Newtown Common
Winter Work Programme 2024-25
Newtown Common is owned by Hampshire County Council but managed and maintained by your Parish Council. Our goal is to both preserve the Common for current and future generations to enjoy, whilst encouraging the growth and health of its plants, trees and wildlife to maintain this increasingly rare habitat.
In these pages, please find an outline plan of work that will potentially be carried out over the winter by contractors and volunteers, including Green Gym, and by forestry students from Sparsholt College. If you have any questions, your Parish Council will be pleased to answer them.
If you see e-bikes or motorbikes on the Common please let the Parish Clerk know dates and times, so that the information can be passed on to the Community Safety Patrol Officers at Basingstoke & Deane. The use of such vehicles on the Common is illegal.
The Sparsholt College forestry students will return again to carry out more work on the Common. Their focus will be on general woodland management in areas on the western side of the Common, identified in blue on the map overleaf and within guidelines provided by the Parish Council. If you are interested in buying firewood resulting from this work, please contact the Parish Council Clerk.
Green Gym and other volunteers will continue to control invasive plant species in areas of woodland and to maintain the areas of open heath throughout the Common, in line with the Parish Council’s Higher Level Stewardship agreement with Natural England. If you are interested in joining in with Green Gym tasks, please see their website for details and dates.
Contractors will once again be used for specialist work – to cut Birch for besom-making, for flailing Gorse and dense scrub and for mowing electricity wayleaves and areas of open heathland. They will also do further clearance of Holly along the sides of Footpath 18, to the south west of Woodcote. It is likely that Green Gym will be involved in manual work to assist in this area, especially to burn up the cut material.
Bonfires are only used to dispose of cut material when it is deemed safe to do so after careful consideration of weather conditions, location, etc. They are only ever left in a safe and tidy condition. Please do not interfere with dying bonfires and never add any material to them. The Fire Brigade are always informed in advance of bonfires being lit as part of management work on the Common.
The numbers below relate to the numbers on the map above.
Work areas for Sparsholt College students
ONE Continue the work already started near Waterleas by Green Gym, to selectively remove some of the trees so as to allow better growth of the remaining ones and to allow more light and air to reach the ground layer to encourage the flora.
TWO Continue work started in winter 23-24 to selectively fell Birch and other trees and scrub along the northern edge of open heathland.
Work areas for Green Gym
THREE Dispose of arisings from contractor’s work clearing Holly.
FOUR Remove scrub from edge of open heath North of Leigh House.
FIVE Selectively removal overgrown scrub so as to retain young specimens, mainly Birch, from the eastern Sheepwash heath
SIX Remove scrub from beneath Pine trees west of C45.
SEVEN Thin edge of scrub to east of C45.
Contractors’ work
EIGHT The King’s besom-maker, Bradley Nash, from Tadley, will crop Birch from these areas beside the electricity wayleave, using a chainsaw to take out 1”-2” diameter stems.
NINE Clearance of Holly along the sides of Footpath 18, to the south west of Woodcote.
TEN Mowing of wayleaves and selected areas on both sides of the Common, including some path-side mowing to maintain open paths and fire-breaks.
ELEVEN Mulch-flailing selected areas of scrub in various areas of the Common.
Other volunteer work
Removal of Scots Pine seedlings from areas of open heath.
Removal of Holly seedlings and treatment of cut stumps.
Other work that may become necessary due to weather or other circumstances.