Following the Climate Action group’s success in being awarded the Greater Manchester Green Spaces Fund, plans for the Miles Platting Wildlife Corridor are now well underway. Project lead Suzanne Walton from Groundwork alongside Dr Jenna Ashton from the University of Manchester have been carrying out initial consultations with local residents around 4 key sites in the area: Victoria Mill Park, Bollington Road Green, Holland Street Community Garden and Ridgway Street Community Garden.
iNaturalist pages for each of the four sites have now been set up, which allows any nature lovers and passersby to record their wildlife sightings and observations:
Victoria Mill Park: https://uk.inaturalist.org/projects/victoria-mill-park
Bollington Road Green: https://uk.inaturalist.org/projects/bollington-road-green
Holland Street Community Gardens: https://uk.inaturalist.org/projects/holland-street-community-garden
Ridgway Street Community Gardens: https://uk.inaturalist.org/projects/ridgway-street-community-garden
If you ever find yourself in and around these spaces, follow the iNaturalist links above to record your encounters and learn more about the different kinds of wildlife you find!
Following discussions with residents around these sites and additional green spaces, designs to enhance and improve biodiversity are being drawn up (diagrams above) to bring in new trees, wildflowers, and hedges around Miles Platting. Ten new trees were planted at Bollington Road Green in early March including two different types of birch.
Additional to the Wildlife Corridor Project, MPCAN Climate Action has also received funding through City of Trees for 30 new trees all along Ridgway Street which were planted just a couple weeks ago!
If you are a local resident of Miles Platting, Ancoats or Collyhurst and are interested in MPCAN’s Climate Action group, please email milesplattingcommunitynetwork@gmail.com to find out more and get involved!