Making Space for Nature

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• Key Dates for 2023 Added

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  The key dates section has been updated with our dates for next year. We have a great range of sessions planned from our usual Urban Ranger sessions to orchard management days.

  All the details are in the key dates section on the right.

  MS4N wishes everyone a happy Christmas and we look forward to seeing you all in the new year!

• MS4N Wins Prestigious Award!

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  We are incredibly proud to inform you all that at an awards ceremony in London MS4N won in the category of Excellence in Biodiversity, Conservation and Enhancement at the Landscape Institute Awards!

  This is an amazing achievement as there were over 200 entries in this years awards, including 53 from overseas!

  Melissa was thrilled to receive the award on behalf of the team and the project, and this win is a huge endorsement of all the hard work that has been put in to produce the great quality of work that this project has been doing all across Cornwall.

  You can read more about it in this article in the Falmouth Packet here.

  

• Final MS4N Site Proposed for Camborne

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  As part of the small funding extension awarded to MS4N the project has been able to develop one final public green space. After being approached by a local Councillor on behalf of residents, MS4N has put forward plans to develop the Mount Pleasant Close Public Open Space in Camborne.

  

  The park is a very small green space made up of two grassy areas with an old Cornish Hedge with gaps in it running through the middle. The site comes to about 0.2 hectares and is used by local dog walkers and residents as a cut through between Mount Pleasant Close and Pentalek Road.

  

  The plan to transform this site into a better place for people and wildlife includes adding two wildflower meadows, fruiting and ornamental trees, a pollinator shrub bed, improved access and a couple of benches so people can sit down and enjoy the park. This will be a fantastic final site for MS4N and will take us up to a grand total of 60 sites across all of Cornwall!

  If you live locally and would like to share any comments or ask any questions please get in touch with Alex MS4N project advisor.

  Alex.Denney@cornwall.gov.uk

• Massive Milestone Achieved by our Urban Ranger!

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  If any of you have wandered through our sites you may have caught a glimpse of our Urban Ranger busy digging, planting and directing groups of volunteers. If you've ever come along to one of the volunteer sessions you will have definitely met her.

  

  Becky has been a part of our project since Spring 2021 and as our Urban Ranger she has led our volunteer gardening program across the MS4N sites. These sessions have involved local communities and people of all ages and have really helped get them out to enjoy their improved local green spaces.

  

  And recently in her role as our Urban Ranger, Becky has amassed the amazing milestone of just over 1,000 hours worked by volunteers during her sessions! This is an incredible achievement and we are very proud of the hard work she has put in to facilitate all the hard work put in by the volunteers that come along to her sessions across the whole of Cornwall!

  

  We still have plenty of Urban Ranger sessions coming up so there are still lots of opportunities for you to come and get involved with us, just keep an eye on our key dates section on the right.

  
  

• Key Date Update

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  The key dates section has been updated with our latest dates for our upcoming events from now through to December.

  Of particular interest to residents of Helston is the upcoming consultation about the plans for Helston Cemetery to be Held in the Corn Exchange on November 2nd 4pm-6pm.

• MS4N helps to revamp Helston Park

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  The MS4N project has recently been awarded a small extension and as part of this we have been able to add a few more public green spaces to our list. One of these is Coronation Gardens in Helston. This site is in partnership with Helston Town Council and many great improvements are planned for this area. A recent article by the Falmouth Packet, that you can read here, helps sum up the exciting development that we have planned!

  

  

  
  

• An Autumn of Scything with MS4N

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  Last month MS4N had the great pleasure to host multiple scything workshops with professional scyther Kevin Austin. Two sessions were at one of our new sites in Helston, Helston Cemetery, and the other one was at Castle Park, Liskeard.

  

  
  

  All three sessions were well attended and had a wide range of people coming along to give scything a go. Kevin led the workshops and started by talking through the scythe parts and how to set up and work safely. There was lots of new terminology for everyone to learn: snath, rib, tip, tang, beard and clamp…

  

  Once everyone had been shown how to use them safely they had a go at scything themselves. At Castle Park we had several large wildflower meadow areas that needed cutting and at Helston Cemetery there were large areas of quite challenging grassland that needed cutting.

  

  The scythe is a versatile and economic tool and is suitable for wildflower management in smaller areas as well as grass cutting. It is very useful for scrub management, with clean stubble, rather than mulch left behind after strimming and is also a carbon neutral and eco-friendly method of environmental management.

  All the people that attended these workshops greatly enjoyed the opportunity to learn this traditional technique and Kevin was a great teacher passing on his knowledge to future scythe enthusiasts.

  
  

• MS4N is Highly Commended at BIG Biodiversity Challenge Awards

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  Earlier this month Melissa from MS4N and Zoe from Cormac travelled to London to represent our project at the BIG Biodiversity Challenge awards which are hosted by CIRIA, the Construction Industry Research and Information Association. These awards are designed to help raise awareness of ways to improve practices that benefit biodiversity within the construction industry and to encourage the industry to be proactive in pursuing a path of long term awareness and protection of local biodiversity.

  MS4N and Cormac were up for two awards with Ridgegrove Park in Launceston being up for the Biodiversity Legacy Award, and the whole of the MS4N project up for the Habitat Creation Project of the Year Award.

  Competition was fierce, the quality of submissions from across the UK was incredibly high and while, unfortunately, we didn't win in our categories we were Highly Commended in both and received great feedback from the judges!

  Habitat Creation Project of the Year Award: "Special mention for the impressive scope of their project and excellent consideration of biodiversity values within the public realm, as well as a strong community focus and ongoing management considerations."

  Biodiversity Legacy Award: "Special mention for connecting housing to the village using a nature-based solution."

  More information on the awards and other entrants can be found here

  

  
  

• Permarin Park Opening Event and Celebration of Nature

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  On August 16th MS4N traveled to Permarin Park in Penryn to hold an opening event and celebration of nature. Despite the thunderstorm warnings and grey skies we were determined to make this a great event and the colour form the flower beds helped brighten the park.

  

  We had lots of craft activities and information at the MS4N stall and were joined as well by the University of Exeter and the Bumblebee Conservation Trust. Over the course of the day we had lots of people, ranging from local residents to town and county councilors come into the park and talk with us about how much they liked what had been done to improve this tiny greenspace.

  

  

  Overall it was another great event and we really enjoyed talking with the local people. Luckily the thunderstorms never materialised and we managed to stay mostly dry with only a few light moments of rain.

  There are still plenty of events planned for the upcoming months so keep an eye out on our events list on the right to stay up to date. We look forward to seeing you at one!

  
  

• Helston Coronation Gardens Consultation

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  The consultation period for the proposed works at Coronation Gardens in Helston is now open. If you are a local resident or regular visitor to this area please have your say in this survey an let us know what you think and what you would like to see.

  Coronation Gardens Consultation Survey