A new hedgerow for the Pump field
On a cold December morning this week in Seaford, Pupils from Seaford Head School Eco-Club joined forces with Cliff Gardens project members (part of Seaford Community Partnership) and volunteers from Southern Water/Cappagh Browne Utilities Ltd for a day of very hard work in the Pump Field, the furthest East of the Martello Fields. Over the course of the day they planted up 50m of native hedgerow along the perimeter fence between the field and Southern Water’s Pump Station adjacent to the field.
Seaford Community Partnership is part of the Ouse Valley Climate Action project – promoted by South Downs National Park Authority and part funded by the National Lottery Climate Action Fund. Climate change themes of global warming, rising sea levels and extremes of weather including floods and droughts are extremely important to Seaford with its 41/2 miles of South-west facing shingle beach sometimes battered by surging storms and very high seas. We all know the efforts of the Environment Agency shoring up our beach all winter long. Loss of biodiversity is associated with climate change as plants and animals have to adapt to changing conditions.
And why this unusual mix of people? Cliff Gardens project has been developed from the original idea of a group of residents of Cliff Gardens to turn an ugly, potholed and unmade-up road into a community garden. Weaving together this community aspiration and the aims of the lottery bid, SCP has designed a two-part educational garden: partly a formal garden demonstrating how plants colonise hostile environments and create plant communities and then alongside it, a meadow area in the Pump Field where students can study what grows there, how things change over time, using techniques of observation, measurement, recording and topics central to biology, geography and science syllabuses. The aim of this project is to work to mitigate effects of climate change, with it’s associated loss in biodiversity as habitats change.
And Southern Water’s/Cappagh Browne Utilities Ltd’s involvement in all this? Well, we approached them to ask if they would like to sponsor this environmental project and in return they offered support and hands-on participation from their staff – who all volunteer to help with community projects. And how we valued their expertise and physical hard work. Our original idea of hiding the Pump Station from view developed into a realisation that the activities of Southern Water in distributing water to all homes and then removing all domestic waste water and storm run-off for eventual treatment in their sewage plants – had huge educational implications: how we use water, how sewers get blocked, what happens when we have torrential rain or droughts. Recent events have given them bad publicity but we all need to change some practices to cope with future environmental threats. They have an active education department. And Cappagh Browne Utilities? Well they maintain and repair the sewers and pipe work as contractors for Southern Water and have a thriving Ecology team. Good reasons to work together here!
Planting this long hedgerow of seven attractive native species is just a start in trying to increase the biodiversity of the Pump Field. It will serve two purposes. Firstly, the plants are all native English species that will provide shelter and food for a whole host of pollinator insects, bees, butterflies, moths, birds and small mammals. In the fullness of time not only will the hedge increase the biodiversity of Pump Field, but also residents will be able to appreciate it as they stroll through the Pump Field and revitalized Cliff Gardens area.
SCP are in the process of applying for planning permission for the garden designed by Christian Funnell & Gabby Tofts who designed the popular Shoal Project nearby. It will have seven large bedding areas, a purpose built meander path for walkers, strollers, mobility scooters and a cycle path the length of the garden (as part of the existing C2 cycleway). As in the Shoal there will be ample opportunity for sponsorship and plaques – to raise awareness of climate change issues and what we can do about it as well as to raise funds. We will then apply for a stopping up order for the road. We are planning public consultation meetings early next year which will be widely publicised, to discuss the plans, to engage and seek support and to look for volunteers to help with the construction of the garden.
Hilary Miflin
(Member of the Cliff Gardens Project and director of Seaford Community Partnership)
