Cooksditch Stream Restoration in Faversham

The Cooksditch Stream restoration project in Faversham is an amazing project that is being led by Lesley Seager and has been supported by Mayor Alison Reynolds, Councillor Chris Williams and Councillor Hannah Perkin, in getting the project up and running.

 

The stream runs along the main public walk through the Queen Elizabeth School fields and is very precious to the community. The aim of this project is not only to clear years of household waste from the stream but also to re-plant in and out of the water to encourage wildlife back in; the volunteers have already made an incredible transformation to the stream which will make a wonderful difference.

They have already raised a wonderful £700 for the restoration of a £1000 target; the support from the local community means the world and every penny will help give the wildlife of the stream a fighting chance.

All money raised will be put to nesting boxes, kingfisher tunnels, trees, shrubs, plants, bulbs, wildflowers, seeds and possibly some tools later for regular maintenance. Kingfishers have been seen flying around the area and so Lesley is hoping to install new nesting tunnels where possible.

With all the amount of new development in Faversham it is extremely important to protect every little area we can for wildlife. Once complete, this tiny fresh water stream will be a haven for all wildlife and will encourage a whole new eco-system for this area.

The volunteers have had to dig out the bramble roots by the bridge which is incredibly important as when the council sweep the alleyway, they throw it over the fence which has buried more household rubbish. A very healthy bumble bee nest in the side of the bank was another positive discovery and they have been finding others over the past couple of months which they are looking forward to sharing with the community. Lesley has also introduced Cookie the Slow Worm, Cooksditch’s newest resident to the stream and he has very much been enjoying his new home.

 

Lesley and Hollie told CommunityAd, “We cannot thank everyone enough for the support so far. Progress so far has been amazing and I would like to thank all volunteers who have worked very hard so far. It warms the heart to know so many Faversham people want this done. We even have people coming from the other side of town to look.”

The volunteers work hard every Sunday morning on the stream and have been getting litter out of stream and they will soon be re-planting wildlife plants, trees, seeds and shrubs in the stream. They now have three different bee colonies nesting in a section of the bank, they have planted lots of hardy salvias, hawthorne saplings and the crab apple and they are all looking wonderful.

Lesley was also sent a very special letter from Mr Anderson, the Head Teacher at the Queen Elizabeth School, who was delighted to hear about the project and wanted to thank the volunteers for their hard work and efforts in transforming this lovely piece of land. He also informed Lesley that the school will now be introducing an Environmental Science AS course for students and using Cooksditch as part of this new course, which is fantastic for news for both the students and everyone involved in the project, to see their hard work appreciated.

 

You can follow the process of the restoration by searching Cooksditch Stream – Faversham on Facebook (or clicking our link) and support them via their fundraiser.

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