A new community woodland has been created in Dinnington, where 7,700 young trees have been planted.
The woodland is situated off Athorpe Road and will be a space that local residents can explore and enjoy.
Rotherham Council secured funding from the Woodland Trust’s Grow Back Greener programme, as part of the Northern Forest to create the new community woodland. The project has been supported by the South Yorkshire Woodland Partnership.
The new woodland is called the Queen Elizabeth II Community Woodland, as a tribute to the Queen and her Platinum Jubilee Queen’s Green Canopy initiative.
Before any of the trees were planted, children from Laughton All Saints Primary School took part in a litter pick to help clear the site.
Over the last three months, a range of planting days have taken place with local schools and community groups.
The Council's Landscape Delivery team were also involved in planting trees around the site.
The Queen Elizabeth II Community Woodland has been nominated for the John Boddy Award 2023, which celebrates Yorkshire’s best new community woodland. The winner will be announced at the Great Yorkshire Show in July.
As part of the Council’s pledge to tackle climate change, a target has been set to plant 10,500 trees in Rotherham every year for the next 10 years. Last year, the Council exceeded the target and planted 22,139 trees in the borough.
Councillor David Sheppard, Cabinet Member for Social Inclusion at Rotherham Council, said:
I would like to thank all of the volunteers and Council teams for their hard work. In only a short space of time it has been possible to plant thousands of trees in Dinnington.
“We want to make Rotherham a cleaner and greener Borough for years to come and as a Council we will continue to look at where we can plant more trees, as we work towards reaching our net zero target.”
Finnley Colebrook, Eco Councillor at Laughton All Saints Primary School, said:
We picked up litter around the community woodland. We found signs, fireworks, games controllers and glass bottles. Before we planted all the trees there were zero and now there’s over 7,000!
Bella Verbrugge, Eco Councillor at Laughton All Saints Primary School said:
We’re really lucky to have all of these trees and beautiful nature. The trees are good for oxygen and it helps our environment.
Matt North, Programme Manager at South Yorkshire Woodland Partnership, said:
It was a fantastic opportunity for the South Yorkshire Woodland Partnership team to help design and support this community woodland that will provide a space for people and wildlife. However, this wouldn't have been possible without the hard work of the staff from Rotherham Council and the local community.
"It is great to see this teamwork recognised with the Queen Elizabeth II Community Woodland being shortlisted for such a prestigious award!”
Photo caption: the image shows members of the Council’s Landscape Delivery and Green Spaces teams with Councillor David Sheppard at the Queen Elizabeth II Community Woodland.
