Urban Green Shoots
Urban Green Shoots is Cornwall Council’s flagship Shared Prosperity Fund (SPF) initiative bringing increased biodiversity to public open spaces across Cornwall, to help with the levelling-up agenda, cost-of-living crisis and ‘building back better’ from the Covid 19 pandemic.
Increasing biodiversity is intimately interlinked with improving the quality of life for our residents as we know that enhancing the nature-richness of public spaces has far reaching positive impacts on our health and wellbeing and the prosperity of our local area through making it more attractive for business and leisure activity. Beyond this, a greener urban environment also helps us adapt to climate change, providing microclimates that buffer high temperatures giving shade and shelter, as well as providing more sustainable drainage through areas of better soil health and water environment. The project will also improve access routes to green spaces so that more people can enjoy them throughout the seasons.
Through the project communities and individuals will be supported in gaining a deeper connection with nature by creating green sanctuaries that are free and accessible at the heart of some of Cornwall’s most deprived communities that need the benefits most.
Working across the whole of Cornwall, improvements will be made to a wide range of spaces, from closed churchyards and parks and public gardens to housing estates, road verges and urban woodlands.
The project will fund a new urban ranger to work with communities through green gardening groups and other exciting events which will help care for the sites and the nature they contain into the future.
Project funding:
Urban Green Shoots is funded by the UK Government through the UK Shared Prosperity Fund. Cornwall Council has been chosen by Government as a Lead Authority for the fund and is responsible for monitoring the progress of projects funded through the UK Shared Prosperity Fund in Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly.
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Primary School Gets Busy for Gwavas Revamp
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Pupils from Alverton Primary School, Penzance got into the gardening grove on 5th March, helping to create a more biodiverse green space at Gwavas play area, Newlyn.
The group, which included 24 children and 3 teachers, were supported by the landscape team from CORMAC to plant a rich bed of shrubs, flowers and herbaceous plants. They learnt about what a plant needs to survive, as well as top tips to manage them, such as applying a think layer of woodchip mulch to keep the soil moist and reduce weeds.
Great team work everyone! Happy gardening!
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Love Your Park Day - Newlyn
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Join us for a fun-packed day helping to care for a vital community asset at Gwavas play area, Newlyn on 14th February 2024.
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New Volunteer Event Dates in Helston
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A partnership between Helston Climate Action Group, Helston Town Council and Coastline Housing is transforming Helston's Coronation Gardens with the help of volunteers passionate about their community and wildlife.
New dates have been announced for volunteer sessions throughout 2024, which will help make sure that the new wildlife friendly planting, including a new orchard, establish well and can thrive to be there long into the future.
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Thank you to volunteers at Ponsandane
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Volunteers from the local community helped sow a wildflower meadow at the Ponsandane approach to Penzance on Thursday 20th December.
The activity, which was led-by CORMAC as part of Cornwall Council's new Urban Green Shoots project, was strongly supported by the Penzanace and Newlyn Community Flora Groups as well as Penzance Mayor Cllr Stephen Reynolds.
Overall, 1,700 meters squared of previously species-low grass verge was restored into a species-rich meadow grassland which should be awash with colour, and the pollinating insects the flowers will support, from spring/summer 2024.
The wildflower verge will create a much more welcoming visual aesthetic for residents and visitors to Penzance, helping in the Council's longer-term strategy to make better use of the land around our roads for nature recovery.
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Urban Green Shoots Launched
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Cornwall Council’s Natural Environment Service is delighted to announce the start of a brand-new initiative to bring more biodiversity to the heart of Cornwall’s towns.
Urban Green Shoots is aimed at bringing nature closure to the communities most at need to address the inequality that deprived communities throughout Cornwall are often least able to access nature-rich spaces.
The declaration of the climate emergency and ecological emergency highlights a clear need to improve the wildlife value of multiple areas within Cornwall. There is also a need to increase the quality of green spaces within towns and what they offer to people. There is a need for these green spaces to provide pollinator habitat, shade, an increase in valuable flood protection and pollution control, to make town greenspaces more attractive and interesting places to relax and spend time, to help local communities increase their use of greenspaces in order to contribute to healthy living.
The sites will have a range of new planting, access improvements and habitat features installed, with details being made available on-site or via this project Let’s Talk Platform as plans develop.
If you are green-fingered or would just like to get involved with caring for your local area, you will be able to get involved with new Green Gardening Groups for the enhanced spaces from early 2024.
Who's Listening
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Phone 07749712452 Email charlotte.evans@cornwall.gov.uk