This week is a very important week for our campaign as we finally get our seat at the table with the decision makers at Harlow Council and Natural England.
We were asked by Natural England to submit in advance some details about where we wanted to ride and the volume of numbers, which we have done. The two maps show the main paths we have taken to date and our proposal for two winter routes to minimise poaching and spread the load across different routes at the time of year when we know that the ground is much softer and at risk of damage.
We have confirmed that there are (on average) around 10 ponies at the stable who are regularly ridden. Of these, 7 are smaller ponies belonging to children. In the winter, our hacking is generally restricted to weekends as the lack of light makes it impossible to hack during the week after school, demonstrating that the volume of use will low, particularly during the period when the paths are most at risk.
In summer, we are likely to hack twice a week as weekends are then often taken up by competitions, shows and other organised equestrian events.
To aid the conversation on the day we also forwarded this information to Harlow Council, who thanked us saying that (and I quote) "for the first time provides clarity for the council in respect of the request that is being made" - Slightly surprised by this statement as you only have to look at our update of 27th May to see exactly what we were asking for - to get from A to B without going on the roads - and as its not our land, we didn't feel it was for us to prescribe the route. Glad that they do have the clarity they felt was missing, but not really sure why they didn't ask us earlier if that was the case.
Which takes us on to what we know for the meeting...
On 7th September at Council Cabinet, Cllr Nicky Purse stated
"The Council has arranged a meeting between Council Officers and Natural
England staff for later in September. At this meeting it is expected that advice
will be given regarding what mitigating measures would be required to allow
horse riding in the SSSI whilst protecting the site from further damage caused
by the activity. If any affordable mitigating measures are identified, the Council
will then submit a ‘Notice of proposal to cause, carry out or permit operations
requiring Natural England’s consent on a site of special scientific interest (SSSI)’
to Natural England seeking consent to allow horse riding in the Harlow Woods
SSSI. Natural England has 4 months to consider the proposal and respond
once it has been received"
In our letter from Rebecca Coward, responsible officer for Harlow Woods SSSI (Natural England) dated 4th July 2023 she states that "The level of damage from poaching is currently considered minor"
On the published records on Natural England's website, following a site visit on 5th June 2023 by Natural England, requested by a council officer following accusations of damage by horse riders, the report showed a broad pressure of evidence, a pressure, of 'feature condition' and the risk was categorised as 'low' with 100% of the woodland in a favourable or recovering status. The pressure is confirmed as of 30th June 2023 and is the only pressure listed. We know this because we downloaded a copy of the report on 15th July 2023 and have a hard copy in our files.
These two statements alone gave us confidence that the evidence supports a positive outcome for the request...
... But wait, do I spy a curve ball coming in at the last minute?
As part of our preparations for the meeting we have been reviewing our documentation, referencing key information, data and historic events to support our claim. We were aware that the same council officer met with Natural England again at the site during the week of 18th September 2023 as this was confirmed and minuted by Cllr Purse during the cabinet meeting of 21st September 2023. You may recall, this was the meeting we were excluded from at the last minute so we wanted to see if any updates had been made to the published records following that visit.
Shockingly, in the space of two short months (months during which we have been blocked from accessing the woods) the report now shows the broad pressure as 'disturbance and recreational impacts' the pressure as 'recreational disturbance' and the risk as high. Apparently this was identified on 1/1/2019 but was not included on the report of 30/6/23 - How can this be??
So as always we go in with an open mind and a view to find solutions... but always knowing that there are other things happening in the background that could trip us up if we did not remain diligent.