Dittisham Parish Habitat Plan

The Habitat Plan started as a simple project of collaboration between Dittisham Parish Council (DPC) and our local Sustainability group Sustainable Dittisham, or SusDit. The initial phase of the project involved seeing what we had already, what should be kept, what could be improved.   

We intentionally kept it really simple and doable - the output was deliberately 1 side of A4 max.

We needed to balance the recreational value of the area against our habitat improvements. For example in a survey which we did when planning for new playground equipment many people said that they really appreciated the open grassy area and the view to the river. We were easily able to maintain that AND add new habitat.  

DPC Councillors  and some members of SusDit worked together and: 

• Made a Google map of the land owned by the Council.
• Walked around to do a habitat assessment of that land.
• Made recommendations for what should stay as is and what could be improved.
• The improvements are phased with phase 1 being a change to the maintenance contract so that less cutting and strimming are done in certain areas, around 40 trees were planted, habitat piles were created.
• And ongoing review, tweaks, and improvement where necessary.

Making signs to show people that the wilder areas and habitat piles are deliberate is all part of the plan which we've started implementing. 

A successful approach was what I term "Mullet Management" - which means that the contractors cut a neat strip at the front, with the wilder area behind. That makes it look neater and more deliberate. 

All time for the review and the planting was donated for free to the project, and the minimal cost of £500 was shared between the Parish Council and the local Parish of Dittisham Charity with the first £250 spent on trees, the next £250 will cover phase 2. 

Ongoing

As well as monitoring progress, putting into process some further improvements to some areas of land, we will also be developing and then consulting on a tree policy. The continues accelerating effects of climate change mean that drainage, flooding, and shade cover will be increasingly important in the future, and land management and habitat/planting plans have a part to play in that.  

Begin by Starting

This may sound obvious but I think it's worth stating - this project was only possible by many people working together and really listening to each other. 

We all made some compromises along the way, and we all learnt something from each other, and we celebrated our successes, thanked and encouraged each other. 

Just doing one thing to improve is a step in the right direction - it's more important that a step is taken rather than it being a perfect step.