This action group is working on the following areas in 2023:
i) Save Our Swifts – our local swift population has declined dramatically over the past few years. We are launching a project to help swifts by putting up 10 nest boxes in the village and raising awareness of swifts and their feeding habits in spring / summer 2023 – find out more.
ii) Plant your tree for the Queen’s Jubilee – we are joining in with a nationwide tree planting initiative to create a green legacy to commemorate the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee in 2022. We are encouraging Hurst residents to get involved by planting a tree in their gardens or land. Read more here.
iii) No Mow May – our No Mow May campaign was a big success in the previous two years so we will repeat it this year to encourage people to make their gardens more wildlife friendly. This year our No Mow May campaign will tie in with our Save Our Swifts project – see above.
iv) Wilding our verges and public spaces – working with WSCC and MSDC we are mapping out who is responsible for maintaining the verges around our villages and putting together a plan to allow more native flora to flourish. Several verges in the village were part of a pilot Community Road Verge (CRV) project last year and were left unmown for parts of the summer to encourage wildflowers to grow. We will repeat that scheme this year.
If you want to get involved with our Biodiversity and Nature action group, please get in touch with Lucy Bennett via our email address hurstrethink@gmail.com.