Sustainable Warwickshire

Weddington Allotments will be embracing a greater degree of sustainability thanks to funding from Warwickshire County Council’s Green Shoots Community Climate Change Fund.

The Weddington Allotments Association has been awarded £3,665 in Green Shoots funding to launch a project that will:

• Capture and store rainwater for use on allotment plots, instead of plot-holders using mains water
• Increase biodiversity by creating a new pond habitat in an unused area, which will be re-wilded with native plants; and
• Increase use of the covered area at the site in the evenings, using solar power to charge batteries for lighting and water pumps.

Overall, this project aims to dramatically reduce the site’s reliance upon utilities such as mains water and electricity, which will reduce their carbon footprint whilst also cutting the running costs. The rainwater will be stored in 1,000 litre containers which are being repurposed from the food industry, where they would otherwise have been discarded into landfill.

The project will also see the creation of a new pond habitat in an overgrown area, with the site being rewilded with native plants. This boost to the site’s biodiversity will attract pollinating insects, plants and predators such as frogs, which will help to keep the slug population at bay for the gardeners.  

More information about the Weddington Allotment Association.