Hello to all our Countryside Volunteers!

We have been so happy to welcome all our wonderful volunteer groups back onto our sites over the past couple of months. It’s been fantastic to be working with your energy and enthusiasm again. We have achieved lots of habitat and wildlife improvements for all our visitors to enjoy, thank you so much!

We are now pleased to be able to allow volunteers to join any groups/tasks following our phased return to volunteering during the pandemic.  We really appreciate your support during this time.

Please read on for our upcoming task dates,  we look forward to seeing you soon on one of our next task days.

Best wishes and Merry Christmas!

From Rachel, Alex, Ben, Doug, Rhiannon, Lisa and Gareth at Eastleigh Borough Council's Countryside Team.

Volunteer Re-Registration

Look out for an email invitation coming soon.

It’s that time of year again and very shortly we will be inviting you to re-register to continue volunteering with us. This keeps our records for you up-to-date and confirms that you’d like to carry on volunteering, we hope that you do!

Our registration process has moved to an online form and a link will be emailed out to you shortly. If you would prefer to fill out the form over the phone, please let us know and one of the team will call you for your details and complete the form on your behalf.

Opening up to new Countryside Volunteers to register

Following our successful return to volunteer tasks, we are now able to invite new volunteers to apply to become a Countryside Volunteer. If you know of anyone who may be interested in joining us please ask them to visit our web page where they can apply. We have space for a limited number of new volunteers in some of our groups and more space in others. We will be managing this carefully.

2021 Task Reports

Lakeside - The team has been hard at work with many varied tasks completed including ragwort control, ditch clearance, scrub control, dead hedging and cutting back paths. We have also enhanced a butterfly ride, by widening it and cutting scallops in the bramble to let more light in. We were delighted to be joined by lots of butterflies fluttering around us in the meadows whilst we were pulling ragwort in August and look forward to seeing more next year.

Lakeside - Ragwort galore in the late summer sunshine. We left some ragwort for cinnebar moth caterpillars to eat. Cutting back paths on the Extension Land. 

Hiltingbury Lakes - A dedicated attack on the invasive species has been the mainstay of activity, much laurel and rhododendron has been removed with bamboo the next victim! We have also made sterling efforts clearing log and branch debris from the streams and ponds. We’re still trying to track down the culprits…… beavers perhaps? There's plenty more to do in the coming months.
 

Monthly Sunday volunteers - We have undertaken some excellent coppice works in the woodland nature reserve at Itchen Valley Country Park this autumn. The woodland is on a twenty-year coppice cycle and next year will see the last coup being cut… then we start will over again.

IVCP Woodland Nature Reserve, half way there! November 2021

Friends of Hocombe Mead - This Independent Group have been helping out on the Council's Hocombe Mead Reserve by coppicing this year's woodland coup alongside Council staff. The ancient woodland, part of Eagles Copse, near the Ashdown Road entrance is really showing the benefits of all past efforts with the hazel regrowth looking very healthy. The Friends have been diligently spotting and controlling the invasive plant himalayan balsam on upstream sections of the Monks Brook this year. We have seen a huge reduction in plants downstream which is excellent.

Coppicing in action at Hocombe. December 2021

Upcoming Tasks

Due to the precautions we are taking during the pandemic, we are not currently providing refreshments during tasks. We ask that every volunteer brings their own water and food along, and we ask that you do not share them with others. So please grab your water bottles, flasks and your favourite food before setting out! 

Monthly Sunday volunteers

Tasks are held every third Sunday of the month, meet at around 9:45am for a 10 am start. Finish between 3pm and 4pm (depending on the job), with refreshment breaks and a lunch break around 12.30pm. You are welcome to come for all or part of the day.

19th December 2021: Itchen valley Country Park, coppicing the Woodland Nature Reserve. Meet at 9:45am in the staff car park.

16th January 2022: Hamble Common, Scrub clearance from the meadow. Meet 9:45am at the small car park on School Lane

20th February 2022: Hamble Common, Scrub clearance from the meadow. Meet 9:45am at the small car park on School Lane

Lakeside Country Park Volunteers

Meet every Wednesday at 10am, in front of the Lakeside Conference Building.

22nd December 2021: No task, Christmas break

29th December 2021: No task, Christmas break

2022 Tasks include coppicing & scallop creation on the western side of the lakes, scrub control, tree clearance from the meadows and bramble control on the railway banks

5th January 2022 

12th January 2022

19th January 2022

26th January 2022

2nd February 2022 

9th February 2022

16th February 2022

23rd February 2022

Hiltingbury Lakes Volunteers:

Meet on Thursdays at the life ring near the Lake Rd entrance at 10 am. On the second Thursday of the month our volunteer task moves to our nearby Hocombe Mead Local Nature Reserve to work alongside the Friends of Hocombe Mead on their task days. On these Thursdays there is no task at Hiltingbury Lakes.

23rd December 2021: no task, Christmas break

30th December 2021: no task, Christmas break

2022 tasks will include woodland coppicing, removing wood debris from ponds and waterways, cutting back paths and fishing swims, invasive laurel and rhododendron control near the Kingsway entrance, planting new native hedge plants

6th January 2022 at Hiltingbury Lakes

13th January 2022 at Hocombe Mead:  Coppicing to create a butterfly ride which connects to the southern meadow   

20th January 2022 at Hiltingbury Lakes

27th January 2022 at Hiltingbury Lakes

3rd February 2022 at Hiltingbury Lakes

10th February 2022 at Hocombe Mead. Invasive species control at the southern entrance off Hiltingbury Road.

17th February 2022 at Hiltingbury Lakes

24th February 2022 at Hiltingbury Lakes

Other Countryside Reserves – site improvements

We are very pleased to announce that the Hiltingbury Lakes Transformation Project is really starting to come together now. Two of the four weirs have been repaired, the new fencing around the lower ponds has been completed and two bridges have been replaced by contractors on site. Path improvement works around the lower ponds were hindered by early autumn wet weather so works will continue in 2022. Contractors will return to relay a section of new path gravel on the western side of the ponds with additional drainage in dry conditions next year. They will also finish surfacing other paths at the same time.

The Countryside Team is preparing to install a new pedestrian footbridge at the western boundary of Avenue Park, Eastleigh, in 2022 allowing this entrance to be reopened. This will link in with the new path infrastructure that has been established as part of the adjacent North Stoneham Park housing development.  

Hiltingbury Lakes - Weir repair works around the lower ponds

Staff changes

We are sad to announce that Josef Hrastelj who many of you knew in his role as Volunteer Co-ordinator and Site Officer for Lakeside has left our team and moved onto pastures new, or should we say wetlands new! He has a long running passion for all things avian and has landed a smashing job in Somerset working for the RSPB at Ham Wall.  Joe’s replacement is Alex Watts, who has worked for Hampshire County Council in a similar role. Alex says he knows Joe will be sorely missed and is very keen to meet everyone as soon as possible.  

We have also been joined by Gareth Hurd and Lisa Sharp who are helping us to complete some major projects. One such project is the replacement of 2.5km of livestock fencing on the water meadows at Itchen Valley Country Park. This project is vital as the meadows need to be cattle grazed to enhance biodiversity and help maintain the grassland.

Lisa and Gareth have extensive experience in countryside and conservation roles and leading volunteer groups…. By the end of 2022 they will also be expert livestock fencers!

And Finally....

Who can come up with the best caption for this photo? Send your captions to countrysidevolunteers@eastleigh.gov.uk