Community Woodland for Llangennech & District  

Cymdeithas Coetir Troserch

Troserch Woodlands Society

Minutes of the Annual General Meeting at the Senior Citizens Hall
on Wednesday 16th May 2007 at 7pm.

Present

As per list.

1 Apologies

Marian Slader, Helen Mary Jones, Pat and Barry Gill, Richard Stevens, Fiona and Andrew Bartle, and Brian Davies.

Introduction

Karin welcomed everyone for attending tonights meeting, it has incredibly taken only five months to purchase the woodlands on behalf of the community. Karin thanked all committee members for the hard work they have done over the last 18 months. We now look forward to managing the woods.

Treasurer’s Report

Colin explained that the woods were bought by Troserch Woodland Property Ltd which is a non profit making company under the instruction of Troserch Woodlands Society. The company is to be used for business purposes only and is VAT registered. The first year of the company ends on 31st March ? 2008. All grants received have been given for specific purposes e.g. wildlife surveys and safety inspections. Profit £830

Secretary’s Report

Greg reported that as soon as it was known that Troserch Woods was to be sold an open meeting was arranged, knowing that the permissive paths would expire soon it was essential that swift action was made to buy the woods or they could well be lost to the community. We approached a number of organizations about help with purchasing the woods. We were very fortunate to get in touch with Cyd Coed Trust who very promptly processed our application and we were granted the full cost of the woods, which we purchased in September 06. (Our grateful thanks to Ben, etc.) Our main aim at the moment is the conservation of the wildlife present and to encourage back the original broadleaf woodlands of years ago. It is our aim to fell and thin the pines and replant with broadleaf trees. Heavy machinery will be needed for this purpose and will cause some damage. It is hoped that work will be able to start in the summer. There is a possibility that we will be able to get a new bridge to enable us to remove the felled trees from the wood. Gas pipe line have given us a grant of £5,000 for woodland services. All surveys carried out will be published on the website. Meetings are open to all members and are held on the first Wednesday of each month.

Election Of Officers

All voted on by a show of hands.

Questionaire Results

Nearly 300 forms were sent out to members and about 10% returned their forms.

Most popular activities were:-

1. Walking in the woods.
2. Looking at wildlife.
3. Taking the dog for a walk.
4. Fishing. There was also one runner.

How often do you use the wood :- The most popular response was "A couple of times a month"

What do you like most about the woods

1. Peace & quiet.
2. Diversity of the environment (river, trees and wildlife)
3. History (mining, the old mill).
4. Good local resource.

What do you dislike about the woods

1. Fly tipping (litter around the woods) - rubbish is being cleared as soon as possible
2. State of paths and tracks - (these are on agenda for improvement) bearing in mind that this is a rural setting and not a manicured park.
3. There are plans to make an area accessible to disabled visitors.

Changes suggested

1. Another river crossing to form a complete circuit around the wood over the river.
2. Seating in strategic places in the woods.
3. Better sign posting, and information boards.
4. More wildlife information.
5. Cut down on fly tipping
6. Restrict motor bike access.
7. Picnic areas.
8. Improve access points.

All these suggestions are changes that the committee are planning to implement. As for more signs, it has been deemed necessary to delay these until the trees have been felled and removed, or they will be damaged or destroyed during this process by the heavy machinery.

Wildlife Surveys

A number of surveys are being arranged. One of the first we need to arrange is to see if there are any bats in the old mine workings. The coal board will make the mines safe at their expense, but we first need to establish whether they are inhabited by bats, so that they will be made safe but leaving access for any bats to continue to live there. Other surveys being arranged are dormice, rare nocturnal slugs, vegetation (fauna and flora), pole cats, moths, otters and badgers, butterflies and bird surveys.

Possibility of Becoming a Charity

The society was originally set up to enable us to get grants to buy the woods and we had to move quickly. We have since instigated a Property Co. Ltd so that we can claim VAT and do all active financing through the company. We, as a society, would like to look into the possibility of becoming a charity, where any member who is a tax payer can gift aid their membership fees. Also many organizations will only give grants etc. to registered charities. Tony asked if in years to come new committees will find this too complicated to run and could it be de-registered if necessary. The question was put to members present was: could we look into the feasibility of becoming a charity and if so could the elected committee continue if it thought it would be beneficial to become a charity. There was a unanimous agreement by a show of hands.

Main By-Way

Tony has looked into the possibility of downgrading the main by-ways to bridle-ways to try and stop fly tipping and people using the by-way inappropriately (horse and bicycles would still have access). If anyone puts in an objection our application will be refused. There is a possibility of putting gates at certain points to stop vehicles getting into main body of woods. There is to be a car park at the top of the wood, and it will still be a right of way for farmers to have access to their land etc.

Carmarthenshire Voluntary Centre may be able to help fund leaflets.

Karin thanked everyone for attending tonight with a big thank you to Cyd Coed, Carmarthenshire Council, Community Council, local councillors and to all the committee members, and hopefully carry on the work successfully.

Meeting Closed at 8-10pm.