Trees and ‘wildlife-friendly’ hedge planted at Bognor’s Hotham Park

More than 20 people turned up to lend a hand to Arun District Council’s Parks and Greenspaces team, councillors and Friends of Hotham Park for the tree planting event on Tuesday.

A council spokesperson said: “Half of the funding for the planting has been kindly donated by the Hotham Park Heritage Trust, with contributions from Bognor Regis Town Council’s Hotham Ward allocation money.

“The trees were placed across the award-winning park with a new wildlife-friendly native hedge planted in the conservation area.”

Councillor Dan Purchese, cabinet member for neighbourhood services, gave a ‘huge thank you’ to everyone who turned up.

He added: “As a council, we are highly focussed on preserving our environment and mitigating the effects that a changing climate may have on our parks.”

A ten-year tree planting strategy is currently being drafted by the council, ‘informed by existing tree cover’ and an ‘increasing public appreciation’ of the importance of trees within our urban and rural communities.

“The council is seeking to build on previous successes which has seen thousands of trees planted across the district on areas of open space provided with new developments as well as existing open space,” the spokesperson said.

“This includes 8,000 trees at Brookfield Park Littlehampton and 11,000 trees at Bersted Brooks, Bognor Regis.”

According to the council, the Woodland Trust has taken on Worms Wood where 25,000 trees have been planted on a 33-acre woodland.

They added: “The proposed strategy will underpin the tree policy which outlines the council’s assertation that Arun’s trees enhance parks and green spaces, provide habitats for wildlife, act as the district’s lungs and help to reduce the rising temperatures caused by climate change.”