Duchess Wood Local Nature Reserve Committee is a voluntary organisation that works in close partnership with the Council, Lower Clyde Greenspace, Luss Estates, Friends of Duchess Wood, Lomond School, Highlands and Islands Health Board and others to manage this much loved wood.
The Committee’s aim is that ‘Duchess Wood will be managed as a semi-natural area, to conserve and enhance its biodiversity and landscape value, to encourage research, and to provide visitors with reasonable access and opportunities for quiet recreation and education’
The organisation has a Funding and Management Plan until 2016 in which all partners are active members and the breadth of the partnerships with other voluntary organisations is to be expanded.
Argyll and Bute Council’s local community development officer supports the group and recently helped them secure funding from the Helensburgh and Lomond Health and Wellbeing Network to provide a ‘walking play’ in the Wood. Around 40 people participated and feedback from the event was very positive.
The group has been working with the Dumbarton Court’s Community Payback Scheme and the Council’s Employability Team. They plan to resurface the ‘all-abilities’ path and the car park, maintain existing paths, drainage, fencing and signage, conduct surveys of animals, birds, insects and water life, liaise with schools and other education centres. They also plan to revise and relaunch the schools information pack and support Friends of Duchess Wood to increase voluntary activities.
In addition, the group has been very successful in securing expert advice on a voluntary basis and Jeremy Young, a structural engineer has been inspecting the work carried out on the North East Bridge by the Community Payback Team.
Contact Details for the Project Organisers:
Alastair Macbeth at am.mac@virgin.net
Stewart Campbell at stewart.campbell@zen.co.uk
Aileen Morton at aileen.morton@argyll-bute.gov.uk