Green
Growth for Burngreave
Burngreave’s
green spaces are about to receive a £1.3 million boost through
an exciting new project called the Burngreave Green Environment
Programme, funded by New Deal for Communities, which aims to transform
the area’s parks, green places and open spaces. The project
is a partnership between Sheffield Wildlife Trust; Sheffield City
Council; Green City Action and the Burngreave community. A steering
group of local residents is being set up to ensure the project is
working for the community at every step.
The Programme
will help to improve people’s health by encouraging activities
such as outdoor exercise and gardening. It will also increase levels
of environmental education through activities and events; increase
skills via practical volunteer days and training sessions and directly
provide jobs for local people.
The Green Environment
Programme’s initial phase is funded for 2½ years and
begins this autumn with 5 major projects to kick-start the regeneration
process.
Grimesthorpe
Community Gardens
The project aims to help bring more allotments into productive use;
increase accessibility and encourage gardeners of every nationality
and ability to work together to promote, encourage and pass on food-growing
skills to new gardeners. The New Deal money will pay for: a portacabin
to be installed as a much needed communal area for plot holders
with toilet facilities and meeting room; raised beds, for those
with mobility problems, will be constructed on two plots for group
and individual use; a new security fence will be constructed around
the site to replace the dilapidated existing one.
Abbeyfield
Park Outbuildings - ‘Multicultural Environmental Arts and
Study Centre’
A co-ordinator will be employed to raise funds, develop and work
with architects to create an environmentally friendly design for
the renovation of the out buildings including the Bowlers block.
The co-ordinator will design a diverse environmental, arts and study
programme catering for our cross-generational and cross-cultural
community, with pilot projects next year. Green City Action will
manage the project, Panni Poh Yoke Loh has been appointed as co-ordinator
and is now in post. Telephone 0114 2440353 for more information.
Volunteers are welcome.
Ranger
Service
Sheffield City Council will expand its Ranger Service into Burngreave
with a project to deliver practical improvements in the parks and
green space. They will also run environmental education sessions,
events and practical volunteer days to encourage local people to
get out there in their favourite green spaces.
Community
Forestry Project
The Council will also be starting a community forestry project as
part of the programme. The foresters will begin by surveying Burngreave’s
trees and woodlands. From there they will work to improve the condition
of existing trees and increase the amount of woodland in Burngreave.
They will also aim to educate people about trees and woodland management
and encourage local people to get planting. Community woodlands
and orchards and a tree warden scheme are all in the pipeline for
the community foresters and they want to work with the community
to shape these ideas.
Green
Audit
In the first year Sheffield Wildlife Trust and Sheffield City Council
ecologists will examine all the green spaces in Burngreave in order
to find out how good they are for wildlife and how best they can
be improved as wildlife habitat. Historical use of sites and some
of the old buildings they contain will also be investigated. They
will be asking what you know about the wildlife and history of the
green spaces; how you view and use your local green space and what
ideas you have for improvements. All this information will be used
to develop an action plan, outlining works and projects to take
place. Action on the ground is needed straight away, so smaller
scale improvements, tackling obvious and urgent problems will go
ahead whilst the green audit is carried out.
Look out for
the project over the coming year and get active for your local green
space.
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