The Ebb and Flow Newsletter Ebb and Flow is the monthly newsletter for the Alde River Benefice and a valuable source of information for this web site. Read the latest edition as well as the archives here to see what is happening in and around Snape.
At
Snape’s Parish Council meeting on 24th January, David
Robertson presented the completed Parish Plan to the Parish Council, writes
council chairman Mike Hill. David and his committee have done a
tremendous amount of work over the past year or so, for which we are
extremely grateful. It is now for the Parish Council to take it forward
and try to ensure that the recommendations are implemented. Copies of
the report will be circulating in the village for all to see.
Aside from the final recommendations, the report highlights many interesting
opinions and also confirms that the vast majority of residents really
enjoy living in Snape. Whatever we ultimately achieve, the completion
of the Parish Plan does keep Snape well up in the queue for grant aid
and funding should we need it. The Snape website, as reported in last
month’s Ebb and Flow, is now well established under the stewardship of
Neil Parsons and Eddie Gillett. Look at www.snapevillage.info
and remember to let a member of the team know of coming events, send
reports of recent events, anything of interest to the village. It is up
to all of us to keep the website up to date.
You can view the Village Plan here
Details of Parish Council meeting agendas and minutes are available here
Thanks to a grant from Suffolk District Council’s Outdoor Playing Spaces Funding Scheme, three new pieces of equipment have been installed on our playing field. The Playing Field Committee decided, on this occasion, to provide for the younger children of the village. They will also be considering the suggestions gathered via the Village Plan and are always interested to hear from residents. Contact Eddie Gillett (688254) Frances Osborn (687462) or any other committee member.
The Parish Council is now having Open
Forums at
the start of each meeting, and members of the public are encouraged to
come along and make their views known. The next meeting is on Thursday 17th Aril 2008 (Annual Parish Meeting).
Alternatively issues can be addressed to our Parish Clerk, Mel
Thurston, 688849, for us to deal with.
Please keep us informed of your thoughts and needs.
The RSPB’s Rob Macklin reports on the £150,000 project at Snape’s Abbey Farm
Our new acquisition of 61 hectares of grassland and arable land at Abbey Farm was finally completed in January 2007. Otters and water voles have been found along the River Fromus which also holds a good population of fish including stoneloach and the scarce brook lamprey; the water quality here is superb and supports several species of dragonflies & damselflies, not least a large population of banded demoiselles! Breeding bird numbers were low although they did include several pairs of Cetti’s, reed & sedge warblers, a few pairs of reed buntings and just one pair of scarce grasshopper warblers.
Our plans for this site include creating a new wetland of reedbed and grazing marshes overlooked by naturally regenerating acid grassland. Work has now started and will involve cleaning out every ditch on the site, removing unwanted fencing & bridges, installing new sluices and the installation of a new livestock corral. The work should take two years and should attract breeding bitterns, marsh harriers and bearded tits as well as improving the habitat for otters and water voles. Future management will involve small scale cattle grazing and possibly introducing Polish “konik” ponies which love the wetter conditions.
The higher, drier land will be managed as acid grassland and
we hope to
be able to attract breeding lapwings, woodlarks, skylarks and maybe
even stone curlews! In recent weeks the weedy fields have attracted 64
curlews, 77 skylarks, 100 chaffinches and 90 linnets demonstrating how
important these weedy fields are for wildlife, especially now that
compulsory set-aside is being phased out!
There is no public access to the farm at this time but we
hope to
arrange access in future years. On August 31st several members of Snape
Parish Council visited the site and were fully briefed on developments.
We intend to repeat the visit in
the spring.
Celebrate and save £££s with FREE BUS TRAVEL with any journey that
starts and finishes in Suffolk.
SNAPE is fortunate in having an excellent, well supported,
regular and reliable bus service to Ipswich, Woodbridge, Framlingham,
Leiston, Aldeburgh and Saxmundham (with connections to various trains).
It is also possible to travel to Southwold and Halesworth, plus the
Belle Coach from Leiston or Saxmundham to/from Norwich on a Thursday is
absolutely FREE!
Contact Suffolk County Council and get your Free Concessionary Pass and
save yourself £££s.
For information contact www.suffolkonboard.com
or call 08456 066067. Timetable Information is also available from
local Tourist Information offices, Snape Maltings, Snape Country Stores
and from the local buses and bus stops. Xscape half price fares are
available for 5 - 19 year olds, for further information on the Xscape
Card also contact the above website or telephone number.