Over fifty people attended the 6th Annual General Meeting of The Friends of Ilkley Moor held in the Clarke Foley Centre. The meeting commenced with John Stidworthy (Chair) interviewing Simon Nelson, head keeper for Ilkley Moor, about his daily and seasonal work on the Moor helping to encourage growth of the Red Grouse on the Moor.
Owen Wells (committee member) asked a question from the floor about the number of traps that are set on the moor and how often they are checked and whether he was complying with the British Association for Shooting and Conservation guidelines that states they should be checked every day. He replied, “We have twenty traps on Ilkley Moor but with a small staff checks were not made every day.”
The meeting then dealt with the formal business, re-electing all the existing officers and other members of the committee. Councillor Paul Kitching praised The Friends of Ilkley Moor for being one of the most efficient organisations he had to deal with during the past year.
After a short refreshment break Danny Jackson, Manager of Bradford Countryside & Rights of Way Service (CROW), gave an illustrated talk on the Service’s work. Many members were surprised by the range of work carried out and also by the number of sites that the council manages, throughout the district, with limited staff. The Friends are always grateful and ready to support the work that is done on Ilkley Moor and hope that cuts will not limit CROW’s scope.
Danny Jackson in the conclusion of his talk said “FoIM was particularly effective as it was the only such organisation which employed a professional Project Officer.”
John Stidworthy (Chair of the Friends) said, “Both talks were very useful in extending the audience’s knowledge of work that is done on the Moor and the Friends were extremely grateful to the speakers for giving their time to enlighten and entertain us.”
With no further business the meeting was closed.