Friends of Hob Moor

Posted here: FOHM NEWSLETTER 41 Sept 2018

Posted here: Friends of Hob Moor Annual Report 2018

Radio York piece that was broadcast on 26th August about Hob Moor (2 hours 10 minutes into the programme.)

It is with regret that we have to report a dog attack on the Moor this Wednesday at about 11:00 am. The attacking dog was a white Staffy mix. The victim received puncture wounds and required medical attention from the vet at considerable expense. The dog warden has been informed, but the victim’s owner wants to warn other dog walkers and hopes no other dog is attacked. Please let us know if you have any further information about the attacking dog, and report any similar incidents to the dog warden and call the City of York Council at 01904 551551.

Information for reporting various incidents are on our Contacts page.

. Thank you.

Good to reserve a place as you get a device with which to really hear the bats clicking in flight!

We were lucky on Saturday – as we managed to dodge the showers and saw plenty of butterflies. The species we counted were:

Common blue
Holly blue
Small copper
Ringlet
Meadow brown
Gatekeeper
Speckled wood
Small skipper
Large white
Small white
Green-veined white
Silver-Y moth

A statement from York City Council:

Following your recent contact with City of York Council I am writing to provide an update on the management of Hob Moor.

As you are probably aware, the council has been in a Higher Level Stewardship (HLS) agreement with Natural England since 2010 and there is a farm business tenancy agreement on the land. The intention of the cutting (also known as ‘topping’) that took place on the 20th June was to control weeds on site, in particular to prevent creeping thistle from flowering and therefore spreading, in order to meet the biodiversity objectives in the HLS agreement.

However the topping was carried out too early (before the 1st July) and over too large an area. This was due to a communication breakdown and not an intentional disregard of the requirements of the HLS agreement or the sensitivities of Hob Moor.

Natural England have written to City of York Council to advise that they will be making an assessment of the severity of the impact of the breach in the agreement on the delivery of the objectives of the scheme; we have not been provided with a timescale for this but will comply with any action that they require.

We are working with the tenant farmer to improve lines of communication, refresh understanding of the restrictions and objectives of the HLS agreement, and of wider wildlife issues to ensure this error doesn’t happen again.