Village green gets spruced up by community

Volunteers turned up to help improve Upper Dicker green SUS-171104-164201001

The green in Upper Dicker, near Hailsham, is being transformed by volunteers to make a space for everyone to enjoy.

Councillor Vicky Radtke, of Arlington Parish Council, is organising the community project. She said, “It’s a small space but it’s the heart of our village and it wasn’t really doing anything.

“So we had a competition to come up with a really nice idea for it. We eventually came up with a final scheme which was an amalgamation of the community’s ideas.

Volunteers working together on the Big Dig SUS-171104-164213001

“We got a group of volunteers together for the Big Dig, planting six olive trees, 12 rose bushes and underplanting with lavender.

“The project is ongoing over the next few weeks to include and a bed for open-pollinated flowers and vegetables so that we can share true-to-type seeds amongst the community.

“The next session we are planning on building raised beds for a community herb garden planting a communal herb garden, and after that we are going to install a picket fence and benches for people to use.

“The Village Green will become a place of relaxation for all, and an educational resource for local school children.

“It has an almost Mediterranean feel to it – it looks really pretty.”

The project has benefited from an £8,000 grant from Tesco Bags of Help.

If you would like to get involved, email Vicky Radtke at [email protected]