From the WMDC Press and Communications Office
35,000 TREES PLANTED
TREE AND WOODLAND STRATEGY
More
than 35,000 trees have been planted since November 2004 as part of
Treescapes - the Tree and Woodland Strategy for Wakefield.
The
Wakefield District Treescapes Action Partnership (TAP) is made up of
Wakefield District Council, Groundwork Wakefield, English Nature, Forestry
Commission and White Rose Forest plus NewLeaf Project Officer Tom Handley.
The
partnership aims to deliver Treescapes by involving local people wherever
possible.
In
early 2005, NewLeaf was approached by Ossett and Horbury Phoenix Rotary
Club which wanted to celebrate the club centenary by planting 100 trees in
their area.
Ossett
School offered space for the trees within a young woodland in its grounds
and welcomed community involvement in improving its greenspace as an asset
for the school and the public.
Cabinet
Member for Environment Cllr Graham Isherwood said: "This is a good
example of how we, our partners and the public can work well together.
With just one morning of digging and staking and with the help of 12
people, it was possible to plant 100 young Sweet Chestnut Trees so that we
had a successful community forest project.
"Many
trees have been planted as part of Treescapes to enhance our environment
and communities and we hope many more will be planted in the future."
NewLeaf
also helped Wakefield Council's Arboriculture manager Steve Forster who
had funds to plant 2,000 trees at the Ossett M1 motorway junction, but no
spare staff time to do the job.
Phoenix
Rotarians stepped in to help with the work on open land on the roundabout
island with technical advice, practical help and funding from TAP.
The
trees are providing a wildlife habitat and greener views. They will also
help buffer motorway noise and absorb some of the carbon dioxide
emissions.
Other
tree planting initiatives within the past year include:
-
Four
and a half hectares of tree seeding (Oak and Ash) near the former
Saxon Way site at Airedale
-
Ten
thousand native trees on the old pit stack at Water Fryston, where the
new A1(m) enters the District
-
Two
thousand new trees at former Parkhill Colliery site
-
Smaller
planting schemes at schools and Hemsworth Hospital
Ref:
PR752
Date: 15/03/06
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