The Meadow Millennium Green is situated at the corner of Elm Road and The Street Little Clacton. It was purchased from Essex County Council in the Spring of the year 2001 by the Meadow Millennium Green Trust (now a registered charity) at the cost of £10,500. The money was gained from two different sources. The Millennium Commission, brought about by the Government, supported by funds from the National Lottery for such purposes, and Little Clacton Parish Council. The idea was to create a green wild area to be enjoyed by the local community. Trees to be set, wild flowers to be planted, hedgerows to be laid out as well as existing ones to be tidied up, a wildlife pond to be dug and lined, a fence along the road to be erected, as well as a disabled access, and bird boxes for owls, kestrels and small birds to be positioned.
The original members of the Meadow Millennium Green Trust were as follows:
Doug Brown (Headmaster)
Bill Colwill (Tree Warden and Tree Expert and Local Resident)
Lynette Darnell (Instigator, Chairman and Local Resident)
Roger Darnell (Treasurer (co-opted) Scout Leader and Local Resident)
Pat Keeble (Secretary, Parish Councillor Local Resident and School Governor)
Anne Massingham (Chief Negotiator and Local Resident)
Aaron Massingham (Wildlife Expert and Local Resident)
John Pratt (Local Resident)
Harold Wagstaff (Wildlife Expert and Local Resident)
Derek Whiting (Lifelong Local Resident)
Julie Whiting (Lifelong Local Resident)
David Wilkin (Owl Warden, Wildlife Expert (esp. birds) Local Farmer and Resident)
Dimple Lawrence has replaced Mrs. Massingham and John Pratt as a trustee.
All of the above has been accomplished and more. The whole of the work created by the purchasing, the negotiating, the planting, the fund raising and the overall upkeep, including making the tea, has been and will be done voluntarily for as long as is possible. This is an area of open space where people can relax and enjoy nature, which will be kept forever as such.
Local farmer David Wilkin has been running a Barn Owl Conservation Project since 1998. He has over 40 landowners involved within the project and monitors over 120 nest boxes, which are positioned in areas of rough grassland habitat. He is also a voluntary advisor for the Barn Owl Conservation Network covering North-East Essex and South Suffolk.
David holds a licence which allows him to monitor the nest boxes and is also a ringer for the British Trust for Ornithology. Barn Owls are protected under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 and anybody caught disturbing a wild Barn Owl nest site is liable to receive a £5,000 fine, six months in prison or a combination of both.
Owls both adult and young which are caught at the nest are ringed for conservation purposes so that they can be monitored in years to come. Barn Owls favourite food item is the short tailed vole, which live and breed in rough tussocky grass. You would need at least 50 acres of this type of habitat for Barn Owls to breed successfully. Box plans are available if you would like to make a box.
Anyone who thinks they may have suitable habitat can contact David by phone or email. Telephone 01255 862374. Email owlboxman@tiscali.co.uk.
.JPG)
