morefromtrees Keeping you up-to-date on the latest news from Halton on creating The Mersey Autumn 2011

2010/11 in figures

£5 of projects for Photo: McCoy Wynne every £1 invested The Mersey Forest continues to A welcome from Cllr Tom provide great value for money, especially in the current economic McInerney and Cllr Dave Austin climate. Local authorities gained £5 worth of green projects for every £1 This summer we celebrated the 20th they invested in The Mersey Forest in birthday of The Mersey Forest with a 10/11. woodland carnival (pictured above) at Risley Moss. The annual contribution of £18,155 per authority led to the delivery of £834,611 of projects right here on Over these two decades there have our doorsteps thanks to the way The been many changes to organisations and structures, but those Mersey Forest Team levers in extra we all face at present are possibly the most challenging. funds.

In the midst of all this change some great work continues as you Investment will see in the stories below, and the demand from communities Return is greater than ever - highlighting the need to continue working together to create The Mersey Forest. Highlights from Cllr Tom McInerney Cllr Dave Austin Halton Member for The Mersey Forest, Member for The Mersey Forest, Halton Council Halton Council 2 hectares of new woodland planting has been achieved within Halton. This is an area the size of nearly 3 football pitches.

2 hectares of existing Follow us on Twitter woodland has been brought into management to secure its future. Join our 320 followers on Twitter, an excellent way

to keep up to date with the latest Forest news. www.twitter.com/merseyforest 48 metres of wildlife-friendly hedgerow has been planted. Latest local stories Page 2

Photo: McCoy Wynne Battle of the bluebells

An English spring wouldn’t be community woodlands across the Maps were prepared to show the same without our much- local area. The process can take up the best locations at each site to loved bluebells (the Woodland to seven years, and the first bulbs plant the bulbs, away from any Trust even launched a bluebell are now ready to be planted. instances of hybrid bluebells - song and music video this year). created by cross-breeding with To re-establish greater numbers The Mersey Forest the non-native Spanish Bluebell. of native bluebells in Halton assesses best sites and West and , This May, The Mersey Forest Funding and partners The Mersey Forest Team has assessed the best local sites in The project has been led by been taking part in the Cheshire which to plant the native bulbs, Cheshire Wildlife Trust and has Bluebell Recovery Project. and made contact with local received funding through WREN, communities who will plant the the Linley Shaw Foundation, The Volunteers saving bulbs this autumn with partners. Mersey Forest and Cheshire West woodland wildflowers The chosen sites are: and Chester Council. Further The Cheshire Bluebell Recovery partners in the Bluebell Recovery Project was set up in direct - Town Hall Park Woodland, Project include Halton Borough response to the decline of one Council and RECORD. of our most beautiful woodland - Murdishaw , Runcorn wildflowers, due to habitat loss - Blacon Nature Park, Chester To find out more about the and bulbs being dug up for sale. - Caldy Nature Park, Chester Cheshire Bluebell Recovery Volunteers from the project - Dukes Drive Woodland, Chester Project visit www.record-lrc.co.uk. propagate native bluebell bulbs - Hunters , Kingsley from seed, to be planted in - Thorn Wood, Weaverham Latest local stories Page 3

New community food growing area at Norton Priory

Exploring The Mersey Forest

What is The Mersey Forest?

The Mersey Forest is a growing network of woodlands and green The Mersey Forest has helped secure funding for a new vegetable spaces spread across Cheshire growing area for volunteers and community groups at Norton and Merseyside, which has been Priory Museum and Gardens, complementing the site’s existing creating ‘woodlands on your eco-building opened in 2008. doorstep’ since 1994.

Funding The Forest is one of the leading As with the sustainable straw bale solar-powered building, environmental regeneration funding for the new growing area has been secured from local initiatives in the North West. chemicals manufacturer Ineos Chlor Vinyls through the Landfill Through community and Communities Fund. partnership working, we have planted more than 8 million Great educational resource – equivalent to five new trees for The work-in-progress growing area is already breathing new life every person living within the into the previously under-used area next to the eco-building, Forest area. providing a great educational resource for community groups and a place for hardworking Norton Priory volunteers to socialise, We achieve all of this and more learn and grow valuable produce. through our partnership of seven local authorities (Cheshire West Raised beds, fruit trees, pizza oven and more and Chester, Halton, Knowsley, The finished area will include a large raised bed with wheelchair Liverpool, Sefton, St.Helens & access, planters for herbs and strawberries, espalier fruit trees ), landowners, the along the walls, seating, a pizza oven and barbecue area for Commission, Natural volunteers to use at social events, and rhubarb and asparagus and businesses including grown for use in the Café and Priory shop. United Utilities.

merseyforest.org.uk Latest local stories Page 4

Celebrating fungi

Larger-than-life sculptures 10th Runcorn Brownies and 1st The new trail will include larger- Weston & Weston Point Rainbows, than-life fungi sculptures with the sculptures will feature fairy embedded information panels to mushrooms made from metals provide year-round interest and and textiles and resin. help visitors learn more about

Photo: Helen Lacy the site’s wealth of weird and Funding secured wonderful giant puffballs, honey by The Mersey Forest fungus and shaggy ink caps. Funding for the project was Local primary schools are helping secured by The Mersey to design a new fungi art feature Children provide creative spark Forest from local chemicals at Wigg Island to complement Designed with the help of manufacturer Ineos ChlorVinyls the nature reserve’s array of children from Castlefields Infants, through the Landfill Communities mushrooms and toadstools. Woodside County Primary, 1st and Fund.

Party in the Park

New volunteers recruited The Friends of Runcorn Woods (pictured above) also used the opportunity to recruit several new members. To find out more about the Friends group or to get involved visit their blog at: www.merseyforest.org.uk/ runcornwoods

The Party in the Park is an annual event organised by Halton Borough Council, Liverpool Housing Trust and the Plus Dane Group, featuring a wide range of The Friends of Runcorn Woods - who recruited new members at the event. activities including skateboarding, football training and falconry. This summer The Mersey Forest, about different nest boxes The and Friends suitable for a range of creatures, The woodland activities at of Runcorn Woods brought and found out how to make boxes the event formed part of The woodland activities to the 5,000 for their own gardens or schools. Woodland Trust’s ongoing visitors at the sun-drenched Party Children enjoyed woodland Woodland Communities Project in in the Park at Castlefield’s Phoenix walks, willow weaving with Eco Runcorn and Warrington. Park. Arts, and making leaf face masks. Demonstrations of woodturning Woodland zone were provided by BTCV. Within the event’s special “woodland zone”, people learned Latest Forest-wide stories Page 5

Photo: McCoy Wynne

“The Mersey Forest is looking fantastic after twenty years”

More than a thousand people Action-packed day Paul Nolan, Director of The Mersey celebrated two decades of The Activities throughout the day Forest, said: “A huge variety of Mersey Forest at a “carnival in the included storytelling woodland people are involved in creating The woods” this summer. walks, den building, puppet Mersey Forest, from schools who shows and willow weaving, have planted woodlands in their 8 million trees planted in 20yrs with the soundtrack to the grounds, to community volunteers The event at Risley Moss Local carnival provided by innovative helping look after their local Nature Reserve in Warrington musicians Urban Strawberry woods, to a wide range of partner was held to thank all those Lunch who perform using recycled organisations. The woodland who’ve been involved in planting instruments made from junk. carnival was about thanking them more than 8 million trees across all, as well as looking ahead to Merseyside and North Cheshire “Looking fantastic” the next 20 years of continuing to over the past twenty years. Pam Warhurst said: “The Mersey improve the local environment.” Forest is looking fantastic after The carnival was opened by Chair 20 years and it’s all down to the The carnival was part of of the Pam contributions that thousands of Warrington Borough Council’s Warhurst, Warrington North MP people have made.” annual Green Safari event, run with Helen Jones, and Chair of Risley Risley Moss Action Group. Moss Action Group, Andy Pearson. Latest Forest-wide stories Page 6

Photo: McCoy Wynne

£250,000 for local planting

Merseyside and North Cheshire trees, woodlands and mini- improve our neighbourhoods is set to benefit from tens of orchards. for the benefit of all. It will be thousands of new trees thanks to fantastic to see the impact of more than a quarter of a million The Big Tree Plant brings the many projects pounds worth of funding offered together national tree-planting that this funding will support to The Mersey Forest. organisations and local groups across Merseyside and North working with Defra and the Cheshire.” The Big Tree Plant Forestry Commission. The The national Big Tree Plant campaign is supported by grant The Mersey Forest funding campaign has set aside £255,000 funding of £4 million over the was applied for through over the next four years to next four years to get more Community Northwest, support tree planting and people in local communities the charity that supports The get people involved in their planting and caring for trees. Mersey Forest, Pennine Edge environment across the local area. Forest and Red Rose Forest Starting this autumn, The Mersey Improving neighbourhoods - the latter of which has also Forest will use the funds to help Pam Warhurst, Chair of the been offered an additional community groups, schools and Forestry Commission, said: £184,000 for tree planting in local residents to brighten their “The Big Tree Plant is all about Greater Manchester. neighbourhoods with new street bringing people together to Latest Forest-wide stories Page 7

Making the case for community woodlands

Last winter’s outcry over plans for public woodlands led to the announcement of a national review of England’s approach to woods and forests. As part of this, The Mersey Forest has been making the case for the importance of community woodlands for people, wildlife and economy.

Visit by Chair of Panel Chairing the Independent Panel on Forestry set up to advise the government is the Bishop of Liverpool, James Jones. In June,

The Mersey Forest and partners Photo: Tony Beyga took the Bishop to see a brand new community woodland in action and talk to local residents of view and took on board all the The paper argues that the current who have benefited from the comments and feedback. debate needs to focus on “how project. we can increase the amount of “We hope he took away a positive woodland, protect what we have One year on from being planted, impression and he could clearly and maximise its public benefits”. Mab Lane Community Woodland see the amount of hard work and It tackles the issue from three has been named as Merseyside’s effort that has gone into making angles: forestry for commerce, Neighbourhood Improvement the woodland a very valuable forestry for community, and Project of the year and been community resource.” forestry for climate. proclaimed “a brilliant idea” by local residents who say it has All at The Mersey Forest wish the A round-table discussion was also “really changed the area”. Bishop a speedy recovery from held with partners from across his recent ill-health, and we look the local area to feed into The “Valuable community resource” forward to working with him Mersey Forest’s formal response to As part of his visit to the again soon. the Independent Panel’s “call for woodland, the Bishop heard from views”. members of the local community Mersey Forest paper launched about the difference that the The Mersey Forest has also Read the paper at: woodland had made to the area, launched a paper entitled www.merseyforest.org.uk/files/ with local resident Tony Beyga “Seeing the wood for the trees - seeingthewoodforthetrees.pdf commenting: the Forestry Review and why it matters”, which draws upon the “Bishop Jones appeared very Forest’s twenty years’ experience impressed with the woodlands in . and listened to everyone’s point Latest Forest-wide stories Page 8

Sustainable creature comforts

As winter approaches, The Forest has mapped ‘off gas’ parts Mersey Forest is working to give of Cheshire and Warrington, and local businesses and residents made contact with businesses in a renewable choice for their these areas to provide advice on heating, using wood as a fuel. changing away from increasingly expensive alternative fuels such Online calculator as heating oil and coal. The Mersey Forest has launched an online calculator to help Helping landowners to grow businesses and consumers wood for fuel explore the financial and carbon Through its Woodland Advisory benefits of switching to a wood Service, The Mersey Forest is also fuel boiler to take advantage of now offering free support and the government’s Renewable training on growing wood for from their own row of trees in a Heat Incentive (RHI). fuel for eligible woodland owners young at ’s and managers in Merseyside and Carey Park which is in need of The free tool at www. Halton. thinning. merseyforest.org.uk/rhicalculator is believed to be the first of its This will include advising on This is of broader interest since kind, and provides users with opportunities to benefit from thanks to the work of The Mersey estimates of how much they the new Woodfuel Woodland Forest Partnership over the past would earn from the RHI, how Improvement Grant launched by twenty years, there is now a whole quickly their boiler would pay for the Forestry Commission to fund cohort of young woodlands across itself, the expected difference in the thinning of woodland and the Merseyside and North Cheshire annual fuel bill and what return extraction of timber. By building that will soon be in a similar they could see after 20 years. both supply of and demand for position. Therefore eyes are on the woodfuel in Merseyside and pilot project to see the viability of It is hoped that the new tool Cheshire, The Mersey Forest is the ‘allotment’ approach at other will encourage organisations working to not only support the sites across The Mersey Forest and residents to emulate the local economy, but also show how area. recently opened Hope Academy sustainable renewable fuel can in Newton-Le-Willows, which be part of the solution to climate Funding has installed a boiler change and energy security. Funding for the RHI calculator and solar panels which together and Woodland Advisory Service provide 100% of its heating and allotment comes from the Mersey Rural hot water requirements. The Mersey Forest has also Leader programme, Defra and the teamed up with Northwich Northwest Regional Development Off the gas grid community group the Friends of Agency. The NWDA also co-funded The calculator is already Anderton and Marbury to launch the project to support ‘off gas’ highlighting the particular a pilot ‘wood fuel allotment’ that businesses alongside the Cheshire advantages of biomass for those may prove to be the way forward and Warrington Economic in off-grid areas whose properties for many of the area’s young Commission. aren’t connected to mains gas. woodlands. The test project will In anticipation of these findings, enable local stove and fire owners over the past year The Mersey to pay a small fee to harvest logs Photo: McCoy Wynne

Want to know more or get involved? Contact Paul Nolan, Director, The Mersey Forest 01925 816217 mail@merseyforest merseyforest.org.uk