Maindee Festival Association Woodland Park Dingle Project

A community-led project to:

Support Newport’s new tree planting initiative,

involve local community and schools at all stages,

create new learning and volunteering opportunities,

increase access for wheelchair users and general public,

eradicate invasive non-native plants and shrubs from the Dingle,

encourage natural regeneration of native trees

and improve habitat for animals, birds, plants & fungi.

Page 1 Maindee Festival Association, Community House, Eton Rd, Newport, NP19 0BL [email protected] 01633 762155 UK Charity No. 1137611. ENTRUST Enrolment No. 456311 What’s this all about?

This document describes a plan by Maindee Festival Association (MFA) for a community-led project to increase community stewardship of Woodland Park with an initial focus on the restoration of the wooded Dingle in the Park.

MFA is an established local voluntary organisation that provides community, arts and environmental activities. It is a registered charity and enrolled with ENTRUST1 as an Environmental Body (See Appendix 1).

In 2009 MFA held its first “Tree Day” in Woodland Park as part of National Tree Week. A second Tree Day was held in the Park in 2011 and the next is planned for 25th November 2012. So far tree whips have been planted and volunteers have cleared a ton of rubbish from the Dingle that runs along the northern boundary of the park.

In its heyday, the Dingle must have been a very lovely place. Now it is sadly neglected with no public access and overgrown with invasive species. Park users, local politicians, environmentalists and council officials we have spoken to seem to think it is a good idea to restore the Dingle.

The plan has the support of Officers and Councillors. So Maindee Festival Association is now seeking the resources and necessary agreements to initiate, fund and manage a project to restore the Dingle and to form “Woodland Park Group” to take on the longer term stewardship of the whole Park.

What do you think?

This is an ideal time for you to get involved in this project.

 You may have questions or concerns. Get in touch - we want to hear your views.  Do you have suggestions for other things you think we should be doing?  Would you like to become a founder member of Woodland Park Group?

The plan will be launched in the Park at 2pm on Sunday November 25th 2012, so please send your comments to us as soon as possible before then:

Phone: 01633 762155 E:mail: [email protected] Post: Maindee Festival Association, Community House Eton Rd, Newport NP19 0BL

1 ENTRUST is the regulatory body for the Landfill Community Fund, a potential funding source for the project

Page 2 Maindee Festival Association, Community House, Eton Rd, Newport, NP19 0BL [email protected] 01633 762155 UK Charity No. 1137611. ENTRUST Enrolment No. 456311 Park History2

Newport’s Woodland Park lies 200m to the west of the ancient “Maindee Camp”3 and 200m south of the old turnpike road to London, The Park formed part of the medieval Maindee Estate and was probably used as pasture for cattle and sheep.

In the first half of the 19th Century the population of Newport grew rapidly, creating overcrowded and diseased living conditions in the town. Deaths from cholera outbreaks and typhus epidemics were rife - and not just in the poorer areas of town.

In 1848, the year of the largest cholera outbreak, the Maindee Estate was put up for sale. The south-facing hillsides with views across the Bristol Channel were an ideal location for wealthy carriage folk to establish themselves away from the miasma of the town. Over the next twenty years the hillside was transformed with the construction of many impressive “gentlemen’s residences”.

“Gaerwood”, seen in the distance in the photograph below, was one such residence. In 1876 it was owned by Daniel Jones, a Newport ship broker. Later it was sold to the Searle family. Alfred Searle, a Newport solicitor, continued to live in the family home until 1941 when he and his housekeeper were killed by a German bomb that completely destroyed the house.

Mrs Morgan, then a child living at 16 Woodland Road, recalls that terrible night: “My father, who was an air raid warden, was on duty that night. He saw the bomb coming down on a parachute. He ran to our house, diving through the door as the bomb dropped. The front door blew in behind him. He was very lucky. We had to move out of our house and lost nearly everything”.

2 Ref: “The Maindee Book” (1984) and “The Maindee Companion” (1986); Hugh Clark; Community House Urban Aid Project. (Hugh Clark is a former Newport City Councillor for Beechwood Ward).

3 Maindee Camp was an ancient enclosure that may have been a small hill top camp, but more probably a ring-motte with bailey. The site has been destroyed by 20th Century developments over much of the camp. Records from 1909 describe the earthwork as nearly circular in shape with a diameter of 250ft. Excavations produced two stone axes.

Page 3 Maindee Festival Association, Community House, Eton Rd, Newport, NP19 0BL [email protected] 01633 762155 UK Charity No. 1137611. ENTRUST Enrolment No. 456311 After the war ownership of the land was transferred to Newport Corporation and it was renamed “Woodland Park”. For a time an eastern area of the park was laid out as allotments until this land was used for new house building.

The adjacent grounds of Oakland Villa ( demolished), now form the southern part of the Park and are called Oaklands Wood. In the 1980s, the Council appointed the Wildlife in Newport Group (WING) to manage Oaklands Wood. WING created a new pond, worked on trees to open the canopy, repaired stone walls, planted shrubs and installed bat and bird boxes. The group ended its management in the mid 1990’s. Oaklands Wood was recently in the news as the proposed site for a new day centre. Local concerns about the development and its environmental impact prevailed and planning permission was refused. Since then, Newport City Council has made some further improvements to paths and general access into Oaklands Wood.

The Dingle

The Dingle (tinted in the map above) is a 0.55 hectare area of wooded valley that runs along the southern side of Woodland Road and forms the northern boundary of Woodland Park, Newport, South (ST 32803 88624)

Older residents have fond memories of playing in the Dingle as children and how lovely it all was. The Victorian paths and steps are long gone; their routes now overgrown with laurel or brambles. The original stream that cut the valley is culverted. The old stream bed now forms the main arterial path along the length of

Page 4 Maindee Festival Association, Community House, Eton Rd, Newport, NP19 0BL [email protected] 01633 762155 UK Charity No. 1137611. ENTRUST Enrolment No. 456311 the Dingle. Informal access points exist, but are extremely steep and slippery. Despite these challenges - or because of them – some local children continue to use the Dingle for adventurous play.

The Dingle valley is populated with mature specimens of lime, oak, ash, sycamore and the odd horse chestnut. These appear to have been maintained at least until quite recently. Possibly as a result of the opening of the canopy through the loss of large trees, a native understorey shrub layer has begun to re-establish itself and naturally reclaim the area as native woodland. This consists of hazel, hawthorn, holly, elder, yew and the odd elm. The natural regeneration of canopy species such as ash and sycamore has also occurred quite recently.

Considerable invasion of the area has taken place from remnants of the original Victorian planting of laurel and aucuba along with patches of Japanese knotweed, bramble and ground ivy. The laurel and aucuba, in particular, are inhibiting further natural regeneration of native tree, shrub and ground flora species and casting considerable shade.

A substantial iron railing runs the length of the northern perimeter along Woodland Road. Flytippers have used the easy roadside access to dump waste over the railing into the Dingle. These railings are largely covered with a heavy growth of climbing ground ivy. This is cutting out side light, causing further shading.

Dingle restoration project

Main tasks

 Engage community, partners and volunteers  Create paths, clear invasive species, protect regenerating trees  Management of existing mature stock (See Appendix 2)  New planting and habitat improvements  Planning for sustainable long term management

Management arrangements

A community group, to be known as “Woodland Park Group”, will be formed to provide community assurance. This group will initially sit within the governance of Maindee Festival Association, which will support it to achieve its own legal status and provide long term community stewardship of the Park in partnership with NCC. An application has been made by MFA to NCC for a license to operate in the Dingle area, as shown on the park map on page 4.

A Project Board will be established and chaired by Cllr. Debbie Davies. Maindee Festival Association will appoint a Trustee to sit on the Board. Jo Gossage, NCC Countryside and Conservation Manager, will appoint an officer as senior technical

Page 5 Maindee Festival Association, Community House, Eton Rd, Newport, NP19 0BL [email protected] 01633 762155 UK Charity No. 1137611. ENTRUST Enrolment No. 456311 member of the Board. Woodland Park Group will appoint a member of the Project Board, which will meet quarterly and be serviced by Maindee Festival Association. These diagrams show the proposed governance arrangements for the project and post project periods.

Timetable

The project will be launched at the Woodland Park Tree Day on Sunday November 25th 2012 and run for a three year period until December 2015. This chart provides an overview of the proposed schedule of work:

Income / costs

The total value of the project is estimated at £80,000 of which half will be met by in- kind / voluntary contributions and half (£41,150) as cash income.

An application will be made to Newport City Council to seek funds from NCC’s Landfill Tax Community Funds. This income will be used to initiate the project and to attract any balance of costs from other funding sources.

The table below shows the annual costs over the three years by main category.

Page 6 Maindee Festival Association, Community House, Eton Rd, Newport, NP19 0BL [email protected] 01633 762155 UK Charity No. 1137611. ENTRUST Enrolment No. 456311

Cash expenditure Yr1 Yr2 Yr3 Total Communications and engagement 1800 400 400 2600 Vandalproof site notice board 1500 0 0 1500 Professional fees 1000 500 500 2000 Equipment & tools purchase 300 1500 300 2100 Insurance 850 850 850 2550 Access paths, fencing and seating 1000 10000 8000 19000 New tree plantings 300 300 300 900 Clearance of laurel, acuba, knotweed 3000 1000 500 4500 Management of existing tree stock 2000 2000 2000 6000 Total 11750 16550 12850 41150

Guiding principles

 To work within the prevailing legal and policy framework.  To improve the Park as a respected public amenity.  To protect and enhance biodiversity.  To encourage community access and responsible use.  To locally source materials and services wherever possible.  To work to resolve any disagreement or conflict that may arise, using these principles as a guide.

Page 7 Maindee Festival Association, Community House, Eton Rd, Newport, NP19 0BL [email protected] 01633 762155 UK Charity No. 1137611. ENTRUST Enrolment No. 456311 Appendix 1 – ENTRUST PROJECT APPROVAL

Page 8 Maindee Festival Association, Community House, Eton Rd, Newport, NP19 0BL [email protected] 01633 762155 UK Charity No. 1137611. ENTRUST Enrolment No. 456311

Page 9 Maindee Festival Association, Community House, Eton Rd, Newport, NP19 0BL [email protected] 01633 762155 UK Charity No. 1137611. ENTRUST Enrolment No. 456311 Tree Species Physiological Health Structural Condition Comments number

T1 Elm Dead, remove Defects present, survey required Fell and remove tree T2 Lime Within tolerance of survey Within tolerance of survey 5001 Remove suckers T3 Sycamore Within tolerance of survey Within tolerance of survey None T4 Sycamore Within tolerance of survey Within tolerance of survey None T5 Sycamore Within tolerance of survey Within tolerance of survey None T6 Sycamore Within tolerance of survey Within tolerance of survey None T7 Lime Within tolerance of survey Within tolerance of survey Remove suckers T8 Lime Within tolerance of survey Within tolerance of survey 02938 Remove suckers, sever Ivy band 1m T9 Lime Within tolerance of survey Defects present, survey required 02935 Remove suckers, sever Ivy band 1m T10 Sycamore Poor, survey required Defects present, survey required 5002 Dead bark strips - Lightening strike? T11 Lime Within tolerance of survey Within tolerance of survey 5003 Remove suckers T12 Lime Within tolerance of survey Defects present, survey required 5004 Remove suckers and Ivy T13 Lime Poor, survey required Defects present, survey required 5005 Bleeding lesions on stem T14 Ash Within tolerance of survey Defects present, survey required 5006 Ivy band 1m. T15 Ash Poor, survey required Defects present, survey required 5007 Remove deadwood T16 Ash Within tolerance of survey Within tolerance of survey 5008 Ivy band 1m. T17 Ash Within tolerance of survey Defects present, survey required 5009 Stem cavity T18 Ash Within tolerance of survey Within tolerance of survey 2933 Strip Ivy T19 Cherry Within tolerance of survey Within tolerance of survey Remove stem closest to house T20 Sycamore Within tolerance of survey Within tolerance of survey None T21 Oak Within tolerance of survey Within tolerance of survey None T22 Sycamore Poor, survey required Within tolerance of survey 5010 Crown dieback T23 Sycamore Poor, survey required Defects present, survey required 5011 Fell T24 Sycamore Within tolerance of survey Within tolerance of survey None T25 Oak Within tolerance of survey Within tolerance of survey 5012 Crown clean T26 Oak Within tolerance of survey Within tolerance of survey 2930 leader snapped out T27 Sycamore Poor, survey required Defects present, survey required Ivy clad. Ivy band 1m T28 Ash Within tolerance of survey Defects present, survey required 2929 Old lapsed pollard, Reduction by 20% T29 Ash Within tolerance of survey Defects present, survey required 2928 Lapsed pollard, reduction by 20% T30 Ash Within tolerance of survey Within tolerance of survey None T31 Sycamore Within tolerance of survey Within tolerance of survey None T32 Acer Within tolerance of survey Defects present, survey required 5013 Damaged crown T33 Oak Within tolerance of survey Within tolerance of survey Damaged path & wall T34 Lime Within tolerance of survey Within tolerance of survey 5014 Remove suckers T35 Ash Within tolerance of survey Defects present, survey required 5015 Crown clean T36 Ash Within tolerance of survey Within tolerance of survey 5016 Crown clean T37 Sycamore Within tolerance of survey Within tolerance of survey Ivy band 1m T38 Sycamore Within tolerance of survey Within tolerance of survey None T39 Sycamore Within tolerance of survey Within tolerance of survey None Horse Known BAT ROOST - Pollarded tree. No T40 Within tolerance of survey Within tolerance of survey Chestnut work 2011-2012 T41 Sycamore Within tolerance of survey Within tolerance of survey None T42 Sycamore Within tolerance of survey Within tolerance of survey None T43 Acer Within tolerance of survey Within tolerance of survey None T44 Lime Within tolerance of survey Within tolerance of survey 5017 Re pollard lapsed pollard 5018 Decayed pollard, fell or coppice as T45 Lime Within tolerance of survey Defects present, survey required decay has left thin stem wall. T46 Robina Within tolerance of survey Within tolerance of survey None T47 Robina Within tolerance of survey Defects present, survey required Weak main fork, monitor in future inspections. T48 Tulip tree Within tolerance of survey Within tolerance of survey None T49 Beech Within tolerance of survey Within tolerance of survey None T50 Lime Within tolerance of survey Defects present, survey required Weak main fork, monitor in future inspections. T51 Lime Within tolerance of survey Within tolerance of survey None T52 Lime Within tolerance of survey Within tolerance of survey None T53 Cypress Within tolerance of survey Within tolerance of survey None T54 Lime Within tolerance of survey Within tolerance of survey None T55 Cypress Within tolerance of survey Within tolerance of survey None T56 Lime Within tolerance of survey Within tolerance of survey None T57 Acer Within tolerance of survey Within tolerance of survey None T58 Cypress Within tolerance of survey Within tolerance of survey None T59 Yew Within tolerance of survey Within tolerance of survey None T60 Cherry Within tolerance of survey Within tolerance of survey None T61 Cherry Within tolerance of survey Within tolerance of survey None

Page 10 Maindee Festival Association, Community House, Eton Rd, Newport, NP19 0BL [email protected] 01633 762155 UK Charity No. 1137611. ENTRUST Enrolment No. 456311 Tree Species Physiological Health Structural Condition Comments number

T62 Cherry Within tolerance of survey Within tolerance of survey None T63 Lime Within tolerance of survey Within tolerance of survey None T64 Robina Within tolerance of survey Within tolerance of survey None T65 Robina Within tolerance of survey Within tolerance of survey None T66 Beech Within tolerance of survey Within tolerance of survey Squirrel damaged T67 Cypress Within tolerance of survey Within tolerance of survey None T68 Ash Within tolerance of survey Within tolerance of survey Remove Ivy & suckers T69 Oak Within tolerance of survey Within tolerance of survey Ivy band 1m T70 Sycamore Within tolerance of survey Within tolerance of survey None T71 Sycamore Within tolerance of survey Within tolerance of survey None T72 Sycamore Within tolerance of survey Within tolerance of survey None T73 Cherry Within tolerance of survey Within tolerance of survey Ivy band 1m T74 Cherry Within tolerance of survey Within tolerance of survey None T75 Cherry Within tolerance of survey Within tolerance of survey None T76 Acer Poor, survey required Defects present, survey required Squirrel damaged T77 Sycamore Within tolerance of survey Defects present, survey required Weak main fork T78 Sorbus Within tolerance of survey Within tolerance of survey None T79 Sorbus Within tolerance of survey Within tolerance of survey None T80 Malus Within tolerance of survey Within tolerance of survey None T81 Acer Within tolerance of survey Defects present, survey required Weak main fork T82 Acer Poor, survey required Defects present, survey required Die back and deadwood T83 Acer Within tolerance of survey Within tolerance of survey None T84 Sorbus Poor, survey required Defects present, survey required Fell due to decay T85 Oak Within tolerance of survey Within tolerance of survey None T86 Cypress Within tolerance of survey Within tolerance of survey None T87 Sallow Within tolerance of survey Within tolerance of survey None T88 Magnolia Within tolerance of survey Within tolerance of survey None T89 Cypress Within tolerance of survey Within tolerance of survey None T90 Cypress Within tolerance of survey Within tolerance of survey None T91 Cypress Within tolerance of survey Within tolerance of survey None T92 Ash Within tolerance of survey Within tolerance of survey None T93 Magnolia Within tolerance of survey Within tolerance of survey None T94 Cypress Within tolerance of survey Within tolerance of survey None T95 Sycamore Within tolerance of survey Within tolerance of survey None T96 Yew Within tolerance of survey Within tolerance of survey None T97 Yew Within tolerance of survey Within tolerance of survey None T98 Oak Within tolerance of survey Within tolerance of survey Crown clean T99 Oak Within tolerance of survey Defects present, survey required Picus stem -Jerry Dicker Trees T100 Sycamore Within tolerance of survey Within tolerance of survey Crown clean T101 Sycamore Within tolerance of survey Within tolerance of survey None T102 Lime Within tolerance of survey Defects present, survey required Pollard due to decay T103 Beech Within tolerance of survey Within tolerance of survey None

Notes:

1. Map and table data from survey by James Pinder Associates for NCC; 2012 2. The survey includes all mature trees apart from Oaklands Wood. It is proposed that trees T1 – T45 to be included within the scope of the Dell restoration project. 3. Jenny Judd, NCC Parks Development Manager has noted that, in addition to the tree listed in this table, a mature specimen of Paulownia Tomentosa is located on the embankment behind the old air raid shelter.

Page 11 Maindee Festival Association, Community House, Eton Rd, Newport, NP19 0BL [email protected] 01633 762155 UK Charity No. 1137611. ENTRUST Enrolment No. 456311