Part of the Bigger Picture

The Lower Windrush Valley Project has been instrumental in many environmental initiatives in the valley over the last twelve years. But this is a time of great change in local and national government policies and administration so it seems like the right time to examine the role of the project now and into the future. The valley is rich in habitat types and wildlife and has great potential for further improvements if there is the interest and the will of local people.

 

 It might be that the decision is to carry on as before which will work fine until the project funding runs out. But there may be more interest from people who can see the potential for a wider remit that will involve more people in the running and operations of the project.

 The next two LWVP talks are aimed at generating as many ideas and suggestions as possible about the future of the project from people who live or work in the area or who have a specific interest e.g as a walker, bird watcher, angler etc. The two talks are focussed on stimulating the debate about the role of the Lower Windrush Valley and the Project in contributing to The Bigger Picture of the county, the country and even the world. I hope that as many people as possible will come to join in with what I am sure will be lively discussions and then to attend a public consultation meeting in May(more details to follow) where we will seek to collate and coordinate views about the future direction of the project.

 

Please pass this information on to anyone you think might be interested so that we can get as wide a representation of ideas as possible.

Wednesday 26^th February 7.30 pm at Northmoor village hall

Poul Christensen CBE

Local dairy farmer, President of the National Federation of Young Farmers Clubs and former Chairman of Natural England. Poul will be setting out his view of national trends in environmental issues and management and leading a discussion on how the Lower Windrush Valley may be affected in the future and how we might best work together to face the challenges.

 

Thursday 27^th March 7.30 pm at South Leigh village hall

Dr Carolyn Jewell

Manager of the Nature After Minerals programme. Carolyn will talk about some of the restored mineral extraction sites that are providing valuable habitat for rare and endangered species in the UK and Europe. She will also be covering examples of restoration that we have here in the valley and how they contribute now and may contribute in the future to the Bigger Picture of environmental restoration.

Everyone welcome. For more information about these talks and the consultation please email: Jane Bowley at lwvp@oxfordshire.gov.uk or call on 01865 815426