Greener Belstone Report 2022
Greener Belstone Report to Belstone Annual Parish Meeting
Greener Belstone was established in 2020 and consists of a small group of volunteers.
Our activities were necessarily affected by Covid-19 and we have only recently been able to start planning for the future.
During the course of 2021 Greener Belstone carried out the following activities:
- Set up a webpage on the Belstone website, including a webpage on carbon-saving ideas (with corresponding carbon savings calculated)
- Provided a detailed response to the DNPA environmental action plan consultation
- Held a competition with the Youth Group to design a logo for Greener Belstone
- Held a walking garden tour looking at environmental and sustainable gardening techniques. The intention is to repeat this event with different gardens.
- Held a talk on swifts (which was oversubscribed and attracted attendees from local villages and Okehampton). As a result of this, a group of people in the village who do not currently have swift boxes are ordering or building swift boxes to put up.
Greener Belstone is looking at the following initiatives this year:
- Creating an environmental community garden with Belstone Youth Group (currently in very early discussions with the parochial church council and have applied for funding from the National Garden Scheme Charity and looking at applying to the Viridor Community Landfill Fund)
- Walking garden tour
- Create links with Skaigh Woods Trust and organise a walk and talk on Skaigh Woods
- Create links with Dormice Champions and organise a walk and talk
- Engage with DNPA to organise a volunteering event in or around Belstone
- Look into a community ethical/sustainable buying webpage and group (to place bulk orders for sustainable products)
- Arrange community recycling schemes (such as blister packs or dog food bags)
- Engage with South West Water and Devon Wildlife Trust to join a “green hay” scheme to increase wildflower meadow coverage in the village.
We are looking forward to sharing these initiatives with the whole Belstone community, and are particularly excited about creating links with Belstone Parish Council for activities connected to Skaigh Woods Trust.
Theresa Weaver 10th May 2022