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This autumn Purton Parish Council’s planters will be at the centre and start of changes to reduce carbon emissions, support biodiversity, and enhance its Conservation Area.

In 2022, Purton Parish Council declared a Climate Change Emergency reflecting its desire to see and take urgent action to avoid potentially irreversible environmental damage, since which it has been working to develop its Carbon Neutral Plan. It is hoped that this Carbon Neutral Plan, will bring a raft of changes overcoming years, both implemented by the Council and more importantly delivered in partnership with residents its local community.

Upgrading planters and changing the style of planting will represent its first small step in addressing the Climate Change Emergency and will see worn wooden planters in the village upgraded to fully recyclable metal planters.

Planting will then be chosen with a focus on a structure of evergreen plants to provide shelter for insects and different forms of perennials and flowering annuals to provide food for pollinators. This will help the council to reduce the amount of carbon used in local beds and pots, by decreasing transportation impacts of new annual plants purchased.

Plants included will reflect a mix of flora and fauna which have been carefully chosen to best support pollinators, both when active and when hibernating.

Materials from the old planters will be recycled or reused and contents composted as appropriate and the new metal planters purchased will all be fully recyclable.

With the amount of new planting purchases being reduced each year by moving to permanent planting, and bedding fillers, this project is also expected to have the fortunate benefit of reducing costs to both the council and the taxpayer.

Whilst works are carried this autumn and winter, Purton Parish Council have asked for local people and visitors to the village, to note that this change will mean an absence of the usual colourful planters whilst the move to a greener Purton is achieved.

Chairman, Ray Thomas said:

“We’re working on a series of measures that will help Purton play its part in tackling Climate Change, protecting our beautiful rural environment and supporting biodiversity, this is our first small step.  It’s a change to how we think about all that we do at every stage from start to finish and it’s great to know that we can make a difference to such a big issue, in such small low-cost ways.”

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