Council bidding to make major improvements to local green spaces

Woodlands, parks, nature reserves and other green spaces around Bridgend County Borough could benefit from around £740,000 worth of improvements over the next three years.

Cabinet Members from Bridgend County Borough Council have agreed to bid for a Welsh Government grant to fund new family trails, interpretation boards, bins, signage, accessibility improvements, habitat management and work to tackle invasive species.

If the council is successful with its bid for an’ Enabling Natural Resources and Wellbeing Grant’ totalling nearly £600,000 it will then fund the remaining costs itself, and the ‘Our Green Spaces’ project will run between spring 2019 and spring 2022.

Well-managed green spaces give us all a better quality of life, and this project would enable us to make some major improvements that align with the Bridgend Public Services Board’s Wellbeing Plan.

To help make green spaces as friendly as possible for families with young children, we’d like to create new trails for little ones to follow and learn about their surroundings, and put on more fun events and activities during the summer holidays. We’re also aiming to develop new educational resources for teachers and families to maximise outdoor learning.

We’re really keen for everyone to enjoy the health benefits of their local green spaces, so we’re planning several improvements to help make them more accessible for partially sighted and older residents.

Councillor Richard Young, the council's Cabinet Member for Communities

Councillor Young added: “As people become increasingly aware of mental health issues, we’d love our green spaces to become focal points for mindfulness and other activities that can keep your stress levels in check and improve your wellbeing.

“Of course, with more and more people being encouraged to enjoy the great outdoors we need to reduce any negative impacts of that, so another important aspect of the project will be to install some extra bins and engage with the local community about their shared responsibilities in looking after our countryside.

“The funding would also enable us to carry out additional work to reduce invasive species such as Japanese Knotweed and Himalayan Balsam to protect habitats, increase biodiversity, reduce soil erosion and flood risk. We’re pleased to give our backing to this funding bid, and hope that the application is successful.”

The council will find out whether its funding bid is successful in the New Year.

Any local residents who are interested in volunteering opportunities to help with countryside conservation work should email biodiversity@bridgend.gov.uk