BIG BIODIVERSITY BATTLE PROJECT 2021/22

Chalfont St Peter Parish Council recognises the pressures on our natural environment as a result of further urbanisation and necessary development. This project is intended to offer a degree of mitigation for these impacts upon the natural world. It is intended that this work will form the next step in the Parish Councils vision to further develop the village as an environment where nature can flourish. Our commitment will not only be in the form of ideas and words but also in physical actions. Our haywarden team will be integral in the delivery of this work and this is reflected in the hours contributed to the project. The partnership working with Chiltern Rangers will ensure our team develop their skills and knowledge to ensure longer term maintenance is provided following the principles originally employed. Furthermore, the Parish Council will invest in machinery specific to the implementation of the project and also the longer term ongoing maintenance. Without such a machine the delivery of wild grassland meadow habitats on the scale proposed would be unfeasible. Likewise the Parish Council is committed to the survival and development of all planted stock.

The following proposals are a next step on the journey to improving the Open Spaces of Chalfont St Peter. It is clear that the planet faces unprecedented change in terms of climate change and habitat destruction. We cannot carry on regardless and a step change of the management of our Open Spaces is vital for the long term vitality of our local natural world. With the support of the Buckinghamshire Community Board and the forward thinking collaboration of Chalfont St Peter Parish Council and its partners the required change can be affected at grass roots level. A perfect demonstration of Localism.

The work focuses on enhancing and/or creating more BAP (Bucks Biodiversity Action Plan) Priority Habitat: Ponds, Chalk stream, Chalk Grassland & Lowland Woodland – all in an urban or urban fringe setting. Therefore we will also focus on a number of key urban species, listed in the BAP as species of conservation concern usually due to significant population declines over the past 25 years. These include: Swift, House Sparrow, Hedgehog & Bats. The work in the other habitats is aimed at making improvements for pollinators such as bees and butterflies, through the provision of suitably managed habitat rich in flora and fauna. It is specifically designed to compliment works undertaken in recent years at Austenwood Common (AWC) & Goldhill Common (GHC) through the Commons Management Plan.

This creates the crucial wildlife friendly stepping stones through the village important for wildlife in the face of a warming climate.

There is also a heritage and culture element to this project as we will aspire to reinstate an old pond on GHC, return habitats to traditional management such as coppicing, planting species such as Elm which grew here before the 1970’s. We will work with another social enterprise Colwill & co and use timber grown locally to provide sustainable low impact ‘infrastructure’ such as benches , way marker posts ladder boards and interpretation panel frames. The timber for these products will be sourced from selected stock within AWC & GHC which will have been felled to deal with H&S issues and to diversify the woodland age structure. This is crucial work for a healthy woodland ecosystem by reinvigorating the woodlands to regenerate all by themselves – just add sunlight! Generally, when trees are felled, in whole or part, we will retain deadwood on site as habitat piles or woodchips laid to paths to aid access and encourage people to stick to the paths.