Greening our earth bund promenade

Aim: Reduce carbon footprint, and improve biodiversity of our cricket club site, engaging Members and visitors in the environmental improvements

About me, and our history

I retired from a career as a civil engineer in February 2022 and retrained as a Groundsman at the cricket club where I have played for nearly 30 years.   I love working outdoors in a green environment, and helping our 500 Members from ages 5 to 75 play the game.  We created a beautiful new cricket ground 17 years ago, and I played a part in project managing the scheme with a number of environmental features (an earth bund, planting 500 trees, and installing a bio-digester for our waste).  3 years ago we built a fine new timber pavilion, having changed in portacabins for 12 years.  At the end of last year we were awarded ’UK’s Greenest Ground’ by The Cricketer magazine to recognise our environmental efforts.

Last year we measured our carbon footprint from our operations (150t pa), and in doing this I realised that there was more that we could do to help the environment and to reduce our carbon footprint.  We started working with BASIS (British Association for Sustainability in Sport) to improve what we do, and the BBC filmed an ‘Environmental Leaders’ film with a group of our young members.

Our objectives now

We are doing a number of new things to improve overall sustainability (reducing energy use, installing solar panels, replacing diesel equipment with electric machines, recycling playing kit and re-furbishing cricket bats).  What we want to do now is to:

- Plant more trees to green the site and balance our carbon footprint,

- Improve bio-diversity by planting wildflower banks and installing bug hotels, 

- Create an attractive walk around the site that will give people access to these environmental improvements, and engage them in why we are doing it,

- Improve sound- proofing from the adjacent M3 motorway to reduce noise pollution for people walking around the site,

- Create a ‘learning area’ which we will use to open the site to the local Primary School for their environmental teaching.  This will also be used for the environmental training that we have been giving for the BASIS ‘Young Leaders’ course.

What we will use the money for

- We have a 7m high x 250m long earth bund that we installed along one side of the site when we created the new ground. We will add a 2m ‘mini-bund’ on top that will reduce noise levels from the M3 motorway so that people can walk along the top of the bund,

- We will plant the mini-bund with wild flowers, installing ’rammed earth’ seats, and we will install bug hotels and other environments to encourage bio-diversity,

- We will plant native trees along the bund, including a silver beech copse, under planted with bluebells that will define the ‘learning area’,

- We will allow our earth bund to be colonised with naturalised plants, rather than rough mowing it as at present.  This will require seasonal management,

- We will create tree-stump seating in the learning area, and at other points around the circular walk that people will make around the site,

- We will extend ‘rammed earth’ walls on the bund to create a short stepped terrace below the learning area, where people can sit to watch cricket,

- We will create ramps and steps up to the bund area,

- We will clear an existing overflow pond so that it is accessible and part of the environmental learning,

- And we will communicate what we are doing to Members and visitors to develop their understanding of environmental improvements and bio-diversity benefits, so that their engagement with the environment is improved,

What we will do with any ‘stretch’ funding that we can raise

- We will extend wild flower planting to the earth bund,

- We will create a learning garden for use by the Primary School and BASIS, as well as producing vegetables for our cafe and cricket lunches, including raised beds and polytunnels,

- We will introduce bee hives, feeding on the wild flowers,

- We will extend our investment in electrical ground-keeping equipment,