LISS Conservation Volunteers, the group which have looked after the Riverside Railway Walk for 13 years, have announced they are being forced to close down. Shocked members of Liss Parish Council were told on Monday evening that the group has been searching for crucial new members to continue their work for more than a year without success. A letter from acting chairman John Meader read: "For more than 16 months both the Liss Conservation Volunteers and East Hampshire District Council have mounted a campaign to recruit a chairman and works officer to ensure the smooth and continued operations of Liss Conservation Volunteers. "This has failed." He said the committee had taken a unanimous decision to close all matters concerning Liss Conservation Volunteers from October 25. An extraordinary meeting is scheduled for October 22 in Liss Community Centre to wind up the group's affairs. Mr Meader said he had met with Daryl Phillips, head of planning development at East Hampshire District Council, which jointly owns the Riverside Railway Walk land with the parish council. "I reported that the current Liss Conservation Volunteers work team had indicated it was willing to perform its tasks in the future, but under clearly defined EHDC administrative arrangements. "The most significant of these is insurance coverage. It was also accepted that this team would be in need of some form of title, for example the Riverside volunteer rangers," he said. But on Monday night parish councillors said it would be devastating to lose the group. Nigel Paren told fellow members: "We must write and thank John Meader for all his work. He has been in the forefront of the work of the Riverside Walk ever since it was mooted as a project between East Hampshire District Council and ourselves. "It is a tragedy that we cannot find someone else to take on this work. There is no shortage of volunteers, it is someone to manage them who is providing a problem to find." And Paddy Payne told the meeting parish councillors should be putting their heads together and trying to find a solution. "This is extremely sad. The Liss Conservation Volunteers have done a fantastic job and there are legions of people who come out once a month and help to maintain the Riverside Walk. "I think it would be negligent of us to allow Liss Conservation Volunteers to be wound up if we haven't investigated all of the possibilities." He added: "Their work saves this village a huge amount of money each year. It is free labour and if we didn't have the volunteers we would have to look after huge tracts of land in our ownership. It is incumbent on us to find someone and not just turn out backs on them."
