http://www.wildsheffield.com/blackamoor_update
This now is a link to the response to that plan from Friends of Blacka Moor.
https://www.dropbox.com/s/9ak0j25mh07se17/planRESPONSE_NF.doc?dl=0
Below is a copy of one of several paragraphs from the response explaining why the plan lacks credibility:
_______________________
"
F Omissions and Errors
The plan has serious omissions. In 95 pages it's aiming to
look weighty and comprehensive, covering all aspects of the site, its history
its ecology, its environment etc. These
omissions and errors are significant in that they indicate a desk job with poor
knowledge of Blacka which has been managed by SWT for 14 years.
Examples:
a) a major change
to the infrastructure does not seem to have been noticed by the writer - the
removal of the east-west overground power line - It's referred to as still
being in place in this plan but was removed a few years ago, the removal having
been instigated by Friends of Blacka Moor at a RAG meeting in the interests of
the landscape and views; then taken up by CPRE who had been delegated by PDNPA.
(The SWT Reserve Manager was originally indifferent.) Interestingly the
photograph at the top of the draft plan looked completely different before the
removal of the power line, and SWT had made no effort to find out if it could
be removed.
b) the place of mammals on site is inadequately dealt with.
For example an important large animal present on site, roe deer, is not even
mentioned. There's a lot about birds and protecting them but very little about
mammals. When they are mentioned they
seem to be regarded as an inconvenience and rather unwelcome.
c) No mention is
made of the changes made to the Graves Covenant nor the long process by which
SWT persuaded the reluctant Charity Commission to agree to conservation being
carried out after the Commission first refused to allow SWT to hold a lease on
the land. The key statement in the Charity Commissioners' agreed scheme of
amendments made to the 1933 Graves Covenant is conspicuously absent from the
plan.
d) the history of
protests and petitions against the chosen management strategy and SWT's role 2005/6 is conspicuous by its
absence. There is also no mention of the petition against fencing and sheep
grazing in the 1980s
e) Despite much being said about interpretation (notices)
the writer does not seem to be aware of the stone plaques that were installed
with funds provided by Dore Village Society about the gift of the land to the
public by Alderman Graves. This also was partly instigated by Friends of Blacka
Moor who, along with DVS and regular users, wanted a dignified sign rather than
the fussy and intrusive A4 laminated sheets SWT pinned up on gates.
f) Himalayan Balsam is mentioned as an invasive alien plant
not at present on Blacka. Quoted in bold type: "Should these species be found on site, immediate action to remove
them will be taken."
Himalayan Balsam is
on the site and easily seen from a public right of way. I alerted the SWT
reserve manager to this four years ago. !! She did nothing about it. So much
for 'immediate action'.
h) the statement that stiles are placed every 100m along
the barbed wire is also wrong.
There will be other omissions but few readers have time to
go through the text line by line. These and other errors and omissions are an
indictment of SWTs failure to consult and listen to those of us who know Blacka
well and of the organisation's intransigence and determination to do what it
has always intended in the face of evidence and opposition from local people.
It could be that some of the errors and omissions above
will be put right in the final version but that assumes this submission will be
read. Anything is possible but it says a lot that it could not be right first
time. "
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