Having reviewed all guidance regretfully we have had to
close Tophill Low during the new lockdown. The reserve will close at dusk on Wednesday the 4th November until at least the 2nd December.
This is far from a simple decision as many different conservation
organisations and water companies are interpreting the rather grey guidance in
various ways; So our approach is very much
a Tophill specific decision.
It is regretful given how much an escape in the outdoors
means to visitors, the social aspect and learning for our volunteers of all ages,
and all the conservation work that won’t get done this winter but we need to
put the safety of people and the welfare of the wildlife first.
I appreciate this won’t be to the liking of all but
please consider our reasoning below;
In terms of official guidance at the time of writing (link here) you must stay at home with specific exceptions – most notably to us is that
of exercise outdoors or visit a public space for which you can travel a short
distance; Which I am sure many will interpret in any manner they like.
Perhaps more specific guidance is in section 4 relating to 'businesses and venues' – as this better describes Tophill Low – we are a private
reserve not a public site nor do we have rights of way running through the
reserve. It is stated 'entertainment venues
must close'. Whilst not a 'zoo or a
botanical garden' conversely the mention of golf courses is perhaps most
applicable. If it is deemed a golf
course is not Covid secure enough then I do not see how we can operate safely
here.
The crucial aspect of Tophill Low is hides. Many
reserves are big, open aspect outdoor locations where hides aren’t present or
aren’t integral to a visit and people don’t gather. Tophill Low however has the vast majority of
habitats only visible from a confined hide which in our opinion is counter to
the aims of a lockdown. In meetings with
our peer Water Companies the majority are closing hides from Thursday and we
will be doing likewise.
Last time round some reserves retained open hides during lockdown
and may do so again; But as we understand this was largely driven by
anti-social behaviour issues which prevented closure.
We have discussed just allowing access to the path network
but unfortunately we know curiosity will get the better of people whom will start
creating their own viewing areas off paths, around hides or over reservoir walls
creating disturbance to wildfowl at a time when safe feeding and resting time
are crucial, within the context of shooting season which is actively pursued adjacent
to the reserve and will no doubt continue albeit in a reduced capacity. As site owners we have a legal obligation to ‘protect
the biological interest of the site from activities that would be significantly
harmful’ under our SSSI designation.
This means an increased burden on staff and volunteers to
supervise and police disturbance – at a time when the objective is to reduce inter-person
contact. Normally we rely on volunteers
to assist with this – many of whom fall into at-risk categories. We want to put the safety of our team first
and see everyone back in better circumstances.
This needs to be put in a context of a potential increase in new
visitors whom are potentially unfamiliar with site etiquette whom have nowhere
else to go. We also have to factor those
elements whom wish to let off lockdown steam and frustrations against our
staff. Whilst the vast majority of
visitors respected the necessity of our covid measures needed to remain open, it
was not without incident. In the last
three months we have had one way gates kicked open or climbed over, brash walls
trampled through and signage ripped down besides the general grumbling and ignoring or ignorance of one way routes and on occasions disregard for distancing or capacity in hides which forced us to shutter up windows and forcibly distance people. So this does not fill us with confidence that respect and common sense will abound.
The primary function of Tophill Low above a nature reserve is
a drinking water supply. As before we
need to ensure the safety of operational teams working on site to safeguard production.
Membership;
We’ve had a number of members asking why we can’t just make
it members only. Presently we have over 400 members. Unfortunately there is no vetting to say that
all will adhere to site rules and guidance.
Even since East Yorkshire went into Tier 2 on Saturday I am aware we
have had visits from Tier 3 residents.
To ensure it is only members we then need to vet everyone coming in; and
by this stage we are effectively fully staffed and open with more complex
admissions rules and more interactions and arguments turning away non-members. Unfortunately
‘short journey’ has not been defined, but virtually all our visitors travel at
least 4 miles to reach Tophill Low from the nearest villages. We aim to support the stop of covid19 and
advocating visits from increasingly distant towns and counties we feel is
inappropriate.
As per last year paid up members lose membership time so our
present thinking is that we will simply extend the expiry of membership cards
into April or find a similar manner to even things up. Thanks to everyone who declined a refund on the
19/20 season – we set aside these donations and raised just over £300 towards environmental
education materials like pond dipping and bug hunting gear for the school
groups.
Education and events
YW had already confirmed the education programme has been
suspended until new year yesterday and any hopes for a winter photo exhibition have been extinguished. We may look at trying to do something online
as an alternative.
Re-opening;
As last time please keep an eye on the blog for updates on opening
and don’t assume the gates will be open on the 2nd of December. We will need to check, clean and prep hides
and paths before re-opening that will likely take a period of time with the
volunteers before we go public again.
Wardening and security;
As before we will be maintaining a regular Warden staff presence
on the reserve with our graziers whom are still checking livestock present reporting
back. The operations teams check the
site daily and they are briefed to be vigilant for anyone on site. Lastly our friends at Humberside Police Rural
and Wildlife Crime unit have the gate codes to enter the site at any time and
conduct sweeps day and night randomly.
So thanks to all for your patience and please accept this is beyond anyone's control. We'll try and put some updates on in coming days and with luck we'll see you all very soon.
