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Let June Bloom! CPRE Kent launches a very special campaign
CPRE Kent, the countryside charity, is launching a new campaign, Let June Bloom.
Plantlife’s extremely successful No Mow May campaign is fantastic for helping protect spring flora – but it doesn’t stop there.
Our insect population is in freefall, the decline being eight times faster than that of mammals and birds; however, all are linked through the food chain.
The use of insecticides and plastic grass, the emphasis on neat and tidy gardens and the changing nature of our seasons due to global warming all negatively affect our precious insect population, leading to catastrophic decline. This is where Let June Bloom can help a little and give our insects a chance to thrive and in turn help our larger fauna.
Many wildflowers and insects come alive during June. Plants such as cowslip, evening primrose, meadow clary and wild foxglove all bloom in this month.
Insects that hatch in June include large white, small white and small blue butterflies.
June also sees the hatching of caterpillars such as copper underwing, garden tiger and gypsy moth, along with insect larvae including sawflies and beetles. Bees such as red-tailed bumblebee, tree bumblebee, wool carder bee, orange-tailed mining bee are all very active during this special month.
Allowing June to bloom is vital so wildflowers can carry on providing pollen for a host of insect species, allowing eggs of moths, butterflies and beetles to hatch and feed and so help our insect population thrive.
Vicky Ellis, of CPRE Kent, said: “June is such a special month for our wildlife. We’re asking people to give it the best possible chance by not cutting back the flowers on which so much of it – and ultimately all of us – depends. Let June Bloom!”
Wednesday, May 4, 2022
- A number of important documents have yet to emerge. For example, a rigorous transport plan and a finalised air-quality assessment. The latter is critical given that allocations at Teynham will feed extra traffic into AQMAs.
- There seems to be no coherent plan for infrastructure delivery – a key component of the plan given the allocations being proposed near the already crowded Junction 7.
- There seems to have been little or no cooperation with neighbouring boroughs or even parish councils within Swale itself.
The removal of a second consultation might have been understandable if this final version of the plan were similar to that being talked about at the beginning of the consultation process. It is, however, radically different in the following ways:
- There has been a major shift in the balance of housing allocations, away from the west of the borough over to the east, especially around the historic town of Faversham. This is a move that raises many concerns.
- A new large allocation, with accompanying A2 bypass, has appeared around Teynham and Lynsted, to which we are objecting.
- Housing allocations in the AONB around Neames Forstal that were judged “unsuitable” by the council’s own officers have now appeared as part of the housing numbers.
- Most of the housing allocations being proposed are on greenfield sites, many of them on Grade 1 agricultural land – a point to which we are strongly objecting.
Concerns about the rush to submit the plan
The haste with which the plan is being prepared is especially worrying given the concentration of housing in Faversham. If the town is to take a large amount of new housing, it is imperative that the policies concerning the area are carefully worked out to preserve, as far as possible, the unique nature of the town. The rush to submit the plan is likely to prove detrimental.
As Swale does not have a five-year land housing supply, it is open to speculative development proposals, many of which would run counter to the ideas contained in the current plan. Some are already appearing. This is a common situation, and one that, doubtless, is a reason behind Swale’s haste.
Our overriding fear, however, is that this emphasis on haste is ultimately going to prove counterproductive. This is because it is our view that the plan, in its current form, is unlikely to pass independent examination. We are urging Swale to listen to and act upon the comments being made about the plan and to return the plan to the council with appropriate modifications before submitting it to the Secretary of State.
Essentially, this means treating the current consultation not as the final one but as the ‘lost’ second consultation.
The consultation ends on Friday 30 April and we strongly urge residents to make their opinions known if they have not already done so.
Further information
