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Knettishall Heath bought by SWT ........................................Steve Aylward
considered it was a poor quality publication! There’s no pleasing some people.
Since the survey results were collated the Harrier re-design has been completed and many members have expressed satisfaction with it.
sogonline Turning to our website, the level of non-use was surprisingly high given that so many members have Internet access. Only 17% of members with Internet access claimed to use it regularly, 54% occasionally and 29% never.
The website has undergone a lot of improvements since the survey (although progress has been somewhat stalled for lack of a more powerful laptop and software to work on – any offers greatly accepted), so there’s every reason to believe that usership levels have increased.
Those actually using the site were largely comfortable with its ease of use and layout, with a very low level of disagreement being expressed about it. However, again, the level of ‘no answers’ was high at around 33%. So what do we conclude from all that we have learnt?
Conclusions On the whole members are satisfied. The Council thus felt SOG was reflecting its members’ needs well; this said something needed to be done about membership recruitment. A few expressed concerns about membership, information provision and meetings’ locations too, with a small proportion giving voice to the need for alternative locations for indoor meetings away from Ipswich. Of course, despite this overall positive outcome, there’s no room for complacency, which is why the Council is already addressing the issue of recruitment and are reviewing the indoors meeting venues. So it only remains for me, on behalf of the Council, to thank all of you who participated in this survey as you have contributed to guiding the Council forward.
Steve Aylward
Suffolk Wildlife Trust adds its largest reserve yet
Through the support of Trust members and local people, on February 20th SWT became custodians of Suffolk County Council’sKnettishall Heath Country Park.
This is a 434 acre reserve and is the largest to date in SWT’s estate, comprising the original country park, of around 350 acres, plus a further 80 acres of wet woodland in the north west of the new reserve and a mixture of conifer plantation and deciduous woodland running along the site’s southern border. Knettishall Heath is a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) and it is one of Suffolk’s largest surviving areas of Breckland heath. The Little Ouse meanders along the northern boundary, making this one of the few places in Breckland where there is a natural gradation of habitats from dry heath down to the river valley.