Home
About Us
Events
News
- Add News
- Page 2
Directory
Resources
Contact
Friends of Daisy Farm Park, Billesley.
New Flower Meadow - Daisy Farm Park
Our Friends group started, like many other groups I suspect, as a response to the poor state of the park. Maintenance seemed reduced to basic grass cutting and occasional litter picking. Vandalism had started to take a hold and worst of all joyriding and burnt-out cars were becoming an increasingly common sight.
After an article in the local neighbourhood forum newsletter urging concerned residents to get in touch a Friends Of group was formed and two years down the line we now have approximately twenty five signed-up members. We now produce a short newsletter and hope to maintain regular meetings and hands on activities.
The key problems we’ve faced have been how to establish and gain recognition of a formal group and how to encourage local people to have a fresh look at a neglected facility, take real ownership and think about how they can play a part in reversing the decline.
Progress has been frustratingly slow and to the casual observer the park may not seem wildly different now to how it looked two years ago but good things have started to happen. We recently arranged a litter pick in which a group of around fifteen volunteers hauled out eight tons of rubbish from the park perimeter!!. We’ve also managed to get trip rail fitted around the car park reducing the possibility of joyriders and in an effort to improve the wildlife value of the park we’ve planted an area of willow coppice and started a programme of tree and shrub planting.
Perhaps our most successful project so far has been the creation of a wildflower meadow. The area has proved to be a massive hit with park users and if you’re looking to create an instant wow factor and get local people interested and involved I can’t recommend the idea enough. We’ve lost count of the number of compliments we’ve received and yet planting was cheap and simplicity itself - remove turf, scatter seed and wait a few weeks!
The wildflower area is shown below. If anybody is interested in creating something similar now’s the time to act - you have from now till end Feb to prepare the ground and sow the seed!. If you would like more information I can be contacted by e-mail.
Adrian Holloway
Chr. Friends Daisy Farm Park