The red line shows, as accurately as is possible from the Avon Gorge & Downs Wildlife Project document, current management decisions for the Bristol side of the Avon Gorge. The area is to be fenced in "temporarily" for five years as a GOAT PEN. What happens after five years has not been said.
The public consultation on the use of goats to keep down vegetation in Walcombe Slade on
the Downs has been really little more than a public releations exercise. Natural England and the Council decided years
ago that they would use goats there. Five years ago they cut down half the trees without consulting
anyone and Natural England, (who manage the area),
knew at that time that they were not prepared to
find the money to pay for ongoing human scrub management.
We are still unaware of any full costing of the proposal to keep goats, and are just told that it is
"cost effective". No other option was costed.
They also know, that goats will destroy the Whitebeam tree species that are unique
to the Avon Gorge. Walcombe Slade contains a number of Whitebeams.
Experience from other environmental schemes of this type has shown that goats browse Whitebeams
preferencially and eat saplings and seedlings and debark mature trees. So the authority have developed a
plan to fence in the goats and then fence in the Whitebeams from the goats, (fences within fences).
This frankly is easier said than done, and will not solve the problem that these trees will not be able to regenerate or
occur beyond these fences within the pen.
In their recent exhibition by the Water Tower, to promote this scheme, the Council and Natural England
stated that the Avon Gorge is a Special Area of Conservation (SAC) for Grassland. They did not mention
woodland at all. The fact is that the Avon Gorge is an SAC for
Woodland primarily, and grassland is a "qualifiying feature" only. Their lack of complete candour
is regrettable when you consider that the exhibition was publicly funded. However it is true
that grassland habitats are very important and that the Whitebeams are the jewel in the crown
of the SAC. Moreover, both grassland and woodland habitats could best be
maintained were the use of goats abandoned.
We would like to see the appointment of a botanical
worker, employed by the Council, advised by Natural England and trained by the University.
One full time worker would be sufficient to maintain the botanical heritage with due regard
to all species and to the visual amenity of the place.
This present scheme requires the fencing off of part of the Downs. The Downs Act of 1861 states
that the Downs are to be kept "open and unenclosed". Are we to see it enclosed for the first
time in its history for the convenience of Natural England, an unelected quango?
What is more, the goats are sure to escape at some stage. Cars have recently been pushed off the
cliffs in Walcome Slade, through the existing run of safety fence there. There is a real
prospect of vandalism. If that does happen, the goats may present a danger to traffic on the
Portway or damage gardens in Sneyd Park or Clifton. Goats who escaped from a similar scheme in
Studland Bay, proved impossible to catch and had eventually to be shot, to the great
dismay of local residents: National Trust shoots troublesome goats.
Moreover, the proposal uses Burrington Coombe (an area of 300+ acres where there are goats,
cattle and horses roaming free), and the Great Orme (an area 3.2 km long by 1.6 km wide
with both sheep and several hundred goats) as a comparison for this goat pen with an area of about
3 acres! To compare Walcombe Slade with these large areas of rural land is simply not tenable.