Planting project to enhance 'gateway' to Gainsborough underway thanks to £70,000 from National Lottery Heritage Fund

​The project in the South West Ward of Gainsborough was launched on April 28, by the charity ‘Together’ and aims to increase wildlife in the area and enable it to thrive, create more attractive and accessible greenspaces for the community to help support health and wellbeing and enhance the appearance of an important gateway for Gainsborough.

Over the next 18 months this community-led initiative will create wildlife areas on either-side of the Thorndike Way approach to the roundabout with Trinity Street and Ashcroft Road.

The Together team, local residents, Lincolnshire Outdoor Learning, and a volunteer team from the Lincolnshire County Council Highways Partnership have planted wildflower seeds, pollutant- absorbing shrubs, and more native tree and hedge species.

And resident-led volunteer groups are learning skills such as hedge-laying and wildflower meadow management so they can maintain the site in the future.

Benjamin Adlard and Warren Wood schools are also getting involved by helping to grow more wildflowers and build bird boxes that will be used around the area.

Barry Rooks, Together team leader, said: “It has taken over a year to get this project off the ground, it is so great to see it starting to take shape now.

“None of this would have been possible without the support of the National Lottery Heritage Fund, our fantastic resident volunteers and our project partners, Voluntary Centre Services, Lincolnshire County Council- Highways Partnership, Balfour Beatty, Sunbelt, HTM Traffic Management and RMS and West Lindsey District Council and Gainsborough Town Council.”

Coun Trevor Young, leader of West Lindsey District Council, said: “I have been involved in this project since the initial discussions.

“I believe it will greatly enhance the South West Ward, one of the most deprived areas in the country.

“Not only will it greatly improve biodiversity, but it will also provide local people with some much-needed green space to enjoy. The area has very little to offer to improve health and wellbeing.

“An increase in wildlife, colour and vibrancy will greatly enhance this gateway to Gainsborough.”

If you would like to find out more about the project or to get involved contact the Together Team by email at [email protected] or call 01427 613470.