27th January 2004

Spoke to Roger Bloie for an update. He has not done any work in the wood recently, as the ground has been too wet, and he has had problems with the JCB. He says that as I will not be claiming a grant this coming year that I can defer the work until later in the year when the ground has dried out a bit. I need to check this with Mike Roe.

Roger's plan is to go back in sometime before the end of February and clear back the remaining trees and scrub that need clearing. This can be done when the ground is not entirely dry, and doing it this early in the year will avoid disturbing nesting birds later in the year.

We arranged to meet up towards the end of February to discuss routes and plans in more detail.

Spoke to Mike Roe. He confirmed that this should be OK. I need to send him a letter requesting the variation to the contract due to adverse ground conditions. He will then write back when the variation has been authorised.