West Malvern residents will have an opportunity to learn more about the Malvern Hills Conservators' proposals to introduce grazing cattle to the northern Hills at the Village Hall on Monday (January 13). The Conservators' director Ian Rowat has accepted an invitation from the parish council to explain the proposals in detail. Interested residents will be able to attend and ask questions about any aspect of the grazing plans

Householders in the village should recently have received the Conservators' leaflet describing the scheme. This will involve a herd of 20 cattle grazing the Hills between the Wyche and End Hill, starting probably within the next six months. The plan aims to control the rapid spread of trees and scrub which is adversely affecting both the flora and the views on the hills. The proposals have raised some concern among residents, not least because the leaflet points out that because the Hills are common land, it is the responsibility of adjacent landowners, not the Conservators, to keep grazing animals off their land with adequate fences.

Conservators' staff were busy on Tuesday clearing the gullies at Westminster Spout to prevent a recurrence of the icy conditions which affected Westminster Bank over the weekend. The heavy rain over Christmas and New Year, which led to widespread flooding on low ground, also silted up the drains which take away the water from the spout, which then overflowed down the track towards Westminster Bank. When the sharp frost arrived, a sheet of ice 25-30m long formed over part of the track. This made it impassable for vehicles for a while, and risky to say the least for the large number of walkers who celebrated the arrival of blue skies and sunshine at the weekend by going for a walk on the hills. The gullies have now been cleared and the water is no longer flooding the track. The ice is unlikely to have cleared completely until the current cold snap