Hadley and Leegomery set to bloom this summer
Ten thousand flowers are being planted in Hadley and Leegomery Parish in preparation for bringing the area alive with colour and the smell of summer, as well as creating valuable and sustainable habitats for a wealth of butterflies and insects including the UK’s struggling bee population.
Planting starts today with an army of local residents from within the Hadley & Leegomery Parish, as Community Volunteers, working alongside Telford & Wrekin Council.
Pat Smart, Hadley and Leegomery Parish Council’s Tree and Environment Warden said: “Clearly something more needed to be done and after surveying the area we developed our long-term plan to improve and enrich the environment further, for the benefit of our community by planting trees, shrubs, bulbs and flowers. The funding was approved by the Parish Council, and the flowers for this phase were obtained from British Wild Flowers.”
The first areas to benefit, with 10,000 flowers being planted is Waterloo Road in Hadley, opposite the entrance to Hadley Learning Community. Other areas include Grainger Drive opposite the entrance to the Princess Royal Hospital and Whitchurch Drive next to the Princess Royal Hospital and the Severn Hospice.
Telford & Wrekin Council’s Public Realm team have chosen the plants. All are perennial plants so they come back each year, 90% grow tall (30 - 90cm) and include Oxeye Daisy, Yarrow, Fox and Cubs, Marjoram, Common Catsear, Corn Cockle and Hawkwind.
Each area will have a dominant colour at different times of the year.
Cllr Shaun Davies, Cabinet Member with responsibility for Environment, said: “This is an excellent project that will benefit residents of the Parish and all passers by. What a wonderful display it will make. This will really add to our pride in the Borough.
“The flowers chosen will come back each year and importantly, being wild flowers they hugely benefit native insects and provide a valuable supply of pollen for bees.
“I’d like to extend my thanks to all the volunteers who are helping plant today and to the Parish Council for funding the project and I hope it inspires other groups to do something similar for their local environment.”
