West Berkshire Community Orchard Planting Day
Grab your gardening gloves and wellies and join the West Berkshire community on Saturday 21 January to help plant a new community orchard.
West Berkshire Council (WBC) staff and members of the public will join together to plant 30 fruit trees and hedges in the green space at Almond Avenue and Poplar Place, Newbury. This site has been chosen as it is owned by WBC and is a popular open space for recreational use with play areas and space for dog walking.
The green space site is currently not used for a specific purpose and is large enough to create a community orchard whilst leaving sufficient open space for the public to use. It is easily accessible by vehicle through Poplar Place (by means of the children's playground at RG14 1LU), and via footpaths from nearby residential areas.
Community orchards are excellent places for people to come together to plant and cultivate local and unusual varieties of fruit trees and to be used as the focal point for community activities such as picnics, or as a green haven in which to have a positive impact on both physical and mental wellbeing.
Creating a nature-friendly conservation area where wildlife can flourish is not only for the benefit and enjoyment of the whole community, but also meets the actions being taken to reach the target of carbon neutrality by 2030 that WBC produced in its Environment Strategy. https://www.westberks.gov.uk/environmentstrategy (opens in new window)
Achieving carbon neutrality requires a multi-faceted approach and one way to tackle climate change is through carbon sequestration, which is the process of capturing and storing atmospheric carbon dioxide. Tree and wildflower planting is an example of this, and it adds to the character and biodiversity of the district.
If you would like to lend a hand and do your bit for the environment, please do join the WBC team at 10:30am on Saturday 21 January at the park space behind Almond Avenue and Poplar Place, Newbury.
The tree pits will be pre-dug and all tools will be provided. Refreshments will be provided on site during the tree planting. Please come dressed for the great outdoors and bring your own gardening gloves to protect your hands.