Objectives:
To maintain a system of controlled wildfowl shooting.
To control areas subjected to heavy pressure by the public, e.g. re-
routing of paths.
Factors:
(a) Wildfowling: No changes in the present system of wildfowl shooting
are prescribed. Under this system, 25 permits have been issued to
residents of East Lothian for the duration of the shooting season and
an additional permit has been given to Inspector David White, of the
Dunbar Police Station. It is the responsibility of the Management
Committee to issue these permits.
The permits, issued in terms of Bye-Law 14, have conditions attached to
them that are listed in the minutes of the Management Committee meeting
on 5 July, 1966. These are:
1. The permit is not transferable.
2. The permit must be produced on demand.
3. Shooting is only allowed between sunset and sunrise.
4. Shooting is not allowed between the southern boundary of the Reserve
and the Peffer Burn and within that part of the Reserve lying east of a
line fifty yards to the west of the remaining pillars south of the Marl
Loch.
5. Shooting by any weapon -other than by ordinary smooth bore shot-gun
is not allowed.
6. The permit is valid from 1 September, 1966, to 20 February, 1967.
7. The Management Committee reserves the right to withdraw the permit
at any time.
8. The holder of the permit will inform the Management Committee not
later than 15 March, 1967, of the number of days on which the permit
has been used and the number and species of duck shot.
In future conditions attached to the permits, conditions 6 and 8 would
be modified to include the dates appropriate to the current year. It
was also agreed by the Management Committee that no geese were to be
shot.
(b) Control of Public:
(i) CAR PARKING: The only car park for the Reserve is immediately west
of the footbridge over the Peffer Burn. This has a maximum capacity of
23 cars and, in order to keep the Reserve 'remote', it is the opinion
of the Biological Sub-Committee that this park should not be enlarged.
The County Police should be encouraged to prevent car parking along the
roadside of the A198 near the footbridge. It might be useful if this
road were a 'Clearway' as the 'Police: No Parking' signs are often
thrown over the wall south of the A19 8. If roadside parking could
effectively be stopped, neither the number of people on the 'Reserve
nor the rate of turnover by the Reserve would be increased if the car
park were extended to hold a maximum of 36 cars. This might be useful
if a full-time Warden, as discussed in Chapter VII, section 3, is to be
appointed.
An increase of parking facilities at Gala Law Quarry, about half a mile
east of the Reserve and holding four cars at present, should be
opposed. Any enlargement of parking facilities at Gullane, by
increasing the car park towards the Nature Reserve, should also be
opposed, since this would allow an increased number of people into the
dune area of the Reserve. No scheme to allow vehicular traffic into the
Reserve should be considered except under Bye-Law 14 when it is
required for special purposes (e.g. a film unit).
(ii) FOOTBRIDGE: The footbridge over the Peffer Burn (Plate 9) should
be kept in a good state of repair. In the winter of 1966-67, it was
damaged by gales and, in the summer of 1967, one of the planks forming
the carriageway was missing. Nothing in the Bye-Laws states that the
County Council cannot be held responsible for loss, damage or injury
whilst on the Reserve. If the footbridge is in a state of disrepair,
injury to people, particularly children, is possible. It is recommended
that the footbridge is inspected regularly, possibly monthly or
fortnightly, for any sign of structural weakness.
(iii) MAINTENANCE OF PATHS: As the number of people using the Reserve
increases, so also does the need to canalize their movements in order
that all parts of the Reserve are not disturbed (Plate 19).
Canalization is achieved by a good system of footpaths but footpaths on
sand crossing marshy places are notorious for getting in a bad state.
This must be overcome by laying a few drainage pipes at the level of a
ditch and building up the path to the height of the
surrounding ground.
Any such work should not damage the vegetation forming the sides of the
ditches on either side of the path.
(iv) DIVERSION OF FOOTPATHS: In places where footpaths cross the dunes,
excessive use by the public may lead to erosion. Sections of footpath
that are liable to erosion should be planted with marram grass and an
alternative path cleared of vegetation. If there is an existing path,
this should be used but where this facility is lacking a path should be
cleared by cutting the grass along its line during the spring. Planting
of marram grass over paths to be closed would best be done in autumn or
early spring when public pressure on the Reserve is slight.
Paths may also have to be diverted to protect special areas of the
Reserve. The lower path from the Marl Loch to the sand bar causes
concern during the tern nesting season and it should be diverted. Most
people using this path are making for the sand dunes and beach and
hence a diversion to the right, about 50 yards before the shore is
reached, would channel most people to the dunes and away from the sand
bar. There is already a small path forking off to the right, which is
marked on the map and this should be enlarged before marram grass is
planted over the old path. The paths are indicated in Fig. 10.5.
(V)PONY RIDING: Pony riding in the Reserve should be restricted to
areas where erosion danger is slight and to paths where the ponies will
not cause danger or annoyance to other persons using the Reserve (cf.
Bye-Law 3). In Chapter V, section l(d) (ii) it was recommended that
animals with iron-shod hooves should be forbidden to enter the dune
system. In order to prevent disturbance to shore- nesting birds, they
should also be forbidden to ride closer than 50 yards to that part of
the sand bar which is exposed at high water. Riders should be
encouraged to keep to the remainder of the foreshore wherever this is
possible.
It has been suggested that one or two paths should be demarcated for
use by ponies. Two suggested routes, if the eastern boundary of the
Reserve is re-declared, are illustrated in Fig. 10.5. The first of
these paths allows riders access to the foreshore just south of Jovie's
Neuk. It runs from the football pitch near the Hummel Rocks and follows
a small valley between the teschenite rocks and the dunes. The second
path would run from the football pitch to the ford beside the
footbridge and would follow the re-declared eastern boundary if this is
achieved. It should also be noted that the rocks immediately east of
Maggie's Loup are impassable to ponies at high tide and hence the
construction of a small slope here, just outside what might be the
revised Reserve boundary, would be a contribution to controlling ponies
within the Reserve.
When these two Pony Tracks are established, riders will be obliged to
keep to them whilst on the area of the Reserve above H.W.M.O.S.T. The
two paths should be demarcated with small posts, perhaps about two feet
high. The risk of erosion of the dunes starting on the path from the
football pitch to Jovie's Neuk should always be remembered.
(vi) WARNING NOTICES: The notices showing the Bye- Laws need to be re-
sited. The notice by the footbridge should be moved from the roadside
to near to the bridge so that it can be seen by the public walking from
the car park to the Reserve. The survey showed that few people have
ever walked from the car park to the roadside to read this notice. A
second notice is situated on the concrete blocks at Maggie's Loup. This
is considerably to the east of the Reserve boundary but it would be
correctly sited if the boundaries are re-declared. Two notices are
required on the western section of the Reserve, situated by the
H.W.M.O.S.T. near the village of Aberlady, and at the west end of the
Kilspindie Golf Course.
The survey showed that whereas about 95% of people entering the Reserve
at the footbridge knew that they were on a Nature Reserve, less than
15% said that they had ever read the Bye-Laws. It would, therefore, be
useful to have two notices, one by the footbridge to the north of the
Peffer Burn and another near Maggie's Loup, that give a summary of the
Bye-Laws. Such a notice could be worded in the following manner:
Aberlady Bay Nature Reserve
Please do not pick the wild flowers or disturb the birds. You are asked
to keep to the paths, particularly in the nesting season.
Additional notices might be required by a part-time Warden asking the
public to remain outside a demarcated area.
All notices should be inspected, at least annually, and kept clean and
painted. Many of the notices on the Reserve in 1967 are shabby and the
paint and wording is peeling off. This is a situation that should be
avoided. Similarly, notices should be placed where they must be seen,
i.e., beside paths, and not ten yards from a path in long grass.
(vii) LITTER: Litter presents a problem in that it cannot be collected
from the Reserve. There is an increasing number of bottles being left
among the marram grass in the dunes and this increases fire danger in
the area. If any labour becomes available, it would be useful to gather
and dispose of as much litter as possible. A litter bin should also be
provided at the car park and arrangements made for this to be regularly
emptied. Drums containing oil and other pollutants, washed up by the
tide, should also be disposed of if this is at all possible.
(viii) SEWAGE: No prescriptions can be made in regard to sewage but the
County Council should be encouraged to take all possible steps to
decrease pollution by sewage in the Reserve. Proposals have been drawn
up by Messrs. Carter & Wilson, Edinburgh, for the County Council and
their report is entitled Proposals to Remedy Sewage Pollution at
Aberlady Bay. The following are extracts:
'There are three areas where pollution is evident - in the Bay close to
Aberlady village, along a stretch of 600 yards over the existing West
Gullane sewer through the links, and at the sea outfall of this sewer.
There is a fourth area j - the West Peffer Burn - where pollution
occurs intermittently through the operation of a vegetable washing
plant at Luffness Mains.
'We recommend that the first three areas be dealt with by piping the
sewage from Aberlady to the West Gullane sewer, constructing a
screening and settlement plant for the combined sewage, constructing a
new sewer from the plant to
high water mark, and extending the present
West Gullane sea outfall. The fourth area should be dealt with by
strict control of the operations at Luffness Mains
'Aberlady. Our proposals here are for a gravity sewer laid underground
along the foreshore eastwards for a distance of 800 yards to the
footbridge over the Peffer Burn, an underground balancing tank and
pumping station beside the car park at the footbridge, and a pumping
main 950 yards long to join the West Gullane sewer ...'
Treatment works are proposed to be situated in or near to the clump of
Sea Buckthorn, east of the Reserve boundary, near the Yellow Mire. It
is envisaged that work will commence on the new sewage scheme during
the period covered by this Plan and the Biological Sub-Committee should
ascertain that a minimum amount of damage results to the habitats of
the Reserve as a result of this scheme.
