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Latest - Church Marshes

For more information, to join the mailing list or to receive the Church Marshes Newsletter please contact Dave Cooper, Senior Community Officer at Groundwork Kent & Medway  on 01634-855166 or by e-mail  dcooper@groundwork.org.uk

MP visits Church Marshes [21.03.07]

Derek Wyatt, MP for Sittingbourne & Sheppey, recently visited the site and took a tour of the Park. Despite the wind, mud and rain he was very impressed with the works so far and promised to assist with raising funds to ensure it’s completion. Swale Borough Council, Swale Forward and Groundwork are currently seeking funding from a variety of sources.

Planting day a success - [06.02.07]

Over 40 people attended the recent planting day at Church Marshes Country Park. Many of those who attended were local people and had not seen the developments to the Country Park so far. A tour of the Country Park, followed by a brief talk from Alastair Campbell of Rural Arisings was enjoyed by all, with everyone keen to find out more about the developments and how the wildlife on site is being managed. It was then down to business, and with 300 trees and rose bushes planted by 1pm, the planting day was finished earlier than expected.

A large majority of people who attended left their details as they were keen to hear more about the Country Park and take part in future events. The next planting day will be held on Sunday 25th February 2007 and everyone is welcome! Please contact Groundwork if you would like more information.

Help plant some trees - [04.01.07]

Dates for the next two community planting days have been confirmed as;

• Sunday 28th January 2007
• Sunday 25th February 2007

We will be meeting at the site entrance on Saffron Way at 10am and planting will continue until 2pm. All are welcome, please dress suitably.

Friends of Church Marshes - [04.01.07]

If you’ve wondered what activity has been going on at Church Marshes over the past few years and you’d like to find out more and become involved, then why not join the ‘Friends of Church Marshes’ community group.

There are already ideas for the group to get involved with promoting the park in the local community, assisting in the production of a website, having an input into future consultations on designs and getting involved with activities within the park such as tree planting and wildlife tours. There will also be links made to youth and educational activities which will be running alongside this group.

The Friends group will feed back YOUR ideas to the project managers at Groundwork Kent & Medway and at Swale Borough Council. We warmly welcome new members!

There will be an open meeting of the  Friends of Church Marshes in March, exact date to be announced soon, please join the our mailing list to find out more.

Landscape works - [14.12.06]

The area known as Phase 1, the south-eastern edge of the site next to the light railway, is establishing well. Most of the grass has now taken and the ponds are full. You may have noticed that lots of the trees have died because of the very hot summer this year. Many of the trees will be replaced this winter, and planting days will be organised for further areas of tree planting within Phase 1.

The contractors on site are busy filling the area between the poplars and the fishing pond which is part of Phase 2. They hope to have all the soil in the area by Christmas. Groundwork Medway Swale are currently writing all the documents necessary to tender the work so that landscape contractors can go on site to seed the area, plant trees and shrubs, install bins and benches and lay a network of paths. The proposal for the Phase 2 area is to make it a wildlife haven, with a mix of habitats: open grassland, wildflower meadows, coppiced willow and native shrub planting. No date is available yet for when we hope to get this work done as we are still trying to raise the funds to pay for the work.

Website - [07.12.06]

Please take a glance at the exciting website the Friends of Church Marshes are currently building;

www.churchmarshes.info

Are you able to contribute to this? Perhaps you know some interesting facts about the history of the site or have some great photos you’d like to share?

Look out for Dr Meredith Fox’s wildlife blog for the children too!

Groundwork Kent & Medway
48 Canterbury Street
Gillingham
Kent ME7 5UN