Medway Valley Countryside Partnership

We always love to hear about our turf being laid and it was fantastic to recently receive an update from the team from the Medway Valley Countryside Partnership in Kent.

The Medway Valley Countryside Partnership (MVCP) is a not-for-profit organisation that provides opportunities for all people to get out and about in the countryside and local green spaces. As well as organising practical environmental days across the Maidstone and Tonbridge and Malling boroughs, the MVCP also organise an extensive activity programme for families and young people to participate in.

A recent project by the MVCP has been that of a Bee Corridor, which is a part of a wider initiative established by Kent County Council called Plan Bee.

The above photos show volunteers from the Medway Valley Countryside Partnership laying 43m² of Wildflower Turf® Native Enriched back in March of this year as part of two new bee corridors in Downswood for Downswood Parish Council. It was great to hear that the local Parish Council has already received a number of positive comments from local residents and hopefully, this is just the start!

But what exactly is Plan Bee?

Kent’s Plan Bee is a pollinator action plan which has been developed by the council to take the lead and encourage local communities to improve the food sources and general habitat for pollinators (such as bees, wasps, butterflies, moths and hoverflies) in Kent.

The purpose of the plan is to:

> Make the council a community leader in action for pollinators.

> Ensure that pollinators’ needs are always considered throughout the County Council’s work and services.

> Put the conservation of pollinators and their habitats at the heart of Kent County Council’s land management and planning.

> Make the council a significant contributor to the recovery of pollinator populations.

The Council also publish a brilliant, monthly newsletter for the residents of Kent with pollinator news and updates from their social media feed. (To sign up to receive a copy of the latest newsletter each month, email planbee@kent.gov.uk with the subject “Sign Up”.)

Kent County Council (with funding support from Natural England) has also commissioned a strategic viability assessment of Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG) in Kent. The purpose is to assist the county’s planning authorities to understand whether targeting a higher BNG than the statutory minimum of 10% is potentially viable in the county. This viability assessment has been largely driven by the Kent Nature Partnership (KNP) which is working to progress the adoption of a 20% target for BNG within Kent.