Volunteers working alongside the council spent a day over at Oakwood Pond on Wednesday 19 March for a day of action to clean up the area.
The work follows on from a project to improve the environment, increase visibility and safety. The area surrounding the pond now benefits from low-level bollard lighting, which have been designed to provide light to the path but not affect nocturnal animals such as the bats that live around the pond.
The team of volunteers have been clearing bramble from around the pond, removing seedling and self-sown trees to prevent overcrowding, removed debris and litter from the pond, tidied up the areas around the edges of the footpaths and cleared up around the pond’s outflows.
Any work to cut back bushes was only carried out once teams had checked for nesting birds, taking great care as they went not to disturb any.
Councillor Nicky Purse, Cabinet Portfolio Holder for Sustainability and Environment, who paid a visit to the site, said:
“This is such a beautiful part of our town, but one that unfortunately can be affected by antisocial behaviour. The lighting around the footpaths will hopefully help to prevent this as well as make it a more inviting area for residents and those who work nearby to visit and take in its natural beauty.
“The volunteers are also making an important contribution to improving the overall look and safety of the area by keeping the paths clear and tidy. Their enthusiasm and passion for making our town a better place is clear to see and they are doing such a great job on keeping Oakwood Pond looking its best.
“This is a great example of the council and volunteers working together to deliver our missions to renew our neighbourhoods and protect our communities.”
