Burgess Hill's 'Love BUG' Project Off To A Flying Start
19th April 2021 | By Burgess Hill Town Council
The Love BUG project in Burgess Hill will get off to a flying start this week with the stripping of turf on nine community grass verges and the sowing of wildflower seeds. Each verge will be marked with a blue heart.
The project is being supported by WSCC who will change their mowing regime to cutting once a year every August, to allow the flowers to grow and self-seed.
Seed has been generously provided by WSCC and Burgess Hill Town Council. BHTC have provided a quantity of annuals to make sure there is colour even in the first year.
Lee Barnett (pictured), owner of the local circular economy shop ‘eco2home’ at the Martlets Shopping Centre has funded the purchase of some ‘luxury perennial mixture’, including wild orchids, which will be scattered in all the verges. Lee said of his donation:
“When I heard about the Town Council’s Love BUG project, I knew straight away that it was something we as a business wanted to get involved with.
“At eco2home, we have already pledged to plant 45 trees via the Woodland Trust for every 1 ton of waste that we are unable to recycle or reuse. In the future, we are going to be doing special book sales via an honesty box, where all the proceeds will go to local environmental projects such as the rewilding of the verges.”
Locals are encouraged to help water the verges during dry spells, take pictures and see if they can spot any wildlife. They should look out for bees, butterflies and grasshoppers, and consider recording their sightings on the iRecord app.
Meanwhile, in a parallel move, MSDC are taking a more ‘hands-off’, re-wilding approach to various patches around Burgess Hill, roping them off and letting nature take its course, but still mowing once a year. These patches will also be marked with a blue heart & will make an interesting comparison with the WSCC community verges. Examples of such verges are in Marle Place Park and along the railway beyond Leylands Rd where the landslip occurred.
Here are details of the Blue Heart Campaign: https://bluecampaignhub.com
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