Group meeting, guest speaker and AGM
Weds 3rd December at the Village Hall, starting at 7:30 pm.
(Postponed from 1st Oct.)
“Wild Oxfordshire”
by Jessica Bouwer
Hedgerows and Partnerships Project Officer
Wild Oxfordshire are a nature conservation charity based in South Oxfordshire working to create a more natural, resilient, and biodiverse Oxfordshire for the benefit of all!
Come and join us on Weds 1st October 3rd Decenber to hear Jess talk about the different projects they are involved in including Hedgerow Heroes, the Evenlode Catchment Partnership and Wild Kidlington.
If you are a member of another village group, do please make them aware of this talk, which should be of interest to everybody.
There will be a short AGM for half an hour at the start of the meeting to elect Group Officers and review our accounts. Everyone is welcome so please reserve the date in your diary.
Agenda for the AGM
- Approve minutes of 2024 AGM (see here)
- Chair’s Report
- Treasurer’s Report (annual accounts are here)
- Election of Officers
- Chair
- Treasurer
- Secretary
- AOB
Minutes of AGM of Sustainable Harwell held at the Village Hall, on 3rd December 2025 starting at 7:30 pm.
There was a short AGM for about 30 minutes at the beginning of the meeting to elect group officers and review the Group’s accounts.
10 members present in the village hall (including committee) and the visiting speaker Jessica Bouwer. Apologies from 3 members.
Minutes
Minutes for the 2024 AGM were approved (proposed by Chris Warwick, seconded by Alan Spence).
Chair’s report
The Chairman read out his report. (text below)
Treasurer’s report
The treasurer presented the accounts.
The accounts were approved (proposed by Martin Rickets and seconded by Paul Fishburn).
Election of Officers
Sustainable Harwell has a Chair, a Treasurer and a Secretary.
The existing officers are prepared to stand again, and there were no other members wishing to join the committee.
Chair – Giles Barwell. Proposed by Chris Warwick, seconded by Penny Kinloch
Treasurer – David Marsh. Proposed by Paul Fishburn, seconded by Alan Spence
Secretary – Penny Kinloch. Proposed by Graham Sumner, seconded by Alan Spence.
AOB
Giles gave more details about the Holloway Hedge planting project, phase 2. There was some confusion over when this was taking place, but the weekend of the 17th and 18th January 2026 is confirmed for the session. A 10.30 start and aiming to plant 150 metres. Whips are over-wintering at the Allotments. Four planting spades will be purchased and donated for the project. It was suggested that we supply bags of topsoil/compost to fill the gaps around the whips as the soil is very heavy and difficult to press around the whips.
The Parish Council has asked Sustainable Harwell to consider ‘Harwell Tree & Hedgerow Planting’ projects around the Village. It would involve planting on Parish Council land but would be the responsibility of Sustainable Harwell, the PC not having enough resources to organise the project. Three people have volunteered to meet up and discuss the viability of this project. It was suggested that a new hedgerow be planted along the west facing fence at the far end of the Rec, near the orchard as it is very windy there.
End of Formal AGM
Chair’s Report
The Group has continued to operate successfully over the last 12 months, with continued membership of nearly 100 people in the village and the local area. As a local Community Action Group we try to make sure that the focus of activities remains firmly on undertaking sustainability improvements within Harwell parish.
Group Projects
Tree-planting
This year HARCOG, the orchard subgroup, have continued to work in combination with the Parish Council to improve and maintain the community orchard at The Rec.
The following summary is from Penny Kinloch
We have had a quieter year maintaining the Orchard as the hedgerow and trees are well established now but we will continue to weed and mulch as and when required. We have replaced the few trees that have died. We had a very dry spring and summer so some of the trees didn’t produce much fruit. The cherries did well but the apples less so. Some of the pears still seem to be prone to disease but we are reluctant to use chemicals on them so are hoping they will be more resistant as they mature. We will reassess their condition in the Spring.
We are in the last stage of organising the signboard. The final design has been approved by the Parish Council and it is due to be printed and displayed at the Orchard soon after. That will mark the end of the Community Orchard Project.
We hope that people have enjoyed the Orchard – the litter bin is certainly well used which is a good sign.
Thanks again to everyone who has helped make this project such a success. It has been most enjoyable and worthwhile.
Holloway hedgerow
This year the other main project the group has carried out in the village has been the planning and planting of the first section of the new hedgerow from the top of the Holloway towards Chilton. This is quite a large piece of work which we are aiming to complete in stages over a number of years. When finished it will provide a valuable new wildlife corridor to help improve biodiversity as well as delivering many other benefits along the route.
We’ve had lots of help and support from local landowners, The Parish Council, The Vale, Oxfordshire County Council and in particular Wild Oxfordshire and CPRE (Council for the Protection of Rural England) who very kindly funded the whips we used. On a rainy weekend in February members set to in order to plant the beginning of the hedgerow. It was good fun and we learnt a few things particularly that the soil is quite compacted so it was hard work! In the end we got there and completed the first 100m which was made up of different species including Hawthorn, Hazel, Wild Plum, Crab Apple, Spindle, Wayfaring, Wild Privet, Damson Plum and Wild Pear. Despite a very dry summer we are hopeful that because they are native species the new whips will have established ok, although we do expect that we will have to do some infilling in the future to replace any that didn’t make it.
The other good news is that we’ve recently learnt that our application for more whips from CPRE and Wild Oxfordshire has been successful, and this means we will be able to plant the next 150 meters after Christmas. More on this in a bit!
As a few members pointed out, in the last newsletter I got the dates wrong and the advertised planting day of Sat 13th Jan which doesn’t exist. In fact, it should have said Sat 17th Jan! So if you can spare a bit of time on that date to help and possibly a bit more on Sun 18th to finish things off it would be much very much welcomed. Penny is gathering a list of names so please let her know if you would like to help. We’ll advertise the dates and more details again before the event. Oh! and we’re planning to buy some proper planting spades which should make the whole exercise a bit easier!
Cycling and footpaths
Another 12 months have gone by and Harwell is still waiting for the roll out of the 20 MPH speed limit and traffic calming measures in the village which the group previously lobbied for. Despite a new consultation on revised traffic calming measures being conducted many months ago there is still no sign of progress.
Lobbying for new local homes to be more sustainable
If you’ve travelled along the A4130 during the last year I’m sure you will have noticed the new houses being built at the first phase of the Valley Park development.
The group have long been lobbying that the new homes being built there should have solar panels on all suitable roofs as well as heat pumps fitted. We also pushed for more swift boxes to be installed at the site to further support the local swift population. This work has had some impact and it’s good to see solar panels being installed on the new houses as well as swift bricks being built into the new dwellings. (more about this in a second).
Other Initiatives
The group has an active WhatsApp group to help communication and transmission of interesting information between group members. Anyone can join and if you haven’t yet and would like to you would be very welcome. Just send an email to Sustainable Harwell and we will send you joining instructions.
Other Groups and organisations
The Group continued with its membership of Community Action Groups (CAG) Oxfordshire and receives helpful information and support from them.
We also continued our membership of The Low Carbon Hub in Oxford. As part of this network of 39 other community groups we benefit from the support and opportunities that they can offer in generating renewable energy and energy saving projects.
Sustainable Harwell is also a member of Friends of the Earth and receives support from them including group insurance for our projects. We continue to work with the Oxford and national branches.
We also work with the Harwell Swifts group, [Facebook link] their significant conservation activities this year include:
Running three swift awareness and swift box assembly sessions with Harwell Cubs. Running two swift box making workshops with Shed Oxford. Making and installing 15 swift boxes including three large boxes for two churches in the area.
Involvement with SOS Swifts, Swallows and House Martins – a UK wide social media forum for uniting grounded birds nationwide with the wonderful people who are prepared to feed them up and care for them until they can be released.
Visited the development at Valley Park, Didcot and confirmed that Taylor Wimpey have installed many swift bricks in the new houses. Surveyed a significant colony of swifts in Steventon and another in Manor Road, Didcot. Confirmed a significant colony of swifts in Great Western Park in the vicinity of Daniel Shepherd Avenue. These houses were first sold in 2013. Visited the Action for Swifts workshop in Norwich to see how swift bricks are made. Helped set up the Action for Swifts stand at Global Birdfair in Rutland.
Group Meetings
We’ve also held several group meetings throughout the year.
In October last year three village residents talked about their experiences installing solar panels and heat pumps at home. Since then, it’s been good to see other domestic renewable projects proceeding in the village. If anyone is considering doing something similar and would like to chat to a fellow Harwellian about their experiences, let us know and we will put you in touch.
At last December’s meeting Catriona Bass of the Nature Recovery Network, Eynsham, came to talk about her work with the Long Mead Wildlife Site, a 30 acre farm, with a rare ancient floodplain meadow. For the last 20 years she has been running visits there for schools and for adults with learning disabilities, as well as for local interest groups. Then in 2018 she helped start the Thames Valley Wildflower Meadow Restoration Project, a farmer/landowner-led project to create a nature recovery network of floodplain meadows along the Thames above Oxford and along the Cherwell in Oxford.
Then in March Jez Elkin from South Oxfordshire and the Vale District Council visited to talk about the waste strategy for the local area which impacts us in Harwell. A few week later, on the back of his inspiring talk, a large group of Sustainable Harwell members went for a tour of the Ardley household waste and recycling facility north of Oxford. It was a really interesting afternoon and I think many of us were astonished by the huge pile of waste from Oxfordshire that the centre processes every day which was at least the height of a three-storey building!
Just to remind you that more information about all these talks and the activities and wider work the group is involved with is available here on our web site.
I’d now like to take this opportunity to thank my fellow officers in the Group. David Marsh our Treasurer, for keeping the financial activities of the Group in order as well as devoting time to make sure the web site is up to date and Penny Kinloch our Group Secretary who has been really helpful organising projects and steering group activities throughout the year. Both have kindly offered to continue in their roles for a further year and I am happy to stand again for another year as Chair. Also to say we would really welcome anyone else who would like to join us to help steer group activities. Its very informal and doesn’t take up much time and it would be great for a bit of new inspiration from other members.
Finally, I would like to say a thanks to all the group members who have given up the time to work on projects, attend meetings and get involved with other activities throughout the year. Without their involvement many of the things I have outlined above would not have happened.
Giles Barwell
Chair
Oct 2025
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