Community leaders in Peasedown St John are asking residents for their views on a brand new ‘Pollinator Project’.

B&NES Council has been awarded funding by the West of England Combined Authority to improve habitats for wildlife and people across the district.

They are using some of this funding to create new pollinator-rich habitats at eight sites across the area.

One of those sites is Orchard Way in Peasedown St John. Last Sunday morning a consultation event was held in the village, asking residents for their views on how they’d like to see the green spaces along and around Orchard Way to be better utilised.

Cllr Gavin Heathcote (Independent, Peasedown), who attended the event, said: “The Park’s Department wants to find ways to improve wildlife habitats in these areas through new flower-rich meadows, food forests and flowering shrubs and trees, whilst also providing attractive, well-maintained spaces where people can meet, and children can play.

“Nature is collapsing at an alarming rate. In the UK, around 97% of species-rich grasslands have been lost since the 1930s, and one study found a 76% decrease in insect abundance since 1989.

“Longer grass and more shrubs are generally better for wildlife than short grass, but we recognise some of the concerns that people have when the grass is cut less often. This is why the Council is carrying out this consultation.”

The consultation follows on from a lot of work that has already been done in Peasedown St John to protect and look after the local environment.

Fellow Peasedown Councillor Karen Walker (Independent), added: “Organisations like the Peasedown Environment Group and the Peasedown Community Trust have been working hard in recent years to champion the natural environment and create a ‘greener village’.

“As well as the five hundred trees we’ve already planted or distributed at various sites, and the creation of the new Peasedown Orchard, we have more additional trees being planted along Orchard Way this winter.”

For more information about B&NES Council’s consultation on green spaces along Orchard Way, Peasedown St John, and other sites around the district visit: https://beta.bathnes.gov.uk/bee-bold-pollinator-project or email [email protected]