Council to plant more than 11,000 trees this winter

More than 11,000 trees will be planted across 16 sites in Swale including Vincent Gardens in Sheerness, Leysdown Coastal Park, Homewood Avenue and Manor Grove Sittingbourne and Whitings Crescent and Windermere in Faversham.

Swale Borough Council, along with Ashford Borough Council, will receive funding for the trees thanks to Kent County Council being awarded £275,000 from the Government’s Local Authority Treescape Fund to plant trees and saplings by March 2022.



Cllr Tim Valentine, cabinet member for climate and ecological emergency at Swale Council, said:

“We declared a Climate and Ecological Emergency in 2019 and tree planting forms an important part of delivering our intentions of being carbon neutral in our operations by 2025.

“We anticipate needing to plant approximately 148,000 trees over the coming years and this funding will contribute an additional 11,000 trees on top of our existing programme of planting.

“Our plans include a combination of whip planting and more mature trees at 16 locations across the borough.

“This includes use of native species in order to complement existing habitats and build increasing biodiversity. We want to work with local residents to embrace this planting and will provide opportunities for volunteering over the course of the planting programme.”

Cllr Julian Saunders, cabinet member for environment at the council, said:

“Trees bring so many benefits – for people, for wildlife and for the local environment.

“This funding will help us plant even more all over the borough, which will be a benefit for our open spaces for years to come.”

It only works if they water them etc. planted some down the meads the other year. They all died in summer heat and then removed. pointless.