Community create wildflower meadow on grassland at Bransty, Whitehaven

Cumbria Wildlife Trust, Cumberland Council and Bransty Community Group have developed plans to create a wildflower meadow on grassland at Bransty in Whitehaven.

Funded by Fibrus broadband, as part of Hyperfast GB connecting Cumbria, the area has been seeded and planted with Cumbrian meadow wildflowers.

Volunteers have helped create a pollinator haven along the coast at Bransty (Image: Submitted)

A planting day was held last week which saw pupils from Bransty Primary School and representatives from Cumberland Council and Cumbria Wildlife Trust and members of the community come together to transform the grassland into a pollinator haven and 'get Bransty buzzing'.

The council’s grounds maintenance and parks and open spaces team prepared the ground and helped with seeding and wildflower plug planting. The team will maintain the site and are looking forward to seeing it grow.

Joseph Ghayouba, who represents Bransty on Cumberland Council, said: “This was a good and positive collaboration between the community, the school, the council and Cumbria Wildlife Trust that has delivered something which will make the area look nice and also benefit the environment and the community.

“It will hopefully be the first of many successes for Bransty.”

Children from Bransty Primary School helped plant the wildflowers (Image: Submitted)

Claire Parr, teacher at Bransty Primary School, said: “The children were from Year 4 and as they were just starting their Living Things and Habitats science topic, it was an ideal time to be invited to help plant some wild flowers in their local environment. 

“They were VERY enthusiastic, planted over 600 plants in the space of just under an hour and took real care and thought about how they wanted their little bit of the planting to look, thinking about how to group the flowers and what they might look like once they were planted. 

“This shows how committed they are to making their own community a nicer place and they were delighted to be asked to be involved and do their bit alongside other members of the community.

“Several of them have already been back to see how their plants are getting on and they can't wait to see them all blooming in due course.”