Protecting Otters in York Steering Group Meeting Minutes of the meeting of 29th February 2008, BTCV Office, 3 leake street, York. Present Andy Brown – andy.brown@btcv.org.uk Liam O’Reilly – leg@riseup.net Jane Tavener – janetav@gmail.com Alison Mills – a.mills@univ.bangor.ac.uk Kevin Rich – richkevin@gmail.com Jake Tomlinson – jct501@york.ac.uk Charlotte Kerry – charlottemcenery@hotmail.com 1) Introduction to the project Liam O’Reilly stated the purpose of the meeting, to get together a steering group of 16-25 year olds to lead and manage the greenprints project, and introduced the project itself. Working with the City of York Council (COYC) the BTCV is currently trying to secure funding to stabilise and protect otters along the river Foss as part of the Local Biodiversity Action Plan. The COYC is currently concentrating it’s efforts on the river Foss in order to increase the biodiversity in the area and stabilise current populations. They are mainly focusing on watervoles, otters, great crested newts and flood plains. The particular projects the BTCV is trying to secure funding for is an otter pass, close to castle mill bridge, to allow otters to pass safely from the river Foss to the river Ouse and visa versa. Three artificial plastic permanent holts (dens for female otters to rear there cubs) and a section of otter proof fencing along Haxby road to reduce road mortalities. The steering group will primarily be concerned with the otter proof fencing, however, there is no reason they cannot be involved with the other aspects of the otter projects if the opportunity arises. For instance, there is a possibility that COYC and Yorkshire Water (YW) may fund the other parts of the project. Previously the BTCV was trying to secure funding for the entirety of the project through the SITA trust grant (landfill tax) – headed by Liam O’Reilly. But it was discovered that the BTCV could not cover their costs as the grant would not allow overheads. It was then decided to apply for greentprints flagship funding, to fund the otter proof fencing, and to set up a steering group take the project forward. Otters from the river Foss have been crossing Haxby road in order to get access to Sessions Nature Reserve, this has resulted in two deaths. The 235m fence will try to prevent otters crossing the road and will help stabilise the population on the river Foss. It will require several gates as it is on public land and machinery may need to access the river for maintenance. We are currently at the stage where we are about to hand in the first stage of the application form. During the second stage there will be more to do and we will be assigned a mentor to help with the application. We are aiming for the 2nd stage of the application to be completed and handed in for the deadline of 25th April. 2) Site Visit and Next Meeting The group agreed that we would have a site visit to measure, take pictures and look at where the fencing will be placed. This will take place on the 13th March with the next meeting starting at 10.30am at the BTCV Office. Action – All. 3) Recruitment and Volunteer Fairs It was agreed it would be a good idea to make a list of places that we can advertise for volunteers for the project. Action – All. 4) Set up facebook Group It was agreed that a facebook group should be set up to help with publicity and organisation. Action – Jane. 5) Information about Project Relevant website links and other background information will be sent to the group via email. Action – Liam 6) Match Funding The cost of the fencing may push us over the greenprints limit, so we may need to consider alternative match funding. Possible sources should be found out. Action – All. 7) Administrative and Contact Point The group will someone who can be easily contacted on a daily basis regarding the project. Action – Alison 8) Guided Walks and educational activities The project aims to have an educational element, teaching 16-25 year olds through guided walks/demonstrations. We need a list of possible contacts to fulfil this. Action – Charlotte, Jake, Kevin (& All)