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Thousands of trees have been planted as part of a native hedgerow project in Cumbria’s Ullswater valley thanks to a team of volunteers from local council and broadband provider Fibrus.
The volunteer day formed part of the full fibre broadband provider’s wider commitment to supporting communities and environmental initiatives across Cumbria, bringing together volunteers from Hyperfast GB, Westmorland and Furness Council and Connecting Cumbria.
The planting session was organised in partnership with Ullswater Catchment Management CIC (UCMCIC), which recently received a £2,000 grant from the Hyperfast Cumbria Connection Fund to support tree planting.
The area was badly affected by Storm Desmond in December 2015 which inspired Danny and Maddy Teasdale to found UCMCIC, with the goal of working with local farmers and communities to restore the landscape and reduce the impact of future floods
“It just smashed Glenridding to bits,” said Mr Teasdale. “It flooded shops and houses, washed roads away and drowned livestock.
“We set off as a flood action group. We know this place, so it was very much a case of let’s see what we can do upstream and see if we can build a bit of resilience into our catchment.”
He explained that the Dockray scheme is part of a much larger vision.
“This is a hedgerow planting project, so we are planting one and a half kilometres of hedgerow. It’s a scheme funded through the National Trust and Defra called the Species Survival Fund. It’s part of a wider project we are doing throughout the Ullswater and Matterdale catchments.
“We are trying to link habitats up through planting hedgerows. We have a bigger goal of planting 100km of hedgerows – that’s 600,000 trees over the next 10 to 15 years. There’s quite a lot to go at.”
Mr Teasdale added: “We are planting a new native hedgerow that is going to join this woodland, right over the top, down into Dockray and eventually it will connect all the other hedgerows up in Matterdale valley. What we want to do is put all the hedgerows back that we’ve had around here.”
The trees being planted are carefully selected native species suited to the exposed upland environment.
“Everything that we plant is a native hedgerow mix that is tough enough to live up here – hawthorn, blackthorn, hazel, crabapple. The sort of things that should be here and that will actually thrive around here.”
Mr Teasdale stressed that they are working closely with local farmers, particularly with regards to choosing the land for planting.
“My family have been farmers for generations, so we absolutely respect that. There’s any amount of bits of land that you can plant trees on that don’t impact on the food production side of the farm business.”
He emphasised that the initiative aims to balance environmental goals with working landscapes.
“One of the big drivers for Ullswater Catchment is to show that we can have farming, we can have conservation, natural flood management.
“It’s a win-win; hedges are just a great thing, they are great for wildlife, they connect the habitats up, they slow the flow of water off, they are a physical barrier.”
Commenting on the project, Libby Bateman, Hyperfast GB Stakeholder Engagement Manager said: “This site is creating a wildlife corridor, joining up with a nearby forest so animals can move around in the safety of a hedgerow.
“As part of our delivery of Project Gigabit, we are proud to support community and environmental initiatives across Cumbria. We have invested in Ullswater Catchment Management CIC so we can get more trees into the land.”
Hyperfast GB, delivered by Fibrus, is working to connect communities across Cumbria through Project Gigabit, the UK Government’s rollout of lightning-fast, reliable broadband. As part of Fibrus’ delivery of Project Gigabit, it has committed to various social value initiatives that will bring wider benefits to local communities.
Elise Bayliffe, an undergraduate placement student with Hyperfast GB, added: “The event is really vital to bring Cumbria to net zero, bringing back sustainability, nature and wildlife.
“It’s a great opportunity to get people outside, plant some trees and do something good.”
To find out if you’re connectable through Hyperfast GB’s full fibre broadband rollout, please visit www.hyperfastgb.com/ check-availability/