The above image shows our new plans for Ransoms Rec overlaid on an aerial photo of the park. Grove Road is top left and Midland Cottages are bottom right. We’re calling the proposals ‘Ransoms Meadows – for people and nature‘, and we’d really like your views on it.
To that end we’re running an online survey here and holding several community consultations this month where you can ask questions and share your views about the scheme, to be held at Ransoms Pavilion SG5 1RB. Please do come along – the dates are:
- Thursday 10th July 5.30-7pm
- Sunday 13th July 10am-12
- Monday 14th July 5.30-7pm
But first a bit of context: Last summer/autumn we ran a survey asking park users and the local community what they thought of the park what what they’d like to see happen to improve it. We shared the results in a previous blog but the answers were clear – you want to see more flowers, more wildness, more trees, more winter interest, more fruit, and more seating, better signage, better lighting, better litter bins, an outdoor gym and an outdoor cafe.
We’re working with the council on the last four, but the first seven items are all things we can make happen ourselves with a bit of funding and some community volunteer support!
We’ve thought carefully about which areas of the park are most well-used by people, stay driest over the winter and are most needed for circulation and we plan to leave these untouched. Which leaves considerable scope for introducing some of your suggestions along the main footpath/cycleway and in the existing meadow area.
Our plans are to:
- Create a long swathe of wildflower meadow along the cycleway with mown paths through it at intervals for access
- Keep a scoop of mown grass opposite the play area with new benches so people can sit and enjoy the meadows and watch their kids play
- Extend the meadow around the basketball court and along in front of our riverside forest garden, with more benches facing out into the park
- Install bug hotels made from sturdy gabions (metal cages) to encourage insects, and to show where the meadow ends and the grass begins (in case of over-zealous mowing).
- On the railway side of the park where the long grass is, we’d like to create a richer more diverse set of habitats by planting groups of wetland-loving trees, woodland edge shrubs with berries for birds (and people), and groves of willow (withies) that can be coppiced each year and used for basketry, etc. Bancroft Rec used to have a osier beds for basketry back in the 1800s so there is a precedent in Hitchin.
- Winding paths and glades will be cut through the long grass to encourage imaginative play and exploration.
- More bug hotels here will define the edge of the meadow and sandy bee/butterfly banks will be created within the mix (locations tbc)
- The benches we’re proposing will be supported by integral bug habitats in so encourage beneficial insects
- New signage will be installed at the park’s main entrances creating an informative welcome.
All the above is subject to funding but we’ll be doing our best to ensure the majority of this happens within the next two years. The scheme has the approval of North Herts Council and the Countryside Management Service, and we will be doing a series of citizen science surveys to track the effect it has on biodiversity.
Watch this space for more about how we’re planning to involve the local community and how you can get involved!