Telford & Wrekin Council helping to create a nectar network
As part of Telford & Wrekin Council’s #BigGreenVote, the Council is set to add an extra splash of colour to the gardens, window boxes and balconies of residents’ homes while also providing a much needed boost for pollinating insects across the borough.
Residents taking part in the vote have the option of being entered into a prize draw and could win packets of native wildflower seeds. Winners will then be able to create mini ‘nectar banks’ at their homes providing opportunities for pollinating insects to re-fuel as they travel through the borough’s urban, suburban and rural landscape.
Telford and Wrekin’s private domestic gardens cover an area equivalent to approximately 1,300 football pitches and wild flower seed winners will be able to help create a ‘nectar network’ across this area equivalent in size to a traditional wildflower meadow.
John Minor, Telford & Wrekin Council’s Cabinet Member for leisure, green spaces & parks, said: “These prizes will help bring new life and extra colour to people’s homes and will give a much needed boost to our pollinator species including bees and butterflies, many of which are in decline.
“We’re very lucky in Telford as we have an abundance of green space, 89 per cent of households are within 300m of an accessible green space and our residents have access to over twice the recommended area of Local Nature Reserves across the borough. The Green Guarantee’s Big Green Vote is our commitment to preserving and enhancing these areas and working in partnership with the community to evolve them in a way they want.”
“The Big Green Vote is about raising awareness of the green spaces we have in Telford. It’s the first time we have run the consultation through a vote and we are finding it a much more interactive way to learn about how people see the green spaces around them. The response has been positive with people coming forward to share ideas about how they would like to see spaces improved and what they would like to do to support the spaces that are of a priority to them. I’d urge everyone to vote and explore where the Green Guarantee sites are in this round.”
Joining forces with the scheme is the Telford and Wrekin Inclusive Gardening Service (TWIG) that will provide short films on how to sow wildflower seeds in gardens, window boxes and planters which will be available to view on the Big Green Vote website where new content is continually being added.
The Big Green Vote launched on March 1 and forms part of the council’s commitment to protecting green spaces under its Green Guarantee scheme. This is the second wave of 96 sites, bringing the total to 200 areas of green space protected from development, strengthening the green network across the borough which already includes eight Sites of Special Scientific Interest and 13 Local Nature Reserves, with more to be confirmed later in the year.
Residents have until midnight on Sunday, April 15 to cast five votes for their favourite green spaces at https://biggreenvote.telford.gov.uk. Whilst all sites will be protected the 50 sites with the highest number of votes will receive site enhancements up to the value of £1,000. These enhancements will be decided upon in consultation with local communities and could involve the provision of site information boards, benches, wild flower seeds, native bulbs or even assist in establishing new friends groups.
The Big Green Vote is funded from Telford & Wrekin Council’s £2m Telford 50 Legacy Fund that supports a mix of physical schemes as well as other projects that help tackle key social issues in the borough and reduce demand on council services.
Almost 1,400 people took part in a consultation in summer 2017 to find out what people wanted to see supported as a legacy of Telford 50 and recreation was one of the most popular themes.
