Ed asked if members could e-mail any articles or photographs they may have for our annual magazine to Tricia Hall by the end of February.

To follow, Tricia Hall advised us that a red kite and 7 buzzards had been spotted over Ferring and then showed us a buoy with goose barnacles attached to it that was found at the Winter Beach Clean on 7th February. These barnacles start life like small shrimps and are filter-feeding crustaceans that live attached to hard surfaces but can occasionally be found on debris that has been dislodged from the seabed and washed up on the shore.

Ed Miller commenced his planning update with the news that the Arun Local Plan is to be redrafted to meet the Planning Inspector’s requirement of 845 homes per year for the next 15 years. It will be autumn before the draft plan is ready and it is unlikely to be adopted before 2017. The Peugeot car compound application has been granted on appeal and 3 further applications have now been submitted for the same site. Also an application for 23 yurts plus ancillary buildings off McIntyre’s Lane has been submitted by Hatch Homes Ltd.

After tea Matthew Thomas an ecologist gave an interesting, illustrated talk regarding the Steyning Downland Scheme (SDS). This scheme was started when it was realised by the current owners of the Wiston Estate that much of the 160 acres of chalk grassland was not being managed. A well-attended public meeting was held in 2007 with the aim of bringing together the needs of the people and wildlife. A steering group was formed of local people where aims and objectives for the scheme were developed. An area has been designated for mountain bikers; a team of local people can survey the plant life; a website has been created; children enjoy educational days on site, and the addition of suitable fencing has allowed cattle to graze there once again. This scheme has achieved charitable status since 2009 and the Wiston Estate continues to invest in many different ways. There are over 120 volunteers involved and the scheme has blossomed into a much bigger reality than was first conceived. It has also been discovered that this area is one of the top sites for the rare Brown Hairstreak butterfly. Also the rapidly declining and threatened Duke of Burgundy butterfly has been handed a lifeline with the help of the SDS, the Southdown National Park and the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Over the next 2 years, with the help of Neil Hulme, a butterfly expert, and local conservation volunteers, work to encourage the Duke of Burgundy back to the chalk grasslands of Steyning by creating the right habitat and by planting cowslips, which are their main food source, will get underway.

Rachel Curruthers, Household Waste Prevention Officer from West Sussex County Council, gave an interesting and informative talk to around 70 members of Ferring Conservation Group regarding Waste Prevention in West Sussex. Rachel informed us that the UK generates 177 million tonnes of rubbish each year and that just one family uses 6 trees worth of paper per year. The good news is that at least 60% of this waste can be used again.

Rachel’s message to us all was ‘Reduce’ what we use, ‘Reuse’ what we can and ‘Recycle’ what we really cannot use again, and she warned us that as plastic is made from oil it will eventually run out.

Recycling is collected from all households in West Sussex and delivered to the ‘Viridor’ Materials Recycling Facility (MRF) at Ford via a network of transfer stations. At the transfer stations the recycling is bulked up onto bigger vehicles before being transported to the MRF to reduce the number of vehicles on the road. The mixed recycling is mechanically sorted and separated into individual types of material, baled up, then transported to re-processors for manufacturing into new goods and products. A range of technology is employed at the MRF to sort and separate recycling and Rachel stressed the importance of householders ensuring that they only place clean, dry and loose items in their household bins.

After tea Tricia Hall delivered her ever popular Nature Notes by informing us that approximately 2,500 gulls, plus several hundred waders were seen foraging on the Goring Gap. Also around 1,000 Common Gulls had been spotted and despite their name these birds were not often seen in this area. Tricia informed us that mainly due to the recent stormy weather several small sharks (Dogfish), Sea Slugs, ‘By the Wind’ jellyfish (a relative of the ‘Portuguese Man O’ War species), plus 2 porpoises or dolphins had all been washed up on the beach and had sadly succumbed to the elements.

To conclude our meeting Ed Miller updated us with the latest planning news. He advised us that at a meeting to discuss the Arun Local Plan on 14th January, it transpired that although the Planning Inspector had set a revised target of 760 sites per year for the next 15 years, developers are seeking approval for 900 sites per year totalling 13,500 new homes in the Arun district over the next 15 years. The Peugeot garage have won their appeal for a storage facility for up to 100 cars adjacent to their current site. Globe Estates (Southern) Ltd are still awaiting the decision on their appeal for the building of a block of 10 apartments on the former site of Beehive Cottage. Ed advised us of 2 new planning applications the first at 44, Ferringham Lane for 5 bungalows in addition to the existing house and at 34, Sea Lane for 2 bungalows also in addition to the existing house.