Welford planting project launches
Major tree planting work has been carried out at Welford-on-Avon in the continuation of a project that has been ongoing for over a decade.
A £2,000 community grant from Warwickshire County Council to a local charity has enabled major environmental works along the boundary of Welford and the parish of Binton and the main B439 Evesham Road.
Prior to the millennium, Welford Parish Council consulted residents on how they wished to mark the date. They elected to enhance what was a somewhat run-down area at the northern entrance to the village.
Scrub and fallen trees were cleared, fencing and gates replaced, water channels and pools were dredged, a major programme of planting saw trees, shrubs, hedges, osier beds and a wildflower meadow introduced and new road works were carried out to create a layby, footpath and grass verges.
An action group, the Welford Millennial Project Trust was established involving the parish councils of Welford and Binton, the county and the district council, the Environment agency and several landowners in the area. This charity has ensured that work on the area continued and that maintenance and ongoing improvements were carried out.
Its work is supported financially by Welford Parish Council and grants from other organisations.
The recent county council grant enabled the work to extend to include the woodland up to the entrance of Flowgas on the B439 and the three ‘islands’ on the river. Earlier this year, a major tree planting exercise saw over 200 native deciduous trees including weeping willow and alder planted on the islands and various native deciduous trees including oak, ash, field maple and hazel bordering the B439 and Binton Road.
An interpretation board and plaque on the site provides details of the history of the area and of the project.
Dereck Tribe, Welford Millennium Committee Chair said: “Having renamed the Binton Bridges site on the river Avon ‘The Welford Millennium Conservation Area’ at the beginning of the year, we are pleased to have completed this major tree planting project.
“Over 250 native deciduous trees have now been planted which will eventually greatly improve the landscape when entering the village from the north and make a significant contribution to local conservation”.