Location

Valkyrie Avenue , Whitstable

Date

March 2018

What we did

The Whitreeble Project was an attempt by a few local people to get a Street Tree planting scheme off the ground in Whitstable. Due to Kent County Council no longer having the funds to plant street trees none are now being planted in Kent unless through a development, in conservation areas or through community initiatives.

Whitstable gained 14 new street trees. These were planted in the verge along Valkyrie Avenue by the Kentish Stour Countryside Partnership’s volunteers and included cherry, lime and maple.

It was not possible to plant trees down one whole side of Valkyrie Avenue due to a BT cable just under the surface of the middle of the verge and a lot of green verge has also gone under tarmac for new wide drives.

Streets planting is expensive; it costs £250 to plant a tree into a verge and £500 to plant a tree through tarmac. The Valkyrie Avenue trees and their planting were paid for with grants from Tesco’s Bags of Help and Whitstable Area Members Panel and with donations from local residents. The trees now belong to KCC Highways who will maintain the trees into the future.

Benefits

Trees have all sorts of benefits for us, reducing CO2 emissions and having a positive impact on peoples’ wellbeing are just two, and of course they benefit wildlife.

Partnership

This was a collaboration between local groups – The Whitstable Society and the Whitstable Improvement Trust, plus Kentish Stour Countryside Partnership, Canterbury City Council and Kent County Council. Details of how it was funded are mentioned above.

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