About Greening Ashwell

Our goals

Greening Ashwell has set out a number of goals which it hopes will enable to it ensure that the natural diversity of the area in and around the village will be cared for in the coming years.

 Habitat conservation

To ensure that the local habitats of scarce native flora are preserved.

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We want to ensure those green areas which the village already has are retained by appropriate management. Where necessary, this will be in consultation with any local authority maintenance requirements.

It will include a programme of native planting and wild flora enhancements. We will be working with organisations like The Woodland Trust and supporting their initiatives, including National Tree Week.

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 Green plan

To develop a Green Plan for existing vegetation.

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The plan will include assessing an area's current ecological value and its biodiversity potential, with appropriate enhancement.

A digital map will be used to track the plan so that enhancements and additional detailing can be updated as required. A priority task, in consultation with North Herts District Council, is to plot existing trees for potential Tree Preservation Order protection.

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 Green teams

To establish a number of volunteer Green Teams.

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Managing and maintaining projects is important as many community schemes can fail through lack of aftercare. All work will be by voluntary effort through Green Teams which will ensure weeding, watering and similar tasks continue to take place.

Much of the village's public green spaces and verges are managed by the local authority and some of these areas have communities of specialised flora which is deteriorating due to inappropriate management practices. It is hoped to liaise with council officers to see if a more appropriate regime can be established.

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Funding

To raise the funding required to ensure the success of the group’s projects.

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Without the necessary funds community projects can fail. We have successful bid for additional funding from local companies and are applying to our local authority and other agencies for more resources.

Ashwell is surrounded by intensive farming so that the periphery of village is ecologically poor (few hedges, trees or woods). Part of our mission is to engage with landowners and farmers to show the benefits of encouraging wildlife and to help promote environmental grant aid schemes.

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 Working with other groups

To work closely wth other groups to promote our objectives.

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We hope to work with other Ashwell community projects such as St. Mary’s bee meadows, surrounding villages projects like Guilden Morden community orchard and more widely with initiatives like the proposed Nature Recovery Organisation for ideas and to provide other possibilities such as site visits.

Workshops, lectures and other events (some designed to help our fund raising) will enable the group to develop its skills. Through our website, Facebook and WhatsApp, we can reach a wider audience to promote our initiatives.

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A brief history

On 21st February 2020, at The Three Tuns in the village, the inaugural meeting of Greening Ashwell took place where over 30 villagers came to find out what it was all about. I was thrilled that the village community immediately embraced this initiative and that individuals had come forward to take on tasks.

So, from this inaugural meeting a second gathering took place at the United Reform Church Hall where I presented my ideas of taking Greening Ashwell forward. Again, it was well attended, with Lindsay Dew generously providing the hall and refreshments and we obtained our first donations of £30 from attendees. Tasks were discussed and a SURVEY of the villages “green assets” was acknowledged as a priority to establish what Ashwell has already. 

The proposed GREEN PLAN got underway with Anne Fletcher leading and from the results we started planning what to do next. It was immediately apparent that many of the significantly mature trees in the village have no statutory protection, highlighted by the felling of the horse chestnut in Lucas Lane by Logan Homes. The heritage of our village's rural hedges is diminishing through indiscriminate removal. We also have some less common native plant communities which are becoming poorer through unsympathetic local authority management (thanks to Chris James highlighting this problem). The green plan will therefore be an essential part of programming future actions.

Kenneth Coyne

Founding member of the organisation

The Committee

The interim committee was formed to establish the Greening Ashwell project. In September the committee will be formalised when the group will hold an event to set out its autumn programme.

• Joint Chair : Clare Docking & Fionnuala George

• Secretary : Sherran Chalkley

• Treasurer : Kate Blake

• Conservation Adviser : Chris James