Community Consultation – Wild Maple Field
In November and December 2023, Wild Maple Field trustees invited views on the management of Wild Maple Field
Here’s what you said…
In November and December 2023, Wild Maple Trust invited views on the management of Wild Maple Field through a community consultation, available online and on paper.
In all, 44 responses were received. In terms of demographics, 75% were female, 25% male; in age, about half were aged 26 to 65 and half over 65, with a couple of people who didn’t want to say, and one person under 18.
We asked if anyone had a life-limiting condition: 7% said yes, and another 5% stated that this was the case for someone else in their household.
Two-thirds of respondents – 65% – already support Wild Maple Field. Over half are willing to help out with practical tasks, while others will help to spread the word, share expertise on nature, give money, or lead a workshop.
Almost everyone was local: 31% living in the immediate Summer Lane/Yokecliffe area, and 50% in another part of Wirksworth or Bolehill.
Pleasingly, 91% know where the field is: 46% walk there occasionally, and 30% regularly. Mostly, people walk with other adults – 69% – although 59% walk on their own, 35% with children, and 24% with dogs. People could tick as many of these options as applied.
This was also the case for the reasons for walking: enjoying nature is a pleasure to 93% of respondents; exercise is a motivator for 81%, and better wellbeing for 67%.
As well as finding out how many people walk in the field, and why, we were most interested in what people wanted to see in the field.
In order of popularity, these were:
Pond (91%) – this is in progress
Wildflower meadow (91%) – also in progress
Limestone bank and mine spoil heap areas to be managed for wildflowers (82%) – this will be in our plans for 2024
Open grassland (75%) – already planned
Hedgerow (73%) – this was already planned
Woodland with open rides (73%) – in progress
Willow copse to harvest and use (64%) – this is under consideration.
Two options had support from less than half of respondents: a native evergreen peace grove; and a mown area for picnics. Accordingly, we will not now mow. The peace grove, we perhaps should have explained better: it is intended as a memorial; but will not be for scattering ashes.
People left a lot of very thoughtful and useful comments, too. We have read and considered all of them – although, of course, some of them are incompatible with others, and we are continuing to take advice from experts about management of the field, too. All views are considered when we make decisions.
We have listened and amended our plans, thanks to these responses. As well as informing our priorities, we have made changes: we will preserve more open grassland, and plant fewer trees than we originally thought. We’ve already planted our first batch of trees – thank you to the 17 people who turned up in the heavy rain! – and more tree-planting is planned for early 2024.
Thank you, everyone, for all your views. You can always let us know what you think through the website – there is a Contact Us form – or simply by talking to Katie Gallagher, Rosemary Blenkinsop, Jane Flint or Jackie Carpenter.