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Minutes of the Meeting held at Keele University, Monday 18th June at 7.30pm
Present: Richard Waller (chair), Peter Floyd, John Reynolds, Don Steward, Ian Stimpson
1.Apologies: Pat Cossey, Tim Harris, Sue Lawley, Craig Slawson, Vicky Tunstall.
2.Minutes of the last meeting, 23/04/07.
•These were agreed.
3.Matters arising.
•Dudley Rock & Fossil Fair – RIW has yet to contact Elizabeth Hallam concerning the organisation of the Dudley rock & fossil fair stand. PAF will find out how much space will be available and RIW will get hold of the SRIGS display material from the Wolseley Centre and arrange a small meeting with JR, RIW & EH.
ACTION – PAF & RIW
•SGAP (Staffordshire Geodiversity Action Plan) – RIW informed the group that he has contacted Paul Wilcox (chair of the SGAP partnership) and that they have provisionally arranged to meet in July to discuss the SRIGS group taking over the responsibility for the management of the SGAP.
•Roaches Field Trip – RIW suggested this should be postponed with the groups' current focus on the Churnet Valley.
4.Inviting new members & expanding group
The committee discussed the issue of expanding the group and considered new members who should be invited to future meetings as members of the SRIGS committee. The committee agreed that the following should be invited or at least kept informed of SRIGS activities:
•Paul Mortimer (National Trust) – good idea to keep him up-to-date, to add to the mailing list and to invite to meetings when required.
•Chris Blackmoor (environmental geologist at Wardell Armstrong) – contact with details of next meeting
•Lloyd Boardman – member of NSGGA who may be interested in getting involved.
•Paul Wilcox – should be send minutes of the meetings to be kept informed of the groups' activities.
5.Change of Treasurer
•RIW reported that Tim Harris has regretfully decided to step down due to pressure of work and that Pat Cossey has offered to act as a temporary replacement until the AGM in August. JR proposed, PAF seconded and the committee unanimously agreed. Pat has agreed to chase up the change of signatories procedure with Co-op Bank.
6.Hamps/Manifold Geotrail – post installation (RIW)
RIW reported the following recent activity on behalf of PJC who was unable to attend the meeting:
•The installation of the trail markers is the final activity that needs to be completed. PJC and JR met up with Shaun Rimmer & Paul Middleton on the 11th June with whom they agreed 26 marker locations, 12 of which will require the installation of new posts.
•RIW is due to meet up with Shaun Rimmer and an SWT working party tomorrow to install the first set of markers, with the remainder being installed in August.
7.Leaflet funding (RIW)
•RIW reported on an email discussion concerning the future funding of the Hamps & Manfold geotrail leaflets. Whilst there are still many left, they are disappearing fast and therefore it is important that we consider sources of future funding. JR suggested that the Geologist Association's Curry fund may be one possibility. The issue of charging for the leaflets had also been raised on the discussion, but for the time being it was thought that this would raise more issues than it solved and therefore the group will initially explore avenues of further funding that would enable the leaflets to be distributed for free.
•RIW also reported on some leaflet distribution issues. One at the staff at Wetton Mill (NT) had voiced concerns that the leaflet might encourage visitors to trespass and that the local farmer had not been properly consulted. However, both PJC and Paul Mortimer (NT) have confirmed that all landowners have been consulted and have given their consent. Paul Mortimer will in the meantime try to smooth things over with the staff at Wetton Mill.
8.SALGS 2007/8 Expression of Interest – Churnet Valley Geotrail (RIW)
•RIW reported that IGS and himself had met up with Julie Evans (Staffs. County Council) on the 2nd May to consider various bids for this year's round of SALGS funding. He reported that it soon became clear that a Roaches geotrail would not be viable, but that a Churnet Valley geotrail would stand a good chance of funding due to its proximity to sites of active and historical aggregate extraction and transport.
•He reported that he subsequently met up with JR and PJC on the 16th May to draft an "expression of interest" and thanked the committee for their feedback on the initial draft.
•RIW reported that this has received a good score and that we have been invited to submit a full proposal and that he hopes to complete a loose draft shortly that can be worked on whilst he's in Iceland and submitted in early July.
•RIW suggested that in the meantime we should assume that we will be successful and consider what needs to be achieved so we have a chance of completing the project by the deadline in February 2008. In particular, he should contact stakeholders at an early stage to ensure they're aware of the project.
•JR circulated a paper on Cotton Dell and Starwood, Oakamoor, that provide a potential key site along the route of the proposed trail.
•RIW will convene a meeting in early July to discuss the proposed trail and identify ways forward. ACTION - RIW
9.Report on West Midlands Geodiversity Partnership meeting (JR)
•JR reported on a recent meeting of the West Midlands Geodiversity Partnership. He reported that it was clear that Natural England is becoming more regionalised in its approach and that the West Midlands partnership has been awarded £5,000 to promote Geodiversity activities within the region. The partnership had discussed using the money to develop a leaflet that covers the regions key sites and activities, or splitting the money between the various smaller groups involved. elen Scase £5000 for Geodiversity – either 1 leaflet or £800 each subgroup.
•The group discussed how the money might be spent and generally agreed that a leaflet for the whole partnership that covered the constituent groups' activities would be a good thing. RIW suggested that it might provide tangible evidence of coordination and partnership whilst PAF pointed out that other areas produce similar regional-scale leaflets. The group discussed leaflet content and agreed that it could provide an overview of the geology of Staffordshire and highlight the various "jewels in the crown".
10. UKRIGS report (JR)
•JR reported that UKRIGS is still awaiting the outcome of an application for Aggregates Levy Funding to continue their successful Earth Science education project. This has applied for fundings to add two additional sites (Wenlock Edge & Whin Sill), to revamp the website, develop further educational materials and to run workshops for teachers.
•JR also reported that this year's UKRIGS AGM will be held at Liverpool John Moores University on Saturday 3rd November.
11.Staffordshire Minerals & Waste Development Framework – Consultation on Issues and Options (RIW)
•RIW reported that he had replied to the request for input to Staffordshire County Council's "issues and options for waste core strategy". He thanked group members for their input.
•DS highlighted the "Local Development Framework" and "North Staffordshire's Core Spatial Strategy" in which the conservation of geological features is explicitly mentioned.
12.Site work:
•RIW stated that with the potential focus on the Churnet Valley geotrail, the group's site work will be focused in this region and that he will try to arrange some group visits over the summer. ACTION - RIW
13.SRIGS website – archival of minutes online? (RIW)
•RIW reported that in order to provide easier access to the group's minutes he has asked IGS to archive the meetings on the SRIGS website.
14.Shire Oak Quarry – future quarry restoration plan (RIW)
•RIW reported that he has recently corresponded with Peter Terry who had told him about plans to create a nature reserve at Shire Oak Quarry near Brownhills and who is keen to collaborate in order to incorporate geodiversity into the site restoration plan.
•There is likely to be a meeting with Tarmac (current owners) in October.
15.AOB
•IGS and PAF reported that there will be another meeting regarding the English Heritage Strategic Stone Study on Thursday 21st June.
16.Date of next meeting
AGM – Tuesday 21 AUG 2007 7:30
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