Meon Vale to benefit from £5,000 Green Shoots Fund - The Stratford Observer

Meon Vale to benefit from £5,000 Green Shoots Fund

Stratford Editorial 12th Dec, 2021   0

A WILDFLOWER meadow will be among efforts to make Meon Vale a greener community.

Meon Vale Residents’ Association (MVRA) is taking steps to make their community more sustainable after bagging nearly £5,000 from Warwickshire County Council’s Green Shoots Fund.

The cash will go towards wildflower planting materials, water butts and compost bins.

The Residents Association plans to clear an area in the entrance to Meon Vale Woods to plant a wildflower meadow to enjoy in spring.




It is hoped the increase in flower biodiversity will encourage more insects, supporting the local bird and bat populations which nest in the village and surrounding woodlands.

The fun started at the Meon Vale FunFest in August, when Debbie Griffiths from Lower Quinton got her hands dirty by making bee bombs to give away for children to plant where they wanted, with others from the community following suit.


The association hopes to start a nature group in Meon Vale to host wildlife talks and bat walks to raise awareness of the benefits of thriving biodiversity in the area.

Compost bins will allow residents to improve the soil quality in their gardens and reduce their household kitchen and garden waste

The natural fertiliser produced by the kitchen and garden waste will provide opportunities to grow vegetables and plants on ground that was previously covered in turf.

And the new water butts will help the community to save both money and water.

It is estimated a water butt can save around 24,000 litres of water per year which amounts to around a fifth of average household usage.

The association has plans to offer ‘gardening guru’ sessions in 2022, to promote greener living in the community.

MVRA treasurer Caroline Alderson said: “MVRA was set up in February 2021, after the community at Meon Vale were brought together in 2020 to Save Meon Woods from development.

“We are absolutely delighted to have been awarded £4,900 to support green initiatives in Meon Vale.

“We have a huge opportunity to improve biodiversity in the woods, along with supporting residents to live greener lifestyles.

“The bid for water butts, compost bins and wildflowers is the first in our plans to Make Meon Vale Sustainable.”

WCC environment spokeswoman Heather Timms said: “It’s wonderful to see Green Shoots funding being used to help a community like Meon Vale blossom and flourish. Increasing biodiversity is an important part of supporting our rich environment and ensuring Warwickshire is a beautiful place to live for generations to come.

“Promoting and helping to develop community organisation is a core element of the Green Shoots scheme. The actions of Meon Vale Residents’ Association, a group still in the relatively early stage of its life, provide an excellent example of the kind of things we can all do, both as households and communities, to mitigate against our impacts on the environment.

“By bringing together residents, including children from local schools, this multifaceted project will help reduce Warwickshire’s carbon footprint whilst also fostering a better understanding of our natural world.”

Visit www.warwickshire.gov.uk/greenshootsfund for more information about the fund.

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