WE NEED YOU! COMMUNITY WILDFLOWER SEEDING
Following other successful community planting and pruning days in the town, Newbury Town Council’s Green Spaces Working Group, in partnership with Newbury in Bloom, are seeking volunteers to help seed a new wildflower meadow at Greenham House Gardens (opposite the ‘Burger King roundabout’) on Sunday 10 December between 10am and 1pm.
Cllr Gary Norman, Leader of the Council said, “We have already established successful wildflower meadows at Victoria Park, City Recreation Ground and Roebutts Close. They look beautiful throughout the summer as well as creating havens for bees and other insects.
We would encourage everyone, especially those with an interest in biodiversity and wildflowers, to come along and help”.
The wildflowers and flowering plants give a number of benefits including:
- Plant diversity attracts insects and other invertebrates (including butterflies, bees, spiders and millipedes), birds and mammals
- Flowering species add a changing palate of colour to the urban environment throughout the seasons
Wildflowers should help to attract beneficial insects into the area that feed on the wildflowers and make their home in them. In turn these insects help to fertilise our crops to grow produce for us to eat and the insects are food for other wildlife.
Greenham House Gardens is an attractive park, located opposite the Burger King roundabout, with access from Greenham Road and St. John’s Road. The ownership of the Gardens was recently devolved from West Berkshire District Council to Newbury Town Council.
Cllr Vaughan Miller, Chair of the Community Services Committee said, “The wildflower area is just part of the Town Council’s plans to improve Greenham House Gardens. We will also be asking volunteers to help plant a native deciduous hedgerow in the Spring and, as a wholesale change to the planting scheme, we will be adding perennial plants rather than planting annual summer and winter bedding each year.
This move to cultivating perennial plants will continue to reduce the Council’s Carbon Footprint, as new plants will not need to be produced every year. Perennials tend to live for 3+ years, coming back year after year during their peak seasons, often larger and with more vibrancy than the previous year.
Moving forward, we will be updating the waste bins at Greenham House Gardens so they will include recycling options for users of the Park too.”
Contact:
Cllr Gary Norman, Leader of the Council gary.norman@newbury.gov.uk 07801 046115
Cllr Vaughan Miller, Chair Community Services Committee Vaughan.miller@newbury.gov.uk 07810 543425
James Heasman, Parks & Open Spaces Supervisor NTC james.heasman@newbury.gov.uk 07775 434475
