The Lord-Lieutenant of Staffordshire and the Lord Mayor of Stoke-on-Trent joined local councillors in planting a Magnolia Brooklynesis ‘Elizabeth’ on Tuesday 29 March.
In celebration of Stoke-on-Trent becoming a Queen’s Green Canopy (QGC) ‘Champion City’.
Ian Dudson CBE, Lord-Lieutenant of Staffordshire and Patron of the Wildlife Trust Staffordshire, attended the event and officially presented the plaque to mark the city’s ‘Champion City’ status. He was joined by Lord Mayor Cllr Chandra Kannaganti; leader of the city council, Cllr Abi Brown; and cabinet member for housing and environment, Cllr Carl Edwards. School children from local school Sutherland Primary Academy also attended the presentation and celebrated the city’s new status with a rendition of God Save the Queen.
The QGC ‘Champion Cities’ programme recognises outstanding cities which have trees and woodland as a central part of their plans for green spaces. The city council has worked closely with QGC Partner, the Woodland Trust and local community groups to plant trees in schools and parks under The Queen’s Green Canopy initiative. In addition, 11,000 trees are due to be planted across eight areas of the city which were selected following a large-scale consultation with residents and communities.
Cllr Abi Brown, leader of the city council said: “It is a great honour for Stoke-on-Trent to be selected as a ‘Champion City’ as part of The Queen’s Green Canopy. Our tree planting schemes are part of a strong tradition of green space provision and I am thrilled that this has been recognised.”
Cllr Carl Edwards, cabinet member for housing and environment, said: “I am incredibly proud that our extensive tree planting efforts have been recognised by The Queen’s Green Canopy. Tree planting has always been important to Stoke-on-Trent. We planted 18,000 trees to create a new urban woodland to mark Her Majesty the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee in 2012.
This year will see a dramatic expansion of our activities to involve every town, every community, every school and every child in planting precious new saplings under The Queen’s Green Canopy initiative.”
Summary of the Woodland Trust partnership planting project for autumn 2022;
Stoke-on-Trent City Council is working with the Woodland Trust to plant approx. 11,000 trees around the city. The tree planting scheme is to be funded by the Woodland Trust as part of the More Woods Grant (funded by Lloyds banking group) and is part of the ‘Big Climate Fight Back”
The areas to be planted include: Allendale Walk; Dalton Grove; Frodingham Road; Goms Mill; Dalton Grove; Chelmsford Drive and Bankey Fields.
Some locations will be left part planted to allow the local community to be involved in planting.
The planting design of The Queen’s Jubilee champion city is to be carried out at Allendale walk. The species used for the planting scheme will be pioneer species such as Birch, Aspen and Alder, alongside shrubs such as Hawthorn and Hazel alongside some Oak trees. All tree stock will be grown on contract for the city council and is UK and Irelands source and grown (UKISG).
A Buffer zone of 5m is to be incorporated into the planting away from footpaths, properties and water courses. Planting of trees is to be a spaced at 2.5m, no tree guards are to be used.
The tree supply, planting and first two years maintenance will be fully funded and carried out by the Woodland Trust, who are also a Partner of The Queen’s Green Canopy.
The major planting exercise to commemorate The Queen’s Platinum Jubilee will double the size of the existing urban woodland that we created for the Diamond Jubilee celebrations.
Stoke-on-Trent’s carbon impact per person is lower, at 6.5 tons per person, than any of our neighbouring local authorities.
Background – The Queen’s Green Canopy
The Queen’s Green Canopy is a unique tree planting initiative created to mark Her Majesty’s Platinum Jubilee in 2022, which invites people from across the UK to “Plant a Tree for the Jubilee”.
Further information about the QGC is available: www.queensgreencanopy.org
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