A group of volunteers have been busy clearing and improving Ledbury’s Town Trail.
Sustainable Ledbury has been working on the trail since October last year, starting with the section between Bridge Street and Woodleigh Road.
“We formed in the summer of 2019 as a group of people wanting to do something to help sustainable issues in Ledbury,” said Nina Shields, Sustainable Ledbury’s chairman and leader of the Town Trail project group.
“We looked at where there was energy and interest, and started with those projects.”
The group started with the Town Trail, which Nina says had “been neglected for some years”, but needed the permission of Herefordshire Council, which owns the land.
A licence to cultivate was issued by the county council to Ledbury Town Council, which is legally responsible for the volunteers, and Sustainable Ledbury soon got to work.
“We’ve been clearing away brambles and ivy from the flat areas of the Town Trail,” said Nina.
Encouraging biodiversity on Ledbury's Town Trail
“There are banks on either side of the footpath that are fairly steep in places and we leave those alone because we want to encourage biodiversity, to have a wide range of plants and flowers.
“The insect population has plummeted so we leave the slopes, which also means we don’t disturb the hedgehogs, slow worms or birds.”
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The group, which started as six or seven people but has grown to more than 20, has also tackled the stretch that runs through the Recreation Ground and is currently working on a section near the train station.
“We’ve moved up there as there are no nesting birds and we don’t want to disturb any during nesting season. We are getting ivy off the ground and are hoping to have wildflowers growing on verges either side of the path.
“I’m really pleased with two things - firstly the progress that we’ve made and the support we’re getting from people. And secondly, the cooperation and support we’ve had from Herefordshire Council, Ledbury Council and [county council contractors] Balfour Beatty.
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“The Town Trail is an ongoing project and we will keep reviewing what needs to be done.”
Sustainable Ledbury is also running a waste reduction project and will be at the Ledbury Celebration in July to talk about food waste.
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