Greening Kimpton

Hedge planting at Parkfield Sports Ground

As many of you will have seen, work on renewing the hedgerow at Parkfield Sports Ground has commenced. I’m delighted to report Kimpton has secured 1,000 trees through the NHDC free trees giveaway scheme, which will be planted as a new native hedgerow. These are mixed species of hawthorn, hazel, downy birch, silver birch, field maple, whitebeam, lime, rowan, wild cherry and bird cherry.

We appreciate that the area looks a little sparse after the clearance works, but this renewed hedge will be a fantastic host to wildlife and create biodiversity in the coming years. In many ways, it is a community legacy project for the benefit of future generations.

On Friday 11 March we also planted seven crab apple trees, as part of The Queen’s Green Canopy. This is a unique tree planting initiative created to mark Her Majesty’s Platinum Jubilee in 2022 which invites people from across the United Kingdom to “Plant a Tree for the Jubilee”.

We planted seven – to mark each decade of the Queen’s service – and chose to do it on the 70th day of 2022. It was a true community project, with the Eco Team from Kimpton Primary School joining forces with the Bench Working Party and Kimpton Parish Council to plant the trees. We’re pleased with the size of the saplings and hope that they will establish quickly.

New energy app launches in Hertfordshire

Hertfordshire has become one of the first regions in the UK to partner with the Energy Saving Trust to provide an app to residents to help them make energy savings. The unique, easy to use Hertfordshire Energy/Advice Tool (HEAT) will help householders save money and reduce their carbon footprint.

 

Parkfield Sports Ground re-hedging

Contractors have commenced clearing the old hedgerow at Parkfield but leaving specimens of holly that will be incorporated within the new hedge. There was considerable amount of debris on Public Footpath 60 that runs between the hedgerow and the fencing of neighbouring properties. This has been cleared so that in future people can walk on this part of the public footpath network.

The contractors will be returning on Monday and will continue the clearance towards Park Lane.

We appreciate that the area does look sparse after the clearance works, but we’re re-planting with 1,000 trees obtained through the North Herts Council Tree Giveaway scheme.

What is being planted? We’ve chosen a mixed variety of mainly native species: hawthorn, hazel, downy birch, silver birch, field maple, whitebeam, lime, rowan, wild cherry and bird cherry. This should provide year round colour, beautiful blossoms, bright berries and stunning autumn displays. In later years the hedgerow will receive an annual hedge trim to maintain a height of 2 metres to keep the hedge looking its best.

Our advisors have commented that this renewed hedge will be a fantastic host to wildlife and create biodiversity in the coming years and decades. It is our community legacy project for the benefit of future generations.

Why clear the hedgerow? The reason why the decision was taken to undertake a radical replacement is that large amounts of the present hedgerow is dead and being held up with extensive amounts of ivy. It is only a matter of time that the hedge trees will fall down in snowy or windy weather, in fact they were doing exactly that during the clearance works.

Saving the best of the hedgerow. Trunks in good health of species such as Whitebeam will be allowed to regrow within the new hedging. As they have a substantial root structure they will send up new shoots and grow quickly. The ivy will be removed and kept away to enable the hedgerow trees to grow strong.

An example of the approach being taken – the holly tree will be kept and the dead tree in the background will be removed.

More trees to be acquired

Kimpton Parish Council is making a grant application to Queens Green Canopy fund created to mark Her Majesty’s Platinum Jubilee in 2022 that is operating through Hertfordshire County Council. Our application is for additional Crab Apple Trees, John Downie, that will be planted alongside the hedgerow. These trees will be left to grow to maturity to break up the hedgerow line and provide additional privacy for the neighbouring properties.

 

Low Carbon Workspaces – Grants for Energy Efficiency Projects

Low Carbon Workspaces are offering match-funded grants of up to £5,000 to help SMEs in Hertfordshire to subsidise the cost of upgrading equipment to improve energy efficiency, lower energy bills, and improve the overall quality of their premises.

Grants are available to SMEs based in Hertfordshire and all eligible projects must result in a quantifiable reduction in greenhouse gas emissions – don’t worry, the Low Carbon Workspaces team can calculate this for you!

Grants are available to help fund up to a third of the cost of energy-saving projects such as LED lighting, heating upgrades, insulation/glazing, and solar panels. The grant scheme aims to be as flexible as possible.  A package of measures, perhaps due to an office refurbishment, can be supported within a single grant application.

Examples of Eligible projects include:

  • Lighting Systems
  • Renewal Energy systems
  • Equipment Upgrades
  • Heating and Cooling Upgrades
  • Waste Management
  • Building Fabric Improvements

If your business is looking to fund an energy-saving measure that is not mentioned above, please contact the team to discuss your potential project.

The programme has already awarded grants to more than 200 businesses in Hertfordshire.

The Low Carbon Workspaces team can be contacted on 01494 927131 and at info@lowcarbonworkspaces.co.uk

 

Greening Kimpton survey results

‘Greening Kimpton’ is a community-led initiative with the sole aim of supporting local people and businesses in reducing energy consumption and waste.

Working together as a team, we will choose and carry out some small but significant challenges that will result in:

  • saving us money and reducing energy consumption and waste
  • a healthier and happier future for the people of Kimpton, Blackmore End and Peter’s Green

The Greening Campaign is not exclusive to Kimpton. In fact, it has been successfully rolled out across over 200 communities up and down the country. So let’s join others in working together to secure a safer climate, flourishing nature and healthy air for the next generation. If you wish to find out more from Terena Plowright, Founder of the Greening Campaign please watch https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bAaCFd6toZ8

Please use the form below to vote on your top three challenges for Kimpton.

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