ProGaps -Protecting our Gaps and Green spaces

Posted on by

We have teamed up with conservation and amenity groups and residents’ associations all along the coast from Rustington to Worthing to resist, together, all attacks on our Gaps and other green spaces by housing developers and commercial enterprises. Every planning application in these areas will be opposed, and objection e mails and letters sent, to make it clear to the Councils, and to the Inspector in any appeal, that we all value the individual character of our villages and townships that is guaranteed by the Gaps between settlements, and the landscape, recreation and wild life habitat that these Gaps give us.

We all objected to Persimmon and their 475-house estate on Chatsmore Farm, to Redrow’s 74-house estate at Roundstone Farm (refused by Arun DC but allowed on appeal) and the 193-house estate at Rustington Golf Centre (refused by Arun DC but an appeal is in progress). We have all objected to the application for 70 houses at Lansdowne Nursery and we shall certainly all object if Rego Properties go ahead with their proposals for over 100 houses on Highdown Vineyard.

This is not an anti-Council campaign. We believe Arun DC and Worthing BC have the right policies and want to protect the Gaps as much as we do. Our campaign is there to support them by showing how overwhelming is the opposition to filling our green spaces with development.

For up-to-date information on the latest threats to our Gaps and green spaces, join Ferring Conservation Group and get regular newsletters with ProGaps news.

.

Great Tits

Posted on by

Parish Magazine Article September 2022

Great Tit by Michael Blencowe of the Sussex Wildlife Trust

 Just for the record; I’ve never trusted them. Unlike all the other familiar, friendly faces on my back garden bird table there’s just something about the Great Tit that’s always made me suspicious. Perhaps it’s my mistrust of uniforms. The Great Tit’s smart plumage with a collar, black tie and a glossy black cap makes them look too official, too authoritative. And that bright yellow chest? Far too garish for the garden.

Their behaviour isn’t exactly endearing either. Great Tits are the bullies on the bird table. They’ll aggressively assert their authority and violently peck at other birds as they plunder the peanuts. When a house-hunting Great Tit can’t find a suitable hole to nest in, it’ll simply evict a Blue Tit and move in.

Their dominance is also heard in spring when their two-note song, “Tea-cher! Tea-cher! Tea-cher!” rings out through our woodlands. It was this “Tea-cher!” that taught me my first lesson in bird song identification; an easily recognisable two-note war cry used to proclaim the tit’s territory. But I was soon to learn that not everything was how it seemed. Each male actually has an average of four different songs, which can be sung at three different tempos. This varied repertoire is a sly Beau Geste trick employed to trick other Great Tits into thinking that a woodland is more crowded than it really is. The birds who know the most tunes secure larger territories and breed more successfully. And it’s a trick that fools me each year too; if I don’t recognise a bird call in the woods it’s always a Great Tit.

 

Through aggression and deceit, these birds have successfully established an empire that spreads from England to China. And it’s from the far-flung corners of this empire that we’ve recently received reports of some rather worrying behaviour. From Finland came news of a group of Great Tits changing their vegan diet of seeds and nuts to something much more meaty: other birds. In Hungary, scientists made the chilling discovery of a population of Great Tits which have developed a taste for the brains of hibernating bats. Sure, these are isolated incidents at the moment but with human society plunging rapidly towards the abyss and an army of Great Tits acquiring a taste for blood and brains, is it unreasonable to hypothesise a post-apocalyptic future where humans are at the mercy of plagues of zombie Great Tits? Close your windows people – they’re coming for us!

Sussex Wildlife Trust is an independent charity caring for wildlife and habitats throughout Sussex. Founded in 1961, we have worked with local people for over half a century to make Sussex richer in wildlife. Please consider supporting our work. As a member you will be invited to join Michael Blencowe on our regular wildlife walks and also enjoy free events, discounts on wildlife courses, Wildlife magazine and our Sussex guide book, Discovering Wildlife.  It’s easy to join online at sussexwildlifetrust.org.uk/join

Butterfly Count on Highdown Hill – 25th July

Posted on by

Ferring Conservation Group regularly takes part in the annual nationwide Butterfly Conservation’s ‘Big Butterfly Count’, and 2022 was no exception. This important survey is aimed at helping conservationists establish the health of our environment by counting the amount and type of butterflies (and some day-flying moths) sighted throughout the UK.

Unfortunately the balmy, sunny day that encourages butterflies to take to the wing was not to be. Instead a dull and windy day greeted an enthusiastic group as they met in the carpark at Highdown Hill, although consequently their expectations were limited. As the group, led by Graham Tuppen ably assisted by Clive Hall and Peter and Ruth Dale, proceeded to the top of the hill following a path that was edged with large hawthorn and elder bushes, they were rewarded with the sight of a few Meadow Browns and Gatekeepers. It was reassuring to note a healthy Ash tree standing proud in the vicinity and as the group ventured further along the brow of the hill some Common Blues were seen plus a solitary Painted Lady and a Small Skipper. Heading eastwards a beautiful Silver-washed fritillary was spied by Clive Hall which rested just long enough for the rest of the party to also be enthralled by its beauty and was definitely a highlight of the morning.

Other welcome sightings were many wildflowers including a Round-headed Rampion, as well as Knapweed, Red Bartsia, Yellow Rattle, Agrimony (this plant is also known as ‘Church Steeple’ because of the shape of its spikes – all aerial parts of Agrimony emit sweet scent when they are crushed and due to the pleasant, apricot-like smell of the flowers it is often used for the preparation of potpourris). Along with Wild Carrot and Parsnip, the frothy yellow flowers of Ladies Bedstraw were evident and on a warm day these flowers fill the air with a sweet, honey-like scent.

As a firm reminder that many species of wildlife also share the wonderful habitat that the Southdown National Park provides, Swifts and a lone Skylark flew high above Highdown Hill while the familiar drilling sound of a Woodpecker could be distinctly heard. Heading through a partially wooded area on the lower slopes, a charm of striking Goldfinches flashed past (a ‘charm’ is the collective name for this particular bird). The climax to this interesting day came when Graham Tuppen observed, what he first thought was a small bird, but was in fact a Hummingbird Hawk Moth hovering around a Buddleia bush near to Highdown Tea Rooms (this day-flying moth has a wingspan of about two inches and uses its long proboscis to feed on the

nectar of tube-shaped flowers and is named for its similarity to Hummingbirds). This was a first sighting in the wild for Graham and he was suitably impressed.

To celebrate this unexpectedly successful morning several members of the Group partook in refreshments at the popular Tea Rooms before heading home to submit their sightings into the Butterfly Conservation’s national database.

Living Seas along the Sussex Coast

Posted on by

On a warm, sunny evening Sarah Ward, Sussex Wildlife Trust’s (SWT) Living Seas Officer, opened the Group’s July meeting with an informative and interesting, illustrated talk on Living Seas along the Sussex Coast.  This happened to coincide with National Marine Week (spanning 15 days to allow for the variation of tide times) the Nationwide Wildlife Trust’s celebration of all things marine, which aims to promote the engagement of people across the UK with the world of maritime and helps in the understanding of the science behind this important work.

Sarah took members on a whistle-stop tour of the many different environmental features along the Sussex coast and sea. Starting with the Seven Sisters chalk cliffs of East Sussex, which shape the coastline and undersea environment, Sarah explained the importance of the vegetation on the shingle which also supports many animals. Globally it is only the UK, Japan and parts of Australasia that have vegetated shingle beaches that sustain this important habitat.

Marine Protected Areas are another initiative that restrict environmentally-damaging activities in the sea and it is hoped that eventually these areas will form a chain of protected habitats and wildlife. Sarah is a keen diver and highlighted the principle diving sites that provide the very best opportunities for data gathering, including Selsey in West Sussex.

The successful Sussex Kelp Restoration Project has greatly improved the kelp beds since the Sussex Nearshore Trawling Byelaw (March 2021) was introduced. Supported by Sir David Attenborough, this project was a collaboration of national and local organisations including SWT, Blue Marine Foundation, Big Wave Productions, Sussex IFCA, Adur and Worthing Council, University of Brighton and UCL.

Opening the second half of the meeting Graham Tuppen delivered the ever popular Nature Notes session with a beautiful photograph of one of the wildflower beds in the Little Twitten recreation ground. Although pretty blue cornflowers and delicate pink cosmos dominated the bed it was doing an excellent job of attracting bees. On a walk through Ilex Way Graham had spotted a blackbird on a nest in the trunk of a tree presumably incubating her 2nd or 3rd clutch of eggs. A black Flatworm with a gold stripe was spotted in Graham’s garden and David Bettiss reported having seen a mature Stag Beetle resting on his driveway. A pretty Comma butterfly was photographed relaxing in a member’s garden and a small Tortoiseshell butterfly was sighted by the banks of the Rife.

Ed Miller took to the floor at the end of the meeting to deliver an update regarding local planning news. He advised members that the planning application for a large modern design house in Grange Park had, at least for the time being, been withdrawn. Decisions on the appeals for the housing estates proposed for Roundstone Farm and Rustington Golf Course were still to be concluded and the hearing at the High Court regarding the Persimmon Homes estate on the Chatsmore Farm land had taken place and a decision was imminent. An inappropriate 20 metre high mobile phone mast, initially proposed for Greystoke Road, will hopefully be sited somewhere less conspicuous.

Shoreham Beach Vegetation Walk and June Group Meeting

Posted on by

On a very sunny Friday 17th June, some 20 members of Ferring Conservation Group met at Shoreham Fort mainly to look at plants growing on the vegetated shingle, one of the few places in the country where this eco-system is found.

Led by Graham Tuppen members were able to find 16 of the 18 plants on their list, including Sea Kale, Red Valerian, Common and Tree Mallow, Yellow Horned Poppy, Vipers Bugloss, Kidney Vetch, Silver Ragwort, Purple Toadflax, Thrift, and Starry-headed Clover. Surprisingly, given the sunny weather, the only butterfly seen was a painted lady but several wall and sand lizards were evident.

The speaker at the Group’s June meeting was Kevin Newman, a local historian, tour guide and author of a wide range of books on Sussex. His subject was ‘Scrumptious Sussex’, taking members on a tour of the county East and West, showing images of historic pubs, hotels, restaurants and breweries and telling fascinating stories about Sussex specialities of food and drink, and the people who consumed them.

As in Worthing town’s motto, ‘From the earth fullness, from the sea good health’, Kevin pointed to Sussex agriculture and Sussex fisheries as what sustained the county and its many visitors past and present. Eating and drinking was always important for social occasions and celebrations, as a picture of a VE Day street party showed, and an essential component of the attraction of resorts like Brighton and Worthing.

Seaside fish and chips, he said, was brought to Britain by Jewish immigrants from eastern Europe, and the first curry house in Britain was opened in Brighton, as well as the first fast food establishment and the first rooftop restaurant. And the popular dessert, ‘Banoffee pie’ was invented by Ian Dowding, a chef at a restaurant in Jevington, East Sussex, in 1971.

Brighton, he said, was always an important centre for food and drink – for its fishing as well as its prodigious consumption. Long before its seaside trade, the by the Prince Regent (later George IV).

After the talk, Graham Tuppen showed slides of the vegetated shingle at Shoreham Beach, which a number of Group members had visited the previous day (please see above).

Ed Miller concluded the meeting with an update on the planning issues in and around Ferring: Including the six housing estates that developers propose for the green gaps, the commercial development up McIntyre’s Lane as well as a new application for a house in Grange Park – to be built in three storeys and in a totally unsympathetic modernist design, both overlooking and overbearing on its neighbours.

 

A Sussex Scrapbook – a talk by Christopher Horlock

Posted on by

Ferring Conservation Group was delighted when Chris Horlock stepped in at very short notice to speak at their monthly Group meeting on 27th May. With an illustrated talk entitled ‘A Sussex Scrapbook’ Chris regaled members with an enchanting mix of anecdotes regarding famous people with a connection to Sussex, details of local historic buildings and landmarks, local traditions and folklore as well as traditional ‘health cures’, legends, tales and mysteries. Chris cleverly linked these stories to paint a vivid picture of the attitudes, beliefs and outlooks of the generations that lived in our cherished county in years gone by. As a much respected local historian Chris contributes regularly to Sussex Life and is the author of several books on Sussex history. As a natural story teller Chris has graced the airways on radio and has also appeared on television. Chris began his talk with interesting details of the Priest House at West Hoathly on the edge of the Ashdown Forest. It was once owned by Henry VIII and now has over 170 culinary, medicinal and household herbs planted in the garden. There are witch marks scratched into wood in several places in the house including the front door and on the beam above the main fireplace. These are known as apotropaic marks dating back to the 17th century and were believed to prevent witches from entering the house. Set into the ground outside the front door is a rough slab of iron which is waste from a local furnace and this was also believed to serve the same purpose (witches were commonly believed to be scared of iron).

The Long Man of Wilmington was the basis of another of Chris’s many stories. This giant figure is 235 feet (72 metres) tall and stands proudly on the steep slopes of Windover Hill near Wilmington, East Sussex. The origins of the Long Man are unclear and it was once thought to have been from Neolithic times but it could be as late as the 16th or 17th century AD. From a distance the figure seems to have been carved from the underlying chalk but the modern figure is formed from white-painted breeze blocks and lime mortar. With many other facts and stories relayed to his captivated audience Chris brought his talk to a conclusion by raising a chuckle with the photograph of a sign seen on the front gate of a Sussex property: ‘Trespassers will be Composted!’

After a break for tea Graham Tuppen presented the Nature Notes slot updating members on local wildlife sightings and happenings. Graham paid tribute to Tricia Hall who had devised and presented this slot for the past eight years and acknowledged that he indeed had big shoes to fill. Graham began by showing a photograph of the shingle beds along Patterson’s Walk, which Tricia regularly tended, along with the boat at the top of Sea Lane which was looking pretty with many Red and White Valerian. Also the lagoons had many Yellow Flag Irises and along the banks of the Rife Marsh Orchids and Twayblades (an easily overlooked orchid recognisable by their two large leaves and yellow/green flowers) were thriving. There have been several types of orchids seen in the vicinity including Bee Orchids. Three Painted Lady butterflies (a migrant butterfly from Morocco) were seen during the recent Beach Clean (at which very little litter was reported). Graham was delighted to inform members that masses of tadpoles were seen around the footbridge area of the Rife and Clive Hope reported having seen three Bee-eater birds over Angmering.

Ed Miller concluded the meeting announcing that there had been no further planning news with the exception that Worthing BC had received consent for a Judicial Review into HM Planning Inspector’s decision to allow the Chatsmore Farm planning application.

 

A Walk to see the Bluebells in Patching Woods

Posted on by

A group of enthusiastic members from Ferring Conservation Group enjoyed a recent walk through Patching woods, principally to see the bluebells, which were wonderful. The wood anemones were slightly past their best, but still good, and there was a very good show of early purple orchids. Patches of wild garlic and yellow archangel, plus native primroses, lesser celandine and greater stitchwort were in flower, and also garlic mustard, perhaps better known as ‘jack by the hedge’.

The butterflies were apparently grounded by the lack of sun, but plenty of birds were seen and heard, including a raven, red kite, buzzard, sparrow hawk, kestrel, greater spotted woodpecker, tree creeper, blackcap, chiffchaff, skylarks and a swallow.

 

Report by Graham Tuppen, and photos by Peter Dale

Come and Support our Work and Help to Keep Ferring Beautiful!

Posted on by

We welcome new members so please join us and help in our campaigns to conserve the open spaces in and around Ferring, hear interesting talks on local and regional wild life as well as joining us on our regular nature walks. Take part in practical conservation work – planting trees and wild flowers, and keeping the beach and the banks of the Rife free of litter.

Come along to one of our monthly Group meetings:

As well as excellent speakers and the ever popular and delightful Nature Notes presentations, updates on planning issues affecting Ferring and surrounding areas are delivered and discussed.

The meetings are held on the last Friday of the month in Ferring Village Hall commencing at 2.30pm (or 7.30pm in May. June and July)

Admission is £2 for members or £3 for visitors and includes tea and biscuits.

Please note our annual subscription is just £1 and includes a copy of our popular magazine

The Planning Process

Posted on by

Planning Applications – who does what?

Ferring Conservation Group spends a lot of time monitoring the applications for new housing, commercial development and large extensions or rebuilding where they impinge unfairly on neighbours, the streetscape or countryside. We often ask our members to submit individual objections but we rarely explain how the system works.  Typically which Councils are involved, or what happens when there is an appeal – it is all rather complicated:

The starting point is the law:

Under the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 (as amended), planning permission is required for any development of land.  Local Planning Authorities (LPAs) – certain local councils and other bodies – are responsible for examining applications for planning permission and deciding whether to approve or refuse them.

In our case the LPA is Arun District Council. They are required to draw up a Local Plan which must be submitted and endorsed by HM Planning Inspectorate (part of national government). The Local Plan and Neighbourhood Development Plan (NDP), where there is one, must be consistent with the Government’s National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF).

Applications have to be decided as to whether they are consistent with, or a departure from, the Development Plan, unless there are material considerations that indicate otherwise.

The LPAs are obliged to consult the body responsible for Highways (in our case West Sussex County Council) for their view as to the implications of any development that affects traffic, parking or road safety.

If West Sussex County Council considers that the application would have a severe detrimental effect on the local highway network, that is usually the end of the matter and the application is refused (they rarely do this – usually they just give advice on parking and access).

The LPA must enable the Parish Council to produce a Neighbourhood Development Plan, as we have in Ferring, but this NDP must be consistent with the Local Plan (as above). Arun District Council is obliged to consult Ferring Parish Council on every planning application in the parish area. Unfortunately not all Councils give full consideration to Parish Council views.

This is very much a top-down planning system not the ‘Localism’ that we were promised a few years ago. The Government sets the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) and Arun DC has to produce a Local Plan that is consistent with it. Also the Parish Council has to produce a Neighbourhood Development Plan (NDP) which is consistent with the Local Plan. The system has become even more restrictive in recent years because the Government now sets housing-site delivery requirements for each LPA and a rule that each LPA must have a five-year supply of housing land.

The other way that LPAs are weakened is that when the Council have decided to refuse an application, for good and proper reasons, the developer can appeal to the Secretary of State (HM Planning Inspectorate) against that decision. The Government then appoints a Planning Inspector to decide the appeal – and his/her decision is final – it can only be challenged in the High Court (please note that the appeal system allows only the applicant to appeal, not the objectors!).

Where do local residents come in all this?

Well, we elect the Councillors and the whole country elects the Government. We can send Arun DC our objections against the applications we consider unsuitable then the Council ‘takes them into consideration’. Ferring Conservation Group sends in many objections to the applications we feel are unsuitable – we win some and we lose some. The Council may support local objections and refuse authority to develop but then the applicant can appeal to HM Planning Inspectorate who has the final say. But the Inspector’s decision is open to Judical Review, If the High Court rules that the Inspector has made a mistake in law it can quash that decision. This is what happened in the Chatsmore Farm case.

The Council wins some and loses some, and challenges in the High Court are rare and even more rarely successful.

It is a very unsatisfactory system which fails to take into account local democracy.

Ed Miller

 

The White Stork Project

Posted on by

We welcomed Lucy Groves, a conservation biologist with a special interest in movement ecology to our March meeting. Lucy is currently employed by the Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust as the project officer for the White Stork Project, and is based at the Knepp Castle Estate.

Lucy began by sharing her enthusiasm for the Stork Project which is a pioneering partnership working together to restore a population of breeding White Storks in Southern England after an absence of several centuries. A number of private landowners, namely Knepp, Wadhurst and Wintershall, located in West Sussex, East Sussex and Surrey respectively are helping to establish a breeding population of free-living White Stocks in Britain once again.

This project is being carried out in partnership with the Roy Dennis Wildlife Foundation, Cotswold Wildlife Park, Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust and overseas at Warsaw Zoo. The named estates have constructed purpose built predator-proof pens covering about six acres each. A total of 166 rehabilitated wild-fledged White Storks from Poland, as well as a number form Northern France, have been released into these pens over the course of the last three years, in order to establish local breeding populations.

Lucy was keen to update the Group with the progress so far at Knepp and was delighted to announce that in early April 2020 five eggs were confirmed in a nest built high up in an oak tree with the eggs hatching in early May.

The project has fitted GPS trackers to a proportion of their released birds and these devices collect data to help determine home ranges, habitat choice, foraging strategies, distance moved per day etc.

White storks are particularly associated with the county of Sussex. For instance the Saxon name for the village of Storrington was originally ‘Estorchestone’; meaning ‘the village of storks’. A pair of white storks still features on the village emblem.

After a break for refreshments David Bettiss delivered Trisha Hall’s Nature Notes session and it was encouraging to hear that several species of butterfly had been seen locally; Commas, Tortoiseshell, Brimstone, Red Admiral, Small Whites, Orange Tips and Holly Blue. The Red Kites were thriving and as many as eleven had been spotted high above Beachy Head and it is thought that they have new breeding territories. Many waders had already returned to their breeding grounds in Europe. Chiff Chaffs are the first migrant birds to be seen here when five were sighted in the vicinity of the Rife, along with Green Finches. To the delight of local birdwatchers a rare Desert Wheatear had been reported on the Goring Gap and plenty of frog spawn and tadpoles were evident in the lagoons by the Rife – David also has a newt in his garden pond. Pretty yellow Celandines were plentiful throughout the village especially in Clover Lane, and magnificent Magnolia trees in full bloom were gracing many gardens. The Blackthorn was in bloom locally and Arun DC have confirmed wildflower beds were to be seeded in the public green spaces throughout the village.

Ed Miller concluded the meeting with the devastating news that Persimmon Homes had won their appeal to HM Planning Inspectorate and had now been given the go ahead to build 475 homes on the Chatsmore Farmland at the Northern Goring Gap – although this may be challenged by Worthing BC in the High Court. It was likely however that other large scale planning applications may be revived in view of this decision. The Highdown Vineyard planning application has already surfaced again and a Public Consultation had been planned in the Village Hall on 30th March. There has been a back-garden development proposed for a property on the corner of Sea Lane Gardens and Greenways Crescent, and a property already undergoing renovation has submitted a planning application for a 4-bed house in its back garden.