Volunteers are claiming to have been banned from a north Norfolk nature reserve after staging a protest against the site's management.
A group of seven former members of staff and volunteers at Sculthorpe Moor Nature Reserve, near Fakenham, say they have been served banning notices by the Hawk and Owl Trust – the charity which runs the 200-acre conservation area.
However, the trust has denied bannning volunteers solely based on their involvement in the protest, but says "repeated unwarranted and misplaced public criticism of the charity is incompatible with continued membership or volunteer status".
The volunteers held a protest over the current management of Sculthorpe Moor Nature Reserve last week, after 14 members of staff have left the reserve over the past four years.
Nigel Middleton, the reserve's former conservation officer, was allegedly made redundant after 21 years.
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The Friends of Sculthorpe Moor (FOSM23) group is now calling for the reserve’s chief operations director, Adrian Blumfield, to resign.
Ted Glynn, of FOSM23, said: “Since last Monday (July 24), at least seven people have been sent banning notices by chief operations director, Adrian Blumfield.
“These people are committed to the reserve. In many cases they have donated hundreds of hours each year for many years.
“Under the current management the reserve is in decline, and now that the magnitude of that decline is plain to see so is the need for management change.”
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Angela Glynn, the mayor of Fakenham, who has fundraised for the reserve since 2017, called the bans “ridiculous”.
“The reserve will suffer because of the loss of experience,” she said.
“It will harm the conservation work that can be done at the reserve, which will damage what is a very precious and biodiverse habitat.
"We're calling for Adrian Blumfield's resignation and for the trustees to step up to the mark and deal with this.
“All we want to do is get the reserve back to being run the way it once was.”
An email sent to one volunteer from the charity's chief operations director Adrian Blumfield said: "The board agrees for individuals or groups who wish to pursue their current cause of action undermining this organisation and staff, as the trust continues to evolve, is unacceptable".
It continued: "Should you wish to remain participating with this group and the role of a volunteer and/or member is unacceptable".
A Hawk and Owl Trust spokesperson said: "Our two well-managed nature reserves in Norfolk and Somerset are open to anyone interested in the conservation of wild birds of prey and their habitats.
"Membership of the Hawk and Owl Trust is not required to visit and each year our team of staff and volunteers welcome thousands of members of the public eager to learn about our important work.
"Nobody has been issued an exclusion order, preventing them from visiting our reserves, solely due to their involvement in the small protest that took place at Sculthorpe Moor last week.
"We always encourage dialogue with members and volunteers, offering robust internal procedures for anyone wishing to raise an issue, and complaints are professionally investigated and handled.
"However, repeated unwarranted and misplaced public criticism of the charity is incompatible with continued membership or volunteer status, as comments risk undermining the work being undertaken by the Hawk and Owl Trust."
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