Dorchester Town Council are celebrating the very welcome news that The Forestry Commission has awarded them £30,000 in grant funding from the Urban Tree Challenge Fund.
The funding is specifically allocated for the planting of large standard trees in urban areas and will also be match funded by Dorchester Town Council mainly in the form of work in kind as the Town Councils outdoor services team will do all the planting and maintenance into the future.
Planting will take place over this coming winter and will comprise large standard size, native species trees located at Kings Road open space. The trees will make up phase two of a plan to develop a woodland at the open space which will be the only one within Dorchester that is fully accessible to the public.
Mayor Gareth Jones said: “We are all aware of how important trees are for the wider environment and we are very pleased to have received this funding which will help us plant more trees at Kings Road. In addition to the environmental benefits, it is now widely known that trees and woodland offer great benefits to people in terms of both a sense of wellbeing and mental health and to have the extra funding to allow us to create a small woodland that will provide such benefits is very exciting, and especially that this project will carry on benefitting the people of Dorchester for decades to come.
“The team have clearly worked hard to secure the funding and put plans in place not only to plant the trees but to maintain them with operations such as watering, pruning and weeding over at least the next three years to ensure the trees get off to as good a start as possible.”
The woodland project at Kings Road is now in its second planting season, the first year’s planting focussed on thickening the hedgerow adjacent to the nearby river to provide additional habitat for wildlife and the planting of standard trees on fields the eastern boundary.
Cllr Fiona Kent-Ledger, Chair of the Management Committee at Dorchester Town Council said: “It is fantastic news that we have received this grant money which will deliver a further 71 large standard trees a part of phase two of our woodland project. These trees will be planted in the central area of the wood and will be separated from the phase one planting by a curved grass walk that will eventually wind its way through the woodland.
“The Town Council will also provide and plant more trees in this area this year to really make an impact. It is very encouraging to know we are providing a home for wildlife, helping the environment and creating a facility that people can use and be involved with. We hope that the community will take part in some of the planting and maintenance, in addition we will also be employing a person on a part time basis to care for the planting which will be a great opportunity for someone to help develop a lasting feature in Dorchester’s landscape.”
In addition to tree planting, plans for the woodland include the development of wildflower margins where grass paths meet the tree line. Such areas have been identified as some of the most valuable and diverse in terms of plant and animal species in a woodland. These margins will border a curved circular walk through the woodland offering the chance for people to enjoy a stroll through the growing trees.
It is intended in the future, as the trees grow, that volunteering opportunities will occur to allow people to interact and be involved with the woodland and its care.
Photo, by Tamara Umasankar, shows last year’s tree plantings at King’s Road
