Town Trail - Signs of Spring, and litter.

We had another good session on the Town Trail on Monday (24th Jan) and have cleared another section. 

We collected 3 bags of litter and an old tyre and left the area looking more cared for. 

We were very disappointed to learn that more litter had been dropped in the area during the week but we'll be back.

The good news is that there are already signs of wildflowers starting to appear - celandine and wood avens. The photos show 'before' and 'after' our work.

 I nearly forgot the 'after' ones. When I went back to the area some 10 minutes later, it was good to see ground feeding birds, including robins and blackbirds, foraging on the disturbed soil.

Town Trail - Brambles and Ivy

We had our first session of 2022 on Monday (10th) continuing to tackle the brambles and ivy. We're back working from Bye Street/Bridge Street towards Woodleigh Road.

Our next session is on Monday 24th Jan. Do contact us on sustainableledbury@gmail.com if you'd like to join us.

Town Trail - Clearing up by the Skatepark

 We had another successful morning on Monday, despite the rain showers. The Town Council had asked us to do some work on the Town Trail near the skate park to tidy up the area and let in more light.

We recognised that this was not a good area to create a 'dead hedge' and were delighted to be joined by some of the Balfour Beatty team with their chipper. All the brash was chipped and spread, and we also removed 5 bags of litter.

Under one of the trees it looked like someone had started a composting area. We've cleared this and ask people not to do that as we want to encourage the return of wild flowers.

The first of our photos

shows a 'before' shot, and the rest are during the work and afterwards.

We'll be taking a break now till after Christmas. Then we'll be back to continue work on the stretch of the Trail between Bye Street and Woodleigh Road. 

If you'd like to join us do email on sustainableledbury@gmail.com (contact form in the sidebar, for convenience) 

Town Trail - Balfour Beatty join in.

 We had another good session on the Town Trail on Monday morning - see the before and after photos. We had some extra help from three wonderful Balfour Beatty volunteers and we hope they'll be able to join us again in the new year.

 Balfour Beatty encourage all their employees to do some voluntary work every year and we are delighted that they chose to work with us.

For the first time we had to think seriously about ivy growing up trees. Ivy has many benefits for wildlife, but if there is too much of it on a tree, it can cause the tree problems. We try to get the balance right - cutting back enough so that the tree thrives, but leaving enough to support wildlife.

We also found a tree that needs some serious attention and have reported this to the council.

The team is growing - see the group photo. I'm so relieved that I'm the one taking the photos! New volunteers are always welcome. If we continue to make good progress, it won't be long before we can think about planting woodland flowers and shrubs.

Council considers ambitious new recycling and waste plans - Herefordshire recycling and waste collections may change for a greener future

Changes to the way Herefordshire Council provide the county’s recycling and waste collection and waste disposal services are set to be considered at a cabinet meeting to be held next week (Thursday 25 November).

With tough new environmental standards on the horizon, keeping things as they are now is not an option for them, after they received over 3600 responses to a consultation earlier in the year. In response, 86 per cent said ‘more needs to be done to reduce rubbish and increase recycling’; while 60 per cent acceed ‘the need to change the current rubbish and recycling system’. Over half (56 per cent) of residents favour a separate food waste collection.

If agreed, from late 2023, the changes will see a new weekly food waste collection service and a fortnightly seasonal garden waste collection service. Currently 40 per cent of the contents of the county’s residual waste bins could be recycled and residents have told us more needs to be done.

Read more about this on the Council website here

 https://www.herefordshire.gov.uk/news/article/1259/council-considers-ambitious-new-recycling-and-waste-plans