Help plant wildflowers in Neston this weekend as part of Big Green Week
23 September 2021
Join the Friends of Parkfields this Saturday at 11am to help sow a new wildflower meadow to benefit bees, butterflies, and local young people to help them enjoy, learn and care for local wildlife.
The meadow will complement a pond recently created to attract wildlife at Parkgate, near Neston. Native wildflowers will also be sown on the pond edges along with other new wetland areas.
Wildflower-rich grasslands are essential for bees, butterflies, hoverflies and other pollinating insects. They also provide food and shelter for other wildlife, including birds and mammals.
Bees and other pollinators spend the spring and summer months collecting nectar and pollen to feed their young, in the process they pollinate our garden plants and crops, as well as other wildflowers.
By doing this, they play a vital role in the production of the food we eat. Without pollinators we would have no apples, pears and other fruit. In fact, most plants need help from pollinators.
A community orchard was planted adjacent to this area in the spring through Trees for Climate, a national multi-million pound woodland creation programme, part of the Government-led Nature for Climate Fund.
The orchard is already looking great, producing some initial fruit in its first year. The introduction of the new meadow nearby will only help this orchard thrive even more.
Council Leader and Cabinet Member for Wellbeing, Councillor Louise Gittins said: “What a wonderful event. I’m sure this wildflower meadow will look amazing next spring, not just for people using Parkfields, but for local wildlife too.”
The Council’s Cabinet Member for the Climate Emergency, Councillor Matt Bryan said: “Our bees and other pollinating insects are in trouble. Their populations have declined drastically in recent decades. We now have only a fraction of the abundance and variety of the insect wildlife that we once had so it is vital to support those that remain by providing habitats such as wildflower meadows as part of many actions to respond to the climate emergency in coming years.”
The project to create an educational area is being led by the Friends of Park Fields with support from Cheshire West and Chester Council’s Total Environment Team, the local ward councillor, Neston Town Council and Cheshire Police Commissioner.
Cheshire West and Chester Council declared a Climate Emergency in 2019 and has developed a Climate Emergency Response Plan that sets out the actions needed for the borough to become carbon neutral by 2045, including how residents can play their part. The Council has also recently approved its Environmental Management Strategy which covers wildflowers.
Please register if you would like to attend on Saturday at: Info@friendsofparkfields.org.
To find out more about the Friends of Parkfields, or to become a member please visit www.friendsofparkfields.org.
Find out about other Great Big Green Week events taking place across the borough on Eco Communities Great Big Green Week website.
