City of Trees worked with social housing provider, Onward Homes, to plant woodlands at three of their sites in Greater Manchester.
City of Trees
Trees for Climate, Year 4.
Summary
City of Trees worked with social housing provider, Onward Homes, to plant woodlands at three of their sites in Tameside and Bolton, including at Union Close in Hattersley. Together, with customers of Onward Homes, 540 whips in total were planted to enhance the green spaces for those who live there.
Tameside Council facilitated introductions to the Neighbourhood manager at Onward Homes, as part of the stakeholder engagement work carried out by the Woodland Creation Accelerator Fund (WCAF) project coordinator, Carly Harper, at City of Trees. WCAF provides landowners with the capacity to identify appropriate planting, seek advice on appropriate species selection, and navigate the funding landscape. Following a meeting in mid-March ‘23 with the environment and tree officers at Onward Homes, we worked to identify suitable planting sites that had been brought forward by the Onwards Tree team.
Through our site visits, we were able to identify areas within the neighbourhoods suitable for planting. This led to the development of diverse planting schemes, which significantly increased the greenery in these areas, benefiting the residents.
The native species mix included; Aspen, Crab apple, Elder, Guelder rose, Hawthorn, Holly, Hornbeam, Pedunculate Oak, Rowan, Sessile Oak, Silver birch.
Impacts
Nature and Biodiversity:
The planting increased biodiversity for site as previous land use was amenity grassland with a small number of ash trees.
Public access and community engagement:
11 volunteers (plus one baby) spent 34 hours on the 22nd March planting the site – these were local residents from the housing association and volunteers from community project ‘The Hattersley Project. Staff from Onward Homes also joined in. Further community engagement will occur at tree maintenance events down the line.
Flood mitigation:
The bottom of site floods every year and so planting on the top of the hill will help reduce the flood risks from the tree roots absorbing excess water, slowing the water run off down slope and reducing soil erosion on site.
Health and Wellbeing:
Creating a greener place for the local residents will boost wellbeing
