The following letter was written by the Ivel Wildlife Group to the Estates Surveyor at MBDC in response to issues raised concerning conservation status at Saxon Gate:-

25 August 1999

Stephen Clarke,
Estates Surveyor,
Estates Division, Mid Beds District Council,

Dear Mr Clarke,

David von Janowski, one of the organisers of the Saxon Gate Toad lift, has shewn us your letter of August 3 regarding the future development of the site known as Saxon Gate.

I am writing to you on behalf of the Ivel Wildlife Group which is one of the Beds Wildlife Trust local groups and supported by the Ivel Valley Countryside Project. The group is concerned with wildlife conservation in the whole Ivel Valley but we have taken a particular interest in the site. Last year we carried out a study of the impact which the drains were having on the migrating amphibian population who became trapped in them. A by-product of this was to reveal that the balancing pond supported an exceptional population of the three common species* common frog, common toad and smooth newt. Our results were sent to a number of County Council officials including the County Ecologist and the Highway Maintenance Department and one of a number of conservation measures that ensued, was the construction of a purpose built toad tunnel, costing several thousand pounds underneath the new road that has now been built near the pond along the course of the old archaeological dig. This was the subject of newspaper and television reports since it is the first one ever constructed in Bedfordshire. This year we helped the local residents organise a toad rescue which has proved popular especially with the local children.  A shortened version of last year's report was published in the Bulletin of the British Herpetological Society.

As a result of our work with the amphibians we became interested in the conservation and educational potential of the site. Like many edge of town areas of scrub it supports more wildlife than many areas of dense woodland or green fields. This includes a number of unusual plants, also varied bird life notably skylarks and warblers. We became concerned about insensitive management especially of the area round the pond and also plans to destroy the cover on which so much of the wildlife depends in favour of short grass and paths,  not to mention the construction of a skateboard park. Joel Carre of the Ivel Valley Countryside Project agreed with us that the site had great potential as a an edge of town green space and wildlife area and suggested we draw up a management plan which would include signboards telling people what to look for, explaining the significance of wildlife corridors and so on. This, however, was difficult since we did not know exactly what was planned for the area. The IVCP therefore has organised a meeting between ourselves and various officials who are involved in the management and future of the site and this is scheduled for September 22 at 10 am. We understand from Joel that a representative from the Estates Office will be there.

On 7 June l999 we attended a meeting of the MBDC Environmental Services Committee and one us addressed it. We also submitted a short summary of a much longer report on the area which is still being compiled. (Copy enclosed) The local Councillor (Mr A. Costley) who visits the pool regularly agreed that it vas an attractive wildlife resource and on the initiative of Mr. A. Gammell a resolution was passed

"that the Council note the importance of the site for amphibia and possibly other wildlife and that any future plans for the site take account of this end seek to maintain this value."

Following this we had a site meeting on July 5th at 2 pm with Mr R. Waterfield of the Leisure Services Division, Joel Carre and Mr R. Goodman who is the Chairman of the Pool sub-committee. We mostly talked about the amphibians though we made a point of stopping the conversation so we could hear the skylarks singing overhead.

In view of all this we are surprised that you appear to say that the question of the conservation status of the site has not been raised before. We are also puzzled by your reference to the pond as being a temporary measure_. Firstly because a pond was already there and would have been the original spawning site and also because the current pond can only just cope with surface run off after a heavy storm. We ourselves remember contacting various departments of the MBDC including yourselves when we first took an interest in the pond in the spring of last year. No one seemed to know anything about it but we were told it was solely the responsibility of the manager of the swimming pool.

In the long term the amphibian population will need additional spawning sites and suitable habitat to the east if it is to thrive. We would most certainly welcome the creation of a wetland area in the proposed linear wood particularly as the main drainage outlet situated there is badly in need of improvement.

Finally we enclose a copy of the aforementioned report submitted to the MBDC Environment committee and a recent preliminary survey of the flora around the balancing pond written by another member of the Ivel Wildlife Group.

Yours sincerely,

Marcus and Susan Phillips

cc. D. von Janowski (Saxon Gate Toad Lift)
J. Carre (Ivel Valley Countryside Project)
Enclosures