Biodiversity
As a public authority, the Parish Council has a duty to regard conserving biodiversity as part of its policy and decision making under Section 40 of the Natural Environment and Rural Communities Act 2006. To this end, the Parish Council has taken the initiative and is incorporating practical measures to increase the local wildlife and insect population.
These include:
- Organic maintenance of the grass verges. Allowing wild flowers to seed before cutting and removing grass cuttings to promote new wild plants.
- Zero tolerance on pesticides and herbicides.
- Introduction of more bird and bee boxes around the village.
- The planting of new trees around Haddenham such as the Community Orchard at Townside and in Longwall.
- The planting of mixed seeds and bulbs in areas around the village.
- To continue to support and work with volunteers to maintain and enhance the Snakemoor Nature Reserve.
- The New Pavilion at the Airfield will have a sedum roof.
Working in Partnership with the Haddenham Community
Haddenham Parish Council is lucky to be able to work with engaged and enthusiastic members of the community towards achieving a zero-carbon village, including the aptly named Zero-Carbon Haddenham! The Parish Council and Zero-Carbon Haddenham are currently working in partnership on reLEAF, an initiative to plant more trees around the village, as an offset for carbon emissions. For more details on Zero-Carbon Haddenham, including on reLEAF and the repair cafe (a project aimed at fixing, rather than throwing away, belongings), visit Zero-Carbon Haddenham's website. Anyone wishing to volunteer with reLEAF can contact them on releaf@zeroch.org.
Another initiative taking place is Circularball by Haddenham Tennis Club. Instead of contributing to the 15 million tennis balls that are thrown away each year in Great Britain, where each ball can take up to 300 years to degrade in landfill, the Law Tennis Association's recycling scheme, Circularball, ensures that dead balls are recycled back into new circular products. Haddenham Tennis Club were chosen as a pilot for the scheme and have been implementing the initiative ever since.