Ragwort – 2019

Posted on by in Environment, National Trust - Local, Parish Events.

The annual ragwort pull will be Wednesday 17 July at NT Rockford Common car park. This is organised by the National Trust so look out for their vehicles and staff.

You can get good quality considered information about Ragwort here: https://www.buglife.org.uk/sites/default/files/Ragwort.pdf
There is a great deal of misinformation about Ragwort online and verbally – beware.

On the Parish Council property the intention is to deal with the open, Common areas and PC verges. Please try to leave plants with caterpillars and eggs for the butterflies to complete their life-cycle and remember not to pull Ragwort on land owned privately without permission. We are not trying to exterminate Ragwort but to restrict it to manageable quantities where insect populations benefit from its presence and the threat to stock and agriculture is minimal.

10am start, we ask people to bring a pair of gloves and a garden fork if possible.

Keep your distance – Ponies/Cows

Posted on by in Stay safe.

It was reported at the last Parish Council meeting that there had been three separate incidents involving dangerous cows and locals and visitors walking in the area, which were reported to the Verderers. The Parish is supporting the New Forest commoners and local organisations who have launched a ‘keep your distance’ campaign to make visitors and residents aware they should not approach the National Park’s free-roaming animals this Summer. The advice they are promoting is that the animals may look friendly but can bite or kick, especially when they have young with them. Take particular care around ponies with foals and cattle especially if you have a dog with you. Petting animals on the road and from cars encourages these animals to pester people and hang around on roads putting them at risk of road accidents.

We encourage you to report any incidents to the Verderers on – 023 8028 2052 or the staff on the Forestry Commission’s 24 hour/365 days number – 0300 067 4600 – who have access to the Agisters’ roster and can contact the duty Agister.

All enquiries, correspondence and feedback to: Melissa Edmunds, Parish Clerk, 5 Beechcroft Lane, Ringwood BH24 1QN. Tel: 07840-987505 Email: ehiparishcouncil@gmail.com Web: www.ehipc.co.uk Facebook: @ehiparish

Message from the National Trust

Posted on by in National Trust - Local, Stay safe.

Following the recent concerns about Forest stock reacting unpredictably to walkers in and around our Parish we share this from the Local National Trust:

It has been brought to our attention that there have been some recent incidents with stock and people and stock and dogs on our land and the wider EHI parish. We are saddened to hear about these incidents and believe that the Agisters and Verderers have this in hand. We are looking to be proactive in terms of visitor engagement by sharing the NPA’s ‘keep your distance’ seen here: https://www.advertiserandtimes.co.uk/keep-your-distance-campaign message in our Spring newsletter (attached).

We are sharing the countryside code to our local community in order to reiterate the message of keeping dogs on leads on our land, however letting the lead go if you are approached by livestock. More info here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/701188/countryside-code.pdf

We are also stepping up our local signage in the area with our ‘get it right’ livestock signs being placed on our entry points to the commons. We have also been placing additional NT keep your distance finger post / omega signs on Ibsley, Rockford and on our wider portfolio. We have recently run events in the car park at Rockford talking to local visitors and residents about responsible dog ownership on our land. We will look into whether running more of these dates may be appropriate.