ILAM Open Space Management Award (OSMA) Winner 1996

The Oak & Acorn Project - Wrekin District Council

History

This community project began in 1993 when an area of inaccessible land, between a school and a small estate of elderly people’s bungalows, was identified as a possible conservation site. The name of the project reflects the relationship between the old, the young and their environment. In 1994 discussions took place between key agencies and an open meeting was held for local people to discuss the project. An informal committee of teachers, parents, elderly people, secondary school pupils and council officers from a variety of different areas was established. The committee established the aims for the project as:- to foster a positive attitude towards the elderly by developing opportunities for the young and old to interact, to raise environmental awareness and to improve the local environment.

Community and partnerships

Following the establishment of the aims of the project a plan of action as established to separate it into design and management planning phases as well as the proposed environmental, arts and gardening projects. ‘Planning For Real’ was used as a tool to gather design ideas and the implementation was allocated according to ability and interest to create small achievable projects so that momentum was maintained.

A local blacksmith made the new gates leading into the site, with other local artists helping to create a carved seat depicting children and grandparents and a sun mosaic within the formal garden area in response to local children’s wish to “always have sunshine in the garden”. The carved seat was designed by a local sculptor through workshops in a local school with children and their grandparents. Wrekin Council DSO and the British Trust for Conservation Volunteers assisted in practical projects such as replacing a boardwalk and planting trees and shrubs. The Greenwood Trust also helped local children to build a willow hide. A secondary school was also involved by making five paving stones which depicted the developmental stages from tadpole to frog, representing the cycle of life.

Funding and Projects

Funding towards the project was received from West Midlands Arts, Foundation for Sports and Arts and the Arts Council which lead to the creation of the stunning entrance gates. A grant from English Nature contributed to the creation of a new bridge and improvement of a wetland area. The latter was carried out in a project dubbed the “bog attack” which involved a secondary school and local Rotaract Clubs. The initial practical work took around a year to implement and won an award from Barclays Bank for urban conservation sites.

As well as practical projects on the ground, environmental awareness was raised through the creation of a video by a local secondary school, a concert for the elderly in Environment Week, the production of Compact disc of songs recorded by the infants school through the “Music into the Community Project” and older people taking part in radio interviews and articles for local newspapers.

Events and activities

Following completion of the practical works the primary school adjacent to the site has used it extensively as their environmental classroom and it makes a significant contribution to their curriculum.
A significant feature of the project was the production of detailed management plan for the maintenance of the site which is reviewed on an annual basis. Small scale maintenance is carried out by local people, community service participants and larger tasks are dealt with through the council’s grounds maintenance contracts. Since completion in 1996 there have been annual projects to clean up the pools, gardening projects such as bulb planting, and other jobs to do such as painting the gates.

Quotes from people involved

“It was nice that the special nature of this project had been recognised.”

Contact

Sourced from “Recognising Innovation and Imagination in Open Space Management” available from here