A campaigner for the improvement and regeneration of Southport has announced plans to plant £70,000-worth of trees across the town.
Cllr David Barton, who represents Dukes Ward on Sefton Council, said the trees would be planted in key locations in the coming months.
The funding has come from a number of developers who have agreed to fund green spaces in the town as part of recent planning applications, a process governed by Section 106 legal agreements.
The Section 106 scheme provides money for councils to spend on community and social projects and the tree planting is part of Cllr Barton’s campaign to increase and enhance green spaces in the town.
The areas where trees are to be planted are Sussex Road, Westcliffe Road, Lancaster Road, Grosvenor Road, and Hawkshead Street, as well as Weld Road, which was identified whilst Cllr Barton was liaising with residents during the successful ongoing campaign to have the landward and seaward ends resurfaced.
The semi-mature trees include pear, birch, maple, sycamore and Lobel Elm (bread for resistance to Dutch elm disease).
Cllr Barton said: “The council has worked with a number of developers who have provided money for this project through S106 expenditure and it project has been agreed that The tree planting will take place in January, February and March this year. Having been informed that Lord Street has now had all available tree planting locations occupied it is a great pleasure to now be further increasing the level of air quality across our coastal resort town for the betterment of as many as possible, especially in other frequently used commuter areas.
Sefton Council shall be contacting the residents most affected by the tree planting by letter over the next few weeks.
This money is ring fenced for projects such as this.”
“This will help further improve the air quality across Southport and West Birkdale and at the same time enhance their appearance which will hopefully increase investment and tourism into our seaside resort town.”
OTS News on Social Media