The Hospital of St Cross presents new rules for popular farm and water meadows after facing resistance from dog walkers

Residents who regularly walk their pooches through St Cross farm and water meadows were invited to a meeting on Monday night after tension arose over the beauty spot.

Signs posted by the hospital, which owns the land, and Hampshire & Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust asking owners to keep their dogs on a lead for the safety of livestock, visitors and the surrounding wildlife caused friction among locals.

However, as people gathered in St Cross Church for a presentation delivered by the trust, it explained that conservation grazing cattle has played a vital role in maintaining the fast-disappearing wet meadows and sustaining the wildlife that lives there.

In fact, the trust further revealed the cows have even played their part in welcoming a new species to the site - the southern damselfly.

In a bid to stop the animals from being spooked by a spike in dog walkers and people flouting the rules since the pandemic, it has once again renewed its calls for cooperation while livestock is present in the grassland.

Reserves officer for Hampshire & Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust, Rachel Remnant, said: "One of the reasons we took on the site was because of the number of visitors wanting to engage with it and use the footpath.

"What goes along with this are some of the erosion factors from people running and walking, but also, we saw a huge uptake in the number of dog-related activities we had over lockdown.

"This was really difficult for a lot of nature reserves and conservation sites because they faced all that pressure of people wanting to get out.

"We had things like swimming, dogs straying away from paths, people taking on dogs who weren't familiar with dog training, dogs chasing birds and disturbing livestock, which was a big part of us wanting to bring the dogs on leads ask, dog fouling and trespassing in areas people shouldn't have been going.

READ MORE: The Hospital of St Cross to present future plans for popular farm and water meadows to dog walkers

"If any of those things happened to us just once then it's nothing catastrophic, but we keep an incident log of what happens across our nature reserves and I'm afraid this is a lot more common than you think it might be. I tended to a cow that was chased a couple of weeks ago and sadly it had to be euthanized, so we're not scaremongering when we talk about what is at risk."

Signs on the gate to the farmland (Image: Newsquest)

Ms Remnant said while they don't want to do anything 'draconian', she regularly sees people with their dogs still off the lead, despite the majority respecting the signage.

Katherine Wake, a trustee at St Cross, added: "We are very keen to find a balance between keeping the cattle that so grace the meadows safe and making it possible for the local dog walking community to enjoy the area. The Wildlife Trust did try to engage with the public in person to explain the reason behind their signs and the need to keep dogs on a lead at all times, but unfortunately, they faced some resistance. 

"We have therefore decided that going forward there will be a sign on the gate as you enter one of our fields that indicates whether livestock are present and, if they are, all dogs must be kept on a lead and on the footpath. If, however, there are no livestock present in that particular field then dogs may be off the lead if kept under control."

The cattle are only introduced onto the meadows at certain points in the year, meaning there will still be times well-behaved dogs can run free.

She added: "We really hope by working together everyone can enjoy St Cross meadows, but we do need your help to achieve this."

People were invited to write down questions and comments for the trust and the hospital to field at the end of the session.

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Both parties accepted comments from residents about a lack of information surrounding the changes, which were previously described by one dog walker as 'officious'.

It was further revealed the hospital is in the process of finalising a deal with a new tenant for the farm who will take over following the conclusion of the trust's 10-year tenure. It will, however, remain involved with the running of the meadows.

Speaking after the meeting, one resident, who wished not to be named, said: "I stopped walking there for a while because I had to keep my dog on a lead, and it just wasn't ideal for him. If I'd have known more about the conservation of the site, I would have completely understood. I think it all comes down to communication."