Housebuilder helps plant trees at new development in Wombourne

- 04 May 22

More than 150 trees have been planted on land outside a new housing development in Wombourne. Staff from Vistry Group helped plant 165 saplings outside Bovis Homes’ Fletcher’s Rise location after joining forces with Forest of Mercia CIC, a not-for-profit company that runs environmentally-friendly projects. The housebuilder is delivering 90 new homes at the development, off Beggars Bush Lane, which is transforming the site of a former plant nursery in the village. Employees from Vistry and staff from Forest of Mercia planted a selection of birch, rowan, cherry and crab apple trees on a two-thirds of an acre strip of land next to Fletcher’s Rise. Forest of Mercia CIC, which is based in Hilton Green, near Essington, organises and runs environmentally-friendly projects across Staffordshire and the West Midlands. The company is taking part in the government-funded Trees for Climate scheme which provides trees to be planted throughout England. Dave Knowles, a director at Forest of Mercia CIC, said: “A large part of our focus is to plant more trees in Staffordshire and the northern parts of the Black Country, so to get this involvement with Bovis Homes was great. “When we approached them with our plans to plant 165 new trees on land they own on the development they were very enthusiastic and got on board with the scheme straightaway. This is a very refreshing attitude and one that we were delighted to encounter. “These trees were planted on the outskirts of this development to beef up the existing hedgerow and make it a green buffer for the residents, which will reduce pollution, cut down external noise and provide an improved environment for local wildlife. “We are hoping that this positive experience will lead to further projects in the future when we can link up with Bovis Homes to plant more trees at developments where they are building new homes in the region.” Freya Halsall, marketing assistant at Vistry Mercia, said: “Wherever we build new homes we always aim to engage with the community to try to explore ways in which we might be able to help improve the local environment for everyone. “We embraced this tree-planting programme because it will not only improve the life of the residents on the development by providing a more pleasing aspect for them but will also benefit the rest of the village by creating a new area of developing woodland for them to enjoy.” Forest of Mercia and local group the Friends of Essington also worked with the housebuilder to plant 125 trees at Bovis Homes’ The Steadings development in Essington. Anyone wanting to know more about Forest of Mercia CIC can visit forestofmercia.com. For more information about the new homes at Fletcher’s Rise, visit bovishomes.co.uk.

Share: