Understanding Basingstoke Better
A team of employees from Urban&Civic, the Master Developer for Manydown appointed by the Partnership, spent the day volunteering at Old Down Woodland Park under the supervision of members of the Basingstoke and Deane Ranger team.
Having been instructed in how to use the necessary tools, the team of 13 set to work in the beautiful autumn sunshine extracting the dogwood. Dogwood is a common shrub which can grow to cover considerable areas due to its suckering roots. Clearing or reducing the area it covers allows other plants to thrive.
The habitat at Old Down is very similar to that at Manydown so this was a great way for the team to gain hands on experience of chalk grassland, which will contribute to our plans for the 250-acre countryside park at Manydown.
The work undertaken by the Urban&Civic team also gave valuable insight into the hard work done by the Old Down and Beggarwood and Wildlife Group throughout the year both here and across other sites in the local area. This group of passionate volunteers work with the council to provide green space for wildlife, residents and visitors to the area and it was a pleasure to learn more about what they do and give a small amount of our time to support them.
