Spring has sprung (well perhaps crept) upon us and it has been a busy and mostly productive few months for MCA’s Nature Group, who have taken over the management of five Leek community orchards, formerly the responsibility of the district council. All but two orchards have now been pruned and had their mulch mats laid, along with the mulch. We hope to have completed the remainder soon. As well as providing a nurturing base for the trees, the mulch mats serve as a marker, hopefully preventing AES (Alliance Environmental Services, the council’s contractors) from strimming too near the trees and causing damage to the trunks.
SMDC has appointed a new officer responsible for the management of AES. He comes with a great background, having worked his way up from grounds maintenance, through the highly technical (but not typically nature-friendly!) world of sports pitches to latterly being responsible to Staffordshire University for making their grounds more wildlife sensitive (in partnership with Staffs Wildlife Trust). The group hopes to meet him shortly for further co-operation. On the orchards themselves, we have talked to SMDC biodiversity officer, Katie Hampton, about signage, as suggested by Cllr. Matt Swindlehurst when he attended an MCA Nature meeting. This will make clear that MCA are now managing the orchards.
MCA has now attended two initial meetings of the Nature in Your Neighbourhood steering group. It was slightly frustrating to be told that the National Lottery was being very sensitive about going public on this flagship Staffordshire Wildfe Trust-led verges and wildlife project (as they are apparently on all such projects in an election year). We have since been told that they have given the go-ahead, for publicity amd we will imminently be ready to release details. It will be important to keep in mind that this is a five-year project, and we are working with partners.
After a delay, Staffordshire Wildlife Trust have now got their full team on board, with staff experienced in managing this kind of project. The first year will be spent determining how people in the Moorlands feel about nature (verges and green spaces particularly) and what geographical areas they feel could (or should) be prioritised to improve conditions for wildlife. We will identify where there are already active groups, or communities, networks, partners and landowners, who want to engage with us/connect with nature.
As the lead organisation, SWT have suggested the following partner responsibility for our group: ‘MCA developed the initial idea for the project and will engage their community network to enable restoration. MCA will provide some of the volunteers from their existing volunteer base and will signpost interested people in the community of relevant partners towards support opportunities. They will help the partnership to find contacts within a range of groups and organisations and will provide on-the-ground knowledge about sites and areas of interest.’
Your comments on the statement about MCA’s responsibilities would be very welcome. If you have any comments please share them with us via