Cliddesden Community Conservation Group
Our first project was to plant 2,100 trees on a strip of land bordering the M3 motorway. The Earl of Portsmouth very kindly allowed us to plant this shelterbelt on his land and Basingstoke & Deane Borough Council awarded us an Environment and Regeneration grant to cover much of the cost and we raised several hundred pounds locally. The Woodland Trust grant of £100 enabled us to purchase even more trees with the necessary stakes and guards.
62 enthusiastic volunteers, aged 2 to 80, braved the sleet and snow during the weekend of Saturday 20th and Sunday 21st November to plant the trees. Some planted and some kept us going with hot tea and coffee, soup, rolls and cake and words of encouragement! Mark Ruffell, our Borough Councillor, joined us on Saturday with his young son and Alison Cross, Loddon and Eversley Project Officer for Hants Wildlife Trust, helped us plant saying what a real difference local communities can make to their environment whilst having fun!
The aims of the project were to shield the village from the effect of noise from traffic on the M3 motorway; to reduce the amount of pollution and improve air quality; to contribute to the regeneration of the natural environment; to recreate wildlife habitats and increase the biodiversity in the area; to significantly visually enhance the landscape
HWT and BTCV gave us tremendous support and advice in the preparation of this ambitious project. We selected British native trees, indigenous to the local area and with local provenance, which fit well into the landscape:
Ash, Beech, Silver Birch, Field Maple, Pendunculate Oak, Rowan, Blackthorn, Crab Apple, Hawthorn, Hazel, Native Box, Holly, Common Hornbeam, Buckthorn and Yew.
This was a really successful community event that will, we hope, raise awareness of the importance of caring for our environment and encourage others to make a stand for their threatened countryside. It gives us a great thrill to look back at the lines of trees that will soon make such a difference to our environment – there is great satisfaction in planting a tree, knowing it will keep growing for many years in the future.
We all had a wonderful time up to our knees in mud and can’t wait for the next planting scheme! So very many thanks to all at the Woodland Trust who do such a great job and for helping us contribute in our own way.
Alison Kay
Chairman
25 February 2005
