For those of you who are interested but couldn’t make the meeting last Thursday, here are some handy notes taken by LCWO Coordinating Committee member Jean (thanks Jean!):

Members of the recently formed group Friends of Botley Park, whose Chair is local city councillor Susanna Pressel, met representatives of the Environment Agency to discuss plans to install a fish pass on the north side of Tumbling Bay.

The purpose of installing a fish pass, as has been done elsewhere on the Thames, is to enhance the movement of fish and their access to spawning areas both of which improve the natural ecology of the river.

Subject to planning permission, the implications for Tumbling Bay are:

• the creation of a gently sloping channel on the north side of the bathing place
• removal of c. twelve smaller trees – largely willow and ash – and re-planting of a more diverse range of trees
• scope to enhance the area by clearing scrub and creating a more open re-seeded area
• depending on the City Council’s wider management plans for the Park, to install panels outlining the history and ecology of the area. and to link these with similar resources envisaged by the Osney Lock Hydro.

You can see all the relevant documentation, circulated by the Environment Agency here.

The planning application will be submitted by early December and people wishing to comment on/support the application should do so by writing to planning@oxford.gov.uk.  As always, if you have any thoughts, opinions, ideas, expertise which you would like to share with the West Oxford community, drop us a line!