Many will know that the Cotswold Way campsite in Randwick woods closed this year following repeated vandalism, noise and other problems. To me this is a huge shame as the campsite offered walkers and others a place for the night.Photo: woods yesterday bathed in winter sun
Randwick Parish Council has taken the initiative to look at this further. Last night they invited representatives from other local Parish councils and the National Trust to look at why the site closed and whether there was an option of reopening the site. Parish councillors noted that since the closure people had been camping on various private land in the area and causing a number of problems.
The lack of other campsites in the area compounds the problem - and the canal developments and the need to be encouraging more local sustainable tourism all add support to the arguments in favour of reopening the site.
So should the site reopen?
Well clearly the problems a few residents faced from noise and vandalism on a repeated and sustained basis over months was wholly unacceptable. If we are to consider the site reopening - and I am very much in favour of that move - then we need to be absolutely sure that such problems like this do not arise again.
So what are the options?Photo: more of woods yesterday
The Parish meeting came up with various possibilities and lots of questions. Could the site be run commercially or part-commercially? Would fees from the site pay for a warden to visit regularly? Could a warden be employed locally? Could funds be found to improve the site to reduce vandalism? Could the police be more involved to ensure that raves like those at Ash Lane don't occur? Would Stroud District Council, the National Trust and other groups put money into making this a local community resource? Could other local groups be involved including young people to help improve and maintain the site?
So what is the next step?
I am hoping to arrange a meeting to discuss this - I've provisionally booked Thursday 18th January 6.30pm to 7.10 at the Village Hall as a time for residents to come forward and share thoughts, fears, hopes and ideas about the possibilities of reopening the campsite. The Parish Council meet at 7.15 and as always that is open to the public and there is a slot for the public to ask questions or raise issues if they like. I will confirm this meeting time on this Blog when I know the hall is free. MEETING POSTPONED: Parish Council will let us know of new date - but in meantime please send comments re campsite.
I am also happy to talk or meet with others to discuss the best ways forward if you can't make that meeting. This is not easy and we have to be very clear we need to find a way that does not lead to further serious problems for residents in that area. Please phone me, Philip Booth, on 01453 755451 to share your thoughts.
National Trust woods - some brief background info
It was great to hear from the National Trust a bit about the history of the local woods. Here is some of what they said...In the 1930s a local committee started buying up bits of land locally: over the years they managed to buy some 27 pieces of land and during the 1940s to 60s they replanted the woods like the Standish woods which were felled during the wars. The local committee handed over the land to the National Trust but continued to manage it and organise all the work needed.
Then in the late 1970s the National Trust employed the first warden, Harry Hayward who sadly died last year. He was in post for 10 to 15 years: now the National Trust have a team of wardens to manage a massive 4,500 acres of land locally that includes Woodchester Park and the Commons. Michelle Oliver who was at the Parish meeting with her boss the Head Warden, David Armstrong, is the officer responsible for our area.
There are many stories of how well Harry managed the woods and started the campsite in the 1980s for walkers - it was on a site that had started to be used as landfill and was only a wee way away from the Cotswold Way. It had no parking, a pit for a loo and water was available until that was vandalised about 7 years ago and not replaced.
The Cotswold Way for those not familiar is a long distance walking trail that runs between the city of Bath in the south, and the town of Chipping Campden in the north.The trail is approximately 100 miles long, and runs for most of its length on the Cotswold escarpment. It has been in existence for over 30 years and has recently been approved as a National Trail. This designation is special - making the trail one of only thirteen trails to be made into National Trails in England in the past 50 years.
After Harry left it was harder for the National Trust to manage the site: he lived there and was able to visit very regularly and attend to any difficulties. The problems however were mainly litter and minor difficulties but then about 3 years ago the more serious problems began: parties, raves and vandalism that spread from the site to neighbouring properties. 2 years ago the problems became even more frequent. The police also said they had not got the resources to keep policing this site.
Early this year the NT decided the only option they had was closure. They have operated a licence system so that groups can still book the site but no one has taken up this offer - if this route is to be pursued then we need much better publicity of this scheme.
Although the site was supposedly closed, the summer still saw people camping there regularly and also many reports of people now camping in other parts of the area on local farmland. This has led to a number of problems.
As noted above the community now needs to consider what is the best way forward. Should we try and tackle the problems and restore this campsite or should we look for other solutions? Clearly the campers are still wanting places to camp so what can we do to help local landowners who are now facing problems? Do come to the meeting to make your views known.
Other issues?
It was also interesting to learn about the ancient monuments like the Long Barrow in the National Trust woods. These are sadly being damaged by mountain bikers and boarders (see photo) - this is most likely ignorance of the monuments rather than anything intentional. The National Trust have already started to look at ways to make people more aware about these local monuments so that the accidental damage can be stopped. This seems a great opportunity to celebrate more our local heritage. How best can these monuments be made more of a feature? Do we need information boards? Perhaps some fencing or some trees removed?Various other issues were also discussed like how the areas are maintained and the plans for some limited stone wall repairs. The Trust have also offered to talk to local groups and schools.
5 comments:
Philip, while I'm away from the area, I enjoy keeping up on local issues through your blog, especially those involving Randwick Woods. Can you tell me if the Randwick Parish Council will follow the Whiteshill and Ruscombe P.C. and create their own website, or if the Randwick Runner will go online? The Randwick Village Gateway website doesn't seem to be updated very often.
Keep up the excellent work!
Campsite meeting: The meeting mentioned above will not take place on that date due to the number of planning applications. However Randwick Parish Council will plan another meeting - open to the public with other Parish Councils and National Trust invited. In the meantime I will continue to collect thoughts and views about the campsite.
Parish minutes: The problem with the Randwick Parish minutes is that the Clerk does not use email. The minutes are all posted by mail to Parish councillors. Some of the Parish councillors I have spoken to are keen to see this situation changed. I have certainly made my views known that I think the minutes should be posted more widely and on a website. I will forward this comment to the Parish.
Randwick Runner online: There are no plans but I wonder if a Blog format like this site could work - I will approach the editors.
Thanks for your comments.
I have emailed Randwick Parish again re minutes online and asked for a discussion at next meeting.
I have also now spoken with the Runner and their committee is looking at the Randwick Gateway site for putting info. The general concensus of that committee is to only put the Runner on a few weeks later and only put up immediately forthcoming events etc which are time related. They also expressed some concerns about putting it on the net may jeopardise the amount of people who subscribe to the Runner yearly and that there are a lot of people who still do not have computers that rely on the Runner for local news.
I personally don't think the net would jeopardise support for this local newspaper - indeed it could encourage support for the paper - infact I think they are nearly up to the maximum they said they could deliver comfortably at the moment. I have offered help re website but it sounds like they have it all in hand - although I know they are always looking for local stories.
Copy of email received (next post has my reply):
I read your article in the ‘Runner’ with great interest and was most impressed that, once again, you are showing real interest in, and commitment to, local issues.
I have to say, however, that I do not altogether share your conclusions regarding the Randwick woods camp site; my feeling is that it should not reopen as a camp site. Let me attempt to justify my conclusion:
One option mentioned was to reopen the site on a commercial basis. Whilst, at first site, this seems a possible way forward I feel that the idea is littered with potential difficulties, for instance:
- This is National Trust land so, assuming that NT would not wish to run it themselves on a commercial basis, any commercial development will presumably require them to either lease or sell it to the developer - Will NT be agreeable to this?
- I think it is unlikely that this site could be made commercially viable owing to its relatively small size and seasonal usage
- The site would presumably need some form of planning permission for commercial use – vehicular access and traffic volume might be an issue (one assumes the site would be for ‘motorised’ campers as well as walkers as there would certainly be insufficient numbers of walkers to make it pay)
- There would need to be standards of management agreed with any commercial developer otherwise we might create more problems than we solve - who would be responsible for determining these standards and agreeing them?
- At the end of the day the problems for local people associated with the old camp site could very well be replaced with other problems associated with commercial usage, for instance:
Ø Noise
Ø Traffic volume
Ø Litter
Another option would be to simply reopen the site on the same basis as before, still under NT management; perhaps the old problems will disappear following the break in usage? Alas, I fear this is probably a forlorn hope! I suspect word would soon get round and the raves and disorder would return. Therefore, to reopen on this basis would require some form of (voluntary) management, and one prepared to confront determined ravers late at night given the inability of the local police to provide an adequate response to the problem. It also assumes a willingness on the part of the NT to take this route and I see no reason why they might alter their current position on the matter.
A third option is to leave the site in its present closed status. You state that this has led to camping on farmland and other problems. Whilst I have great sympathy for those affected, I suspect that such problems are endemic, to a greater or lesser degree, throughout the length of the Cotswold Way.
A fourth option might be to re-open the site only for organised groups; perhaps scouts, guides and school groups. I like the sound of this but fear that the lack of power, water or sanitation would be a major health and safety issue for the groups concerned. In addition a site manager, even if only part-time, would be required to deal with any issues that might arise. Also, in practice, how would you exclude ‘non-organised’ parties from the site?
So far this has all sounded very negative; so do I have any positive contribution? Well, I do have one idea for using the site, albeit that I have not undertaken any serious investigation as to its practicability. My idea involves creating a wildlife area that can be used for both leisure and educational purposes. The site could be developed to include a wildlife pond, bird and bat boxes, butterfly friendly plants etc. The campsite is an attractive open area near to woodland and would be ideal for the purpose. Its creation could be a community project if the NT would provide a local committee with a free lease or some other suitable arrangement. Similar projects have been a success within Stroud under the auspices of the Stroud Valleys Project. Of course, quite apart from securing the release of the land for such a purpose, there would be many challenges. Among them would be identifying a project leader, creating a local project team to develop the site, funding, securing the necessary expertise to achieve conservation and educational objectives and ongoing maintenance and management. I believe, however, that creation of a project team would be possible; Randwick has a good record of community spirit. I also believe that, between the NT and Stroud Valleys Project, expert advice on conservation and education would be readily available. Funding, as always, would be a challenge and I have no personal experience of securing such finance. However, as I have said, similar schemes have been successfully undertaken in Stroud so I assume that funding must be available in some form. Of course, quite apart from the challenges that I have identified, there may be other reasons why this idea is a non-starter. However, I thought it was worth floating.
So Philip, there we are; I hope you have not found my response too long winded. I hope also that, although my views on the future of the camp site do not accord directly with yours, I have provided a balanced viewpoint coupled with a positive, if inadequately researched, suggestion for its fruitful use in the years to come.
Many thanks indeed for taking the time to respond (see comment above) - it is very much appreciated. I would like to put it on my blog website so that others can see the different views - here below are some thoughts re your comments:
- the NT are happy to see the site reopen if the problems can be got around: they would have to check but a commercial operation could be possible - however clearly as you note no one will make money from this site with the number of people using it. I would not be in favour of motorised vehicles like camper vans etc as that would change the whole nature of the site. I don't think anyone is envisaging that. However some sort of payments may help pay for a warden.
- the site really should be primarily for use by walkers of the Cotswold Way and a few other walkers etc - plus as in the past local people.
- I agree the challenge is how to tackle the problems of raves and other vandalism. The Police very effectively have stopped the regular occurence of raves in Ash Lane - their prompt action is to be applauded however there was never a proper coordinated approach to the campsite - clearly a campsite is different but with support from all I believe we should be able to tackle those difficulties. Harry was excellent in tackling problems - we do need to have in place as you say someone who can ensure such difficulties don't arise.
- the campsite operated for years without many problems until the last few years.
- I understand the camping in surrounding farmland was almost a non-existent problem - it has now become common-place since the campsite closed. The campsite is still listed in many old Cotswold Way guides so people come to that point expecting to be able to camp, some have apparently avoided the site because of problems in the past.
- in theory the site is still open to organised groups who book beforehand - none have, as it wasn't advertised properly. Water and the pit toilet can apparently be put back at only a small cost. As you note it will still need maintenance.
- I like the idea of improving wildlife/biodiversity and have discussed a little with NT about hopes to tackle some of the other areas in the woods - as noted the Barrow and other ancient monuments needs protection and bluebells are being badly damaged by mountain borders and bikers.
I personally would still like to see the campsite reopen - but there is much work to be done and I await with interest how the community feels about it. So far I've only had some 8 responses - most of those encouraging me to explore ways to reopen. We'll see - I will let you know if anything more develops re this.
All the best - Philip
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