This consultation ran from
28 October 2021 -
06 December 2021
We're looking at four possible areas for planting trees in Blakelaw Recreation Ground - have your say!
Thank you to everyone who took part in our consultation on our plans for planting trees at Blakelaw Recreation Ground as part of the North East Community Forest. 53 people gave us their views, and for Blakelaw, the feedback resulted in the planting areas being changed in size to take account of two primary concerns people told us about:
- Residents losing some of their view of the park from their homes. Woodland 'block 4' (at the northern boundary of the recreation ground, next to Gorse Hill Way) was reduced in size to address this.
- Concern about possible anti-social behaviour in some areas, raised by residents and Northumbria Police. We decided not to plant on woodland 'block 1' for this reason.
Other things people told us included:
- There will be replacement tree planting in three existing planting areas on the southern Blakelaw Road boundary, after residents expressed concerns that many of these trees which were previously planted in 2021 have since died. This time, the trees will be planted with spirals and canes for support, and there will be an ongoing maintenance programme.
- Woodland 'block 3' will not be planted, as site visits and desktop surveys have shown that there are constraints on planting here due to underground services and utilities. Instead, heavy 'standard' trees will be planted near Ponteland Road after listening to residents' feedback that trees planted here will help reduce to carbon, capture air pollution, and make the area more visually appealing.
- All new trees will have spirals and canes for protection after residents expressed concern that previous trees planted on the site lacked protection whilst they were establishing themselves.
- Residents raised concerns about ongoing maintenance, so all new tree planting will include an ongoing maintenance programme by the council's Grounds Maintenance team.
You can see a video about what's happening next here: North East Community Forest February 2022
Our next steps will be to hold volunteer planting events to get started on creating the North East Community Forest. The event in Blakelaw will be on 5 March 2022. You can find out more about what's happening in Blakelaw here: Blakelaw North East Community Forest Volunteering Planting 2022.
The main page for what's happening with the Community Forest is here: North East Community Forest
If you've got questions about this, would like to see the full consultation report, or need this information in another format such as large print, please contact us at: letstalk@newcastle.gov.uk
If you have questions about the planting events, please email Alexandra Reynolds at Northumberland Wildlife Trust at: alexandra.reynolds@northwt.org.uk
The main page for what's happening with the Community Forest is here: North East Community Forest
If you've got questions about this, would like to see the full consultation report, or need this information in another format such as large print, please contact us at: letstalk@newcastle.gov.uk
If you have questions about the planting events, please email Alexandra Reynolds at Northumberland Wildlife Trust at: alexandra.reynolds@northwt.org.uk
