Quarterly Meeting Update
We had a really good quarterly meeting on Tuesday 12th March. It was very well attended and we were extremely pleased to welcome Colette Blackburn, Cabinet Member for Climate Action and Nature Recovery, Pete Crawford, HDC Parks and Countryside Manager, Rich Black, Wild About Horsham and Steve Hill, Parish and Community Engagement Officer who presented WSCC's new 'Greenprint' programme. We also welcomed Nick Tidy and Fiona Williams from the Nuthurst Biodiversity Group, Carrie Cort from Sussex Green Living and Sam Gandy who presented his company, Wireless Wild, and spoke about how they are proposing to support FoHP and the Wildways Project with data collection using capture cameras and Wireless Wild's unique technology.
Particular points of note:
Horsham Green Spaces now has an updated logo and a dedicated website. This is www.horshamgreenspaces.org. We would like to extend our grateful thanks to Denne Neighbourhood Council who (post meeting) have agreed to fund the website for the next two years. As you know, HGS is a community forum with no funds or bank account and this would not be possible without the generosity of like-minded groups. If your green spaces group would like their logo included on the HGS website please email us.
We presented the progress of the Horsham Wildways project, which has now been launched on the HDC website. You can read more about it here. We also spent some time in a break-out session thinking about how we can engage with the local community.
WSCC have chosen Horsham District to pilot their Greenprint programme. Greenprint is a funded experiment to de-carbonise WSCC highways. You can find out more about their plans on the WSCC website here. Steve Hill is their Parish and Community Engagement Officer and he is very keen to engage with green spaces groups and the wider population across Horsham District. Steve plans to come along to our HGS quarterly meetings, and remain in dialogue with us throughout. (Please see the minutes for full details.)
HGS and Sussex Green Living (SGL) have put in a joint grant proposal to Wilder Horsham District to run wildlife corridor workshops as part of SGL’s school roadshows. We will update you on the outcome in due course. This will also feature SGLs recently launched Pollination Education Stations. Horsham based Envitia Ltd are the first company to sponsor one of the Pollination Stations. Full details can be found here. If you would like more information, or know of a local business, or school, that might be interested, please email us, and we will put you in touch with Carrie Cort, SGL.
Our next meeting will be on Tuesday 11th June. Please DO come along and support us, and you'll get to hear more about the progress of both the Wildways and Greenprint projects.
Arun and Rother River Trust - Water Quality Monitoring Project
ARRT have created a citizen science Water Quality Monitoring project, ARRT River Guardians. This is a fantastic chance for communities and volunteers to get involved and join the 60+ citizen scientists monitoring their local watercourses across our catchment, in turn helping us restore and protect our stunning rivers and streams.
ARRT will be hosting a workshop for interested volunteers to learn everything they need to know about ARRTs River Guardian water quality monitoring scheme and have the chance to input/shape the project on the morning of Friday 19th April at Warnham Local Nature Reserve.
Spaces are limited. If you would like to attend, please email us and we will pass your details onto the organisers.
Don't worry if you can't attend, all relevant information can be shared post-workshop.
Free Surveying and Recording Training - Woods Mill, Henfield
Also on Friday 19th April, Sussex Wildlife Trust are running a free day’s training on an introduction to ecological surveying and basic recording techniques for community groups in Sussex. Again spaces are limited, and will be on a first come, first served basis, with one space per community group.
If you’d like to book a place or find out more, please contact SWT’s Community Action Officer Huw Morgan on huwmorgan@sussexwt.org.uk.