A year-long campaign in the village of Peasedown St John near Bath has seen five hundred trees planted in time for the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee celebrations in June.
Planting trees in Peasedown St John | Photo courtesy of the Peasedown Community Trust
The Peasedown Community Trust set itself the target last year of planting the trees to mark the historic occasion.
Trust Chairman, Gavin Heathcote, said: “Trees are one of the best solutions to our climate emergency.
“They improve poor air quality, alleviate the risk of flooding, lock up carbon, boost our wellbeing – making us feel healthier and happier, and create habitats for wildlife.
“Since we launched our tree planting initiative in March 2021, we’ve been overwhelmed with residents wanting to ‘do their bit’.
“With a further 164 trees planted in people’s gardens last week, we’ve now hit our 500 target!”
Campaign group More Trees for B&NES, who supplied the majority of the trees over the last 12 months along with a small number being supplied by Curo, have coordinated the planting of almost 10,000 trees across the district since the group was established in 2008.
Their co-founder, Adam Gretton said: “Planting trees is an easy and fun way for us all to ‘do our bit’ for the environment.
“So many communities across the area, over the last decade, have taken great strides in planting trees in their towns and villages. Peasedown St John has been no exception with several tree planting projects over the last 12 months.
“More Trees BANES is a not-for-profit community group, that works hard to grow, plant and protect trees in our local area.”
The Peasedown Community Trust’s ‘Planting for Peasedown’ project has seen trees planted in 15 different residential streets and estates, at Peasedown St John Primary School, Peasedown Croquet Club, plus the creation of a new Community Orchard in Hillcrest.
Local councillor and Chair of B&NES Council’s Climate Emergency Panel, Karen Walker added: “Many of the locations for tree planting sites in Peasedown St John were identified through a village-wide Environment Survey we conducted last year.
“Almost 500 residents responded, providing their views on local issues, green energy, public transport, recycling and whether they’d like a free tree for their garden.
“Our year-long campaign to plant 500 trees in Peasedown has been very much resident-led, so we’d like to thank everyone for taking part.”
