Speaker Meeting 18.10.11

 "Bexhill Rotary Club goes wild!

At their meeting this week Bexhill Rotary Club and members' special guests were entertained by KimRichards of the Sussex Wildlife Trust who talked about Bexhill's "best kept secret", Pebsham Countryside Park.

 After being introduced by Speaker Secretary, David Dixson, Kim Richards explained that the Combe Haven Valley, also known as the Pebsham Countryside Park, is a green corridor between Bexhill and the St. Leonards/Hastings area with the towns having a combined population of around 130,000 with no less than 22,500 people living directly adjoining the Park.  Despite this, Kim claimed 90% of the people in the area didn't even know the Park actually existed hence the title "best kept secret".  Unlike Hastings Country Park which is publicly owned, the land in Pebsham Countryside Park is privately owned, this explains the difference in the titles.

 As the Community Leader for the Park, Kim sees her main function as making more people aware of this valuable asset with all its varied and abundant wild life, it is after all a decreed Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI).  She is looking to get more people involved as park volunteers for conservation and to develop the history of the valley which, for example, has links with the Battle of Hastings.  She is staging and plans to stage regular events to engage with both children and adults and is looking forward to developing the Park even further when Pebsham Tip is capped in 2014.

Rotarian Alan Grimes thanked Kim Richards, on behalf of all those present, for a really entertaining talk which had been accompanied by a power point presentation showing some great pictures of the park