Residents in North Tawton create a Community Orchard to make the land more bio-diverse and make an unused space suitable for families to use and enjoy together.
We are also maintaining part of the field as meadow grass, installed a community bench, fitted bird and bat boxes, and at a future date, community planters’ so people feel they can connect to nature near the homes they live in.
LiveWest funded over £2,000 towards the Community Orchard at Barkers Way, which is a scheme of 11 homes, and Carving Communities CIC made the bench and brought along the trees for the planting day.
Alison Knight, our Community Connector, said: “I am delighted to have planted trees with families at Barkers Close and look forward to seeing people enjoy the blossom, children playing in the trees and the community enjoying the fresh fruit in the future. It was great to see families, especially young children and volunteers planting trees and how hard they worked, to create their own community orchard.
“LiveWest has brought in the amazing wood carver James Bond, who worked with young people to decorate the community bench, so they feel a sense of ownership of the area.
“In the future residents will be able to visit the community orchard and enjoy the trees, as well as pick cherries, apples, and pears for free. Hopefully, this will create a lovely space for residents as well as a boost to insects’ number, birds and bats in the area.”
Resident Mark Kennedy, who is also part of the Nature and Sustainability local network, came up with the idea of having the orchard and then it was put to the community to find out if it was something they wanted to have in the area and be part of.
The orchard involved working with residents to enhance their communal environment so that it is more usable and an attractive space for residents but also increases biodiversity, so spaces work better for nature as well. This also connects families to their local environment and encourages investment in green spaces.
Mark Kennedy, our resident, said: “It was lovely to see the residents and volunteers come out and plant trees in the sunshine and the children carve the community bench. I also really appreciate the hard work and funding from LiveWest to make this Community Orchard happen.”
The project is in partnership with North Tawton Nature and Sustainability local network - where local people come together to discuss ideas and see action take place on a wide range of initiatives in North Tawton, who will be adopting the trees and looking after them on behalf of residents so there is no cost to them.
Ruth Testa, one of the founders of North Tawton Nature and Sustainability local network said: “Planting local community orchards is an amazing way to not only provide habitats for wildlife but also to provide local, sustainable food for the community. That this can be right on the doorstep of the people who helped plant it makes it even more special. We are looking forward to helping manage the site into the future.”