HOUSEBUILDER AND PARISH COUNCIL PLANT 70 FRUIT TREES IN CRINGLEFORD

Volunteers from Barratt and David Wilson Homes, The Conservation Volunteers and Cringleford Parish Council have joined forces to plant 70 John Innes heritage fruit trees at one of the housebuilder’s Norfolk developments.

The Newfound Community Orchard will blossom at the leading housebuilder’s Cringleford Heights development on Colney Lane, thanks to a combined effort to enhance the ecology of the community.

Cringleford Parish Council had the fruit trees grown for the site using a donation from the original owners, the John Innes Foundation. Together with volunteers from The Conservation Volunteers, the trees were planted with assistance from the Barratt and David Wilson Homes’ team including Simon Wood (Managing Director), Gareth Mears (Development Director), Dave Martin (Construction Director) and Jake Farquharson (Assistant Site Manager).

Simon Wood, Managing Director at Barratt and David Wilson Homes Anglia, said: “We were thrilled to welcome Cringleford Parish Council and The Conservation Volunteers to our Cringleford Heights development to dig in and plant a number of fruit trees for the benefit of the local community.

“The implementation of trees will not only provide a wonderful outlook for residents, but it will also make a huge difference to the area’s biodiversity levels.

“We’re looking forward to seeing the fruit trees blossom for years to come, and we’d like to thank all volunteers for assisting us in this project.”

Cringleford Heights is being built with enhanced eco-friendly facilities, and Barratt and David Wilson Homes is retaining over two hectares of public open space in the area as part of the development.

Since the construction process began, the developer has made an effort to preserve any plants or trees which existed before the building took place, whilst also planning to plant approximately 200 trees across the new community. There will be more than 1.3 hectares of wildflower meadow, which will help to support native pollinators including bees, butterflies and moths.

In order to help the development to provide a home for living creatures, 50 bird and bat boxes, two hibernacula and log piles, and a number of hedgehog highways are also being installed.

Trevor Wang, Chairman of Cringleford Parish Council, said: “We are very grateful to Barratt and David Wilson Homes for setting aside land for the orchard and their help in planting the trees. We would also like to thank The Conservation Volunteers for their help, and the John Innes Foundation for their generous donation. It will be a beautiful and practical resource for our parishioners to enjoy, and it will link the site to its history.”

For more information about the development, call the Barratt Homes sales team on 03301 735749 or the David Wilson Homes sales team on 03308 187788.