The previous post was obviously written in a moment of weakness. Further readings from the Draft Management Plan for Blacka reveal that SWT are far from earning absolution.
This document is so shameless it could come from only one source. The subtitle could be Doar's Revenge. Yes, still around and no change.
It's instructive to ponder that the subject of this blog, so confined as Blacka and minor in the scheme of things, can throw up so much iniquity. A naive everyman might well wonder: if it's like this here, then what must the rest of the world be like? Best not ask.
The question has to be: Is it worth wasting time and energy on this? Others decided long ago that once it became clear just what the outfit here was like they would no longer even visit a place they had previously loved.
Friday, 9 January 2015
Wednesday, 7 January 2015
Signs of Change?
If so it's probably only minor and the least one could expect. But we should encourage it.
Following my comments on damage to the woodland by mountain bikers, and the traditional absence of SWT staff from Blacka over holiday periods, the new SWT manager has turned up at the weekend and confronted those making a downhill bike trail.
Well it's a beginning and there's a long way to go. Friends of Blacka will I believe play their part if a proper process of consultation is begun. But it's hard to see how the fundamental issues can be resolved without much more concession from SWT - now SRWT.
Following my comments on damage to the woodland by mountain bikers, and the traditional absence of SWT staff from Blacka over holiday periods, the new SWT manager has turned up at the weekend and confronted those making a downhill bike trail.
Well it's a beginning and there's a long way to go. Friends of Blacka will I believe play their part if a proper process of consultation is begun. But it's hard to see how the fundamental issues can be resolved without much more concession from SWT - now SRWT.
Dear January
The first month of the year is probably most people's least dear, coming as it does after festivity and indulgence. It seems a long way to the summer holidays.
To see deer in the woods feels just right in January. It's necessary to remember that even to those of us who have spent a good part of our time over many years enjoying aspects of the countryside and its wildlife this is a comparatively new phenomenon. Real wildlife and large animals occupying the woods was not a feature of my walks until the last ten years.
This morning there was a large party of red deer comprising hinds and younger animals. Timid as they are it's still possible to get close to them with care.
Not so the roe deer which were not far off and quickly disappeared.
It needed extra persistence to get this close:
To see deer in the woods feels just right in January. It's necessary to remember that even to those of us who have spent a good part of our time over many years enjoying aspects of the countryside and its wildlife this is a comparatively new phenomenon. Real wildlife and large animals occupying the woods was not a feature of my walks until the last ten years.
This morning there was a large party of red deer comprising hinds and younger animals. Timid as they are it's still possible to get close to them with care.
Not so the roe deer which were not far off and quickly disappeared.
It needed extra persistence to get this close:
Tuesday, 6 January 2015
Gallery
The annual seasonal photo shoot had to be postponed till the new year. Now, for the record, regulars at the Caff have condescended to pose on a frosty morning.
Sunday, 4 January 2015
SWT and the Tooth Fairy
It’s still possible to find people who trust SWT. Not many perhaps and they may belong to the subset who both trust Richard Nixon and believe in the Tooth Fairy. Even they may have doubts after being shown parts of the draft management plan.
The only Blacka consultation that came anywhere near being worthy of the name happened in 2006. It was 'independently' facilitated by a firm called Icarus. This independence was questioned at an early stage because the facilitators were engaged by and employed by SWT. Though it's not certain who paid the rumoured £8,000 bill; the council might have chipped in.
The process was dogged from the start by lack of trust shown to be fully justified when it was revealed that a meeting of all the conservation industry people involved had agreed in advance that the central item of contention and the reason for the process would not even be discussed!! A document surfaced that participants were not meant to see. It showed the intention to instruct the ‘independent facilitator’ just what should be discussed at each meeting. Strictly off limits was the decision to fence and farm land that had not been farmed in recent years (a key reason for the public enjoying its use) and the reason for a large petition being presented to the council asking for it not to happen. How they expected to get away with this is hard to get heads round. It says a lot about the people involved. There were other signs that the facilitator was doing what the wildlife trust wanted and a suspicion that the course of the process was being guided along a path favoured by the trust managers and their conservation allies. Despite this there was opportunity for making valid points and discovering that some of those who previously supported the wildlife trust uncritically were leaning closer to our preference for minimal intervention.
But it was always important for us to remain suspicious. Reports written by the facilitator after each meeting did not always square with our recollection and sometimes he claimed there had been agreement of the whole group when this certainly was not the case. By the end however he had become more balanced and fair knowing that we would challenge if we were not satisfied that he was being independent. The facilitator’s report at the end was more balanced than we might have expected at the beginning.
He also suggested that a 5 year period of management the way SWT wanted it should be followed by a review, ‘Cattle in the Short Term’
When SWT wrote to those on the RAG mailing list a few months later they proclaimed their intention to go on with conservation grazing (Crop & Crap to you and me). But they too referred to 5 years:
Word of mouth assurances between then and now have left us with an impression that they intended to stop and reconsider after 5 years. And their ‘advisory’ group would be part of that review.
So what do we learn from the draft management plan of this utterly devious outfit?
Regular readers will realise that meetings of the RAG were put off again and again over several years specifically to deny a voice to local users of the site.
Trust? Better trust the wildlife
The only Blacka consultation that came anywhere near being worthy of the name happened in 2006. It was 'independently' facilitated by a firm called Icarus. This independence was questioned at an early stage because the facilitators were engaged by and employed by SWT. Though it's not certain who paid the rumoured £8,000 bill; the council might have chipped in.
The process was dogged from the start by lack of trust shown to be fully justified when it was revealed that a meeting of all the conservation industry people involved had agreed in advance that the central item of contention and the reason for the process would not even be discussed!! A document surfaced that participants were not meant to see. It showed the intention to instruct the ‘independent facilitator’ just what should be discussed at each meeting. Strictly off limits was the decision to fence and farm land that had not been farmed in recent years (a key reason for the public enjoying its use) and the reason for a large petition being presented to the council asking for it not to happen. How they expected to get away with this is hard to get heads round. It says a lot about the people involved. There were other signs that the facilitator was doing what the wildlife trust wanted and a suspicion that the course of the process was being guided along a path favoured by the trust managers and their conservation allies. Despite this there was opportunity for making valid points and discovering that some of those who previously supported the wildlife trust uncritically were leaning closer to our preference for minimal intervention.
But it was always important for us to remain suspicious. Reports written by the facilitator after each meeting did not always square with our recollection and sometimes he claimed there had been agreement of the whole group when this certainly was not the case. By the end however he had become more balanced and fair knowing that we would challenge if we were not satisfied that he was being independent. The facilitator’s report at the end was more balanced than we might have expected at the beginning.
There is a need to deal with previous history and clarify what is open for debate and what is not – this produced some difficulty during the process. We feel strongly that progress will not be made unless all issues remain open for debate, including cattle and fencing.
He also suggested that a 5 year period of management the way SWT wanted it should be followed by a review, ‘Cattle in the Short Term’
When SWT wrote to those on the RAG mailing list a few months later they proclaimed their intention to go on with conservation grazing (Crop & Crap to you and me). But they too referred to 5 years:
From the very start of discussions/meetings about grazing 5 or more years ago and ever since, it was always seen as an option that would be a trial (for 5 years or so) and not one that SWT would necessarily commit to for the duration of the lease.
Word of mouth assurances between then and now have left us with an impression that they intended to stop and reconsider after 5 years. And their ‘advisory’ group would be part of that review.
So what do we learn from the draft management plan of this utterly devious outfit?
Two areas of the site, the inby land and the heathland compartment – are currently let for grazing. The grazing rights to these areas have been issued to a Mr Andrew Gray under Farm Business Tenancy, to run for 10 years from 2014.
Regular readers will realise that meetings of the RAG were put off again and again over several years specifically to deny a voice to local users of the site.
Trust? Better trust the wildlife
Then and Now
I've mentioned numerous times the cavalier ways in which the wildlife trust misleads the public. A list is called for at some time. It would amount to a guide book on ways to say one thing and mean something quite different, and how to get away with it without really trying, simply relying on the general indifference of the public and its elected representatives.
Here's one I had nearly forgotten. Email received 31st Jan 2014
As we know this did not happen. Instead a puerile exercise was set up in the autumn called a public engagement in which managers were not allowed to answer questions or encourage discussion in public.
One of the most unlikeable aspects of humanity in its desk bound form is its habit of calculating ways of managing people through tricks of language. People actually sit down together and ponder whether to use words like consultation, public engagement and workshop. They determine that most people will only vaguely understand the distinctions. Nevertheless where was the review-of-work-done workshop? or the discussing-of-issues-and-looking-for-solutions workshop?
We know don't we? They started to think about things a bit. Some of the trustees woke up and asked some questions. They even read this blog and realised they had a very sticky case to defend. And they said "we can't do that; we're likely to be found out". But they were found out - long ago. The fraud is there for all with eyes to see. What's lacking is the consequences.
Here's one I had nearly forgotten. Email received 31st Jan 2014
Dear Reserve Advisory Group members,I hope you are all well. We wanted to let you know that we are now reviewing and re writing the management plan for Blacka Moor and we will be organising some workshops in the spring. The workshops will cover: reviewing the work done so far, gather information about how people value the nature reserve, discuss any issues and look for solutions, and see how to involve people in the future. The dates are to be arranged, but meetings will likely be held at Totley Rise Methodist Church, starting in the Spring.
As we know this did not happen. Instead a puerile exercise was set up in the autumn called a public engagement in which managers were not allowed to answer questions or encourage discussion in public.
One of the most unlikeable aspects of humanity in its desk bound form is its habit of calculating ways of managing people through tricks of language. People actually sit down together and ponder whether to use words like consultation, public engagement and workshop. They determine that most people will only vaguely understand the distinctions. Nevertheless where was the review-of-work-done workshop? or the discussing-of-issues-and-looking-for-solutions workshop?
We know don't we? They started to think about things a bit. Some of the trustees woke up and asked some questions. They even read this blog and realised they had a very sticky case to defend. And they said "we can't do that; we're likely to be found out". But they were found out - long ago. The fraud is there for all with eyes to see. What's lacking is the consequences.
Friday, 2 January 2015
In The Woods
Winter sun at its best in the woods where it penetrates to the floor and picks out the bronze colouring of bracken and beech leaves. Two large stags were alert to the occasional dog walker in the afternoon.
These two noble animals would have been rivals 3 months ago but now enjoy each other's company.
It's a part of Blacka that has many qualities of an unspoiled natural refuge. But it's under serious threat, not least from the wildlife trust itself which installed the barbarous wire fence and occasionally sends out groups of resident heel-kicking chain-saw maniacs to murder trees leaving dismembered corpses piled up within the barbed wire compound, bringing images of concentration camps to mind.
A fallen tree across the footpath is a victim of the heavy snowfall.
Nature as it works. But will the chain-saw operatives now intervene and leave clean-edged logs around emphasising managerial involvement?
There are other threats:
Mountain bikers have identified a lovely quiet and untouched area and are starting to create a downhill, thrill-seeking run.
Before we might have thought we were the only ones who walked this way. Now hyper-active madmen (avge age 35?) are set to change a part of Blacka that has been till now a secluded haven for roe deer. red deer and badgers. What are SWT doing about it? As of now, absolutely nothing. They've been told that it's happening but stick to their national guidelines by which employees have all the Christmas and New Year period off duty.
POSTSCRIPT.
Have my final comments above stung SWT into action after all these years. It could be that or a case of a new and better manager. Anyway my email resulted in him appearing onsite and confronting the perpetrators. Well done, and only too pleased to acknowledge it. Let's hope that regular appearances during holiday periods become standard and help to prevent things like this happening at all.
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