Oak Road Playing Fields

Bringing the community and woodland closer together

Oak Road Playing Fields is a council owned green space, in an urban area of Hull alongside the River Hull. The park is used by the local community for dog walking, playing sports and children playing. The plan was to plant more trees across the park to enhance the existing community space for residents to enjoy. The planting scheme included:

25 large standard trees planted- a mix of Oak, Alder and Willow.
684 woodland whips (16 native species) planted by the local community
Engagement activities and planting carried out by a local charitable delivery partner.

Summary of the project

The site was selected by the open space and urban forestry teams at Hull City Council as they wanted to enhance this large park by planting more trees to help increase biodiversity and reduce flooding. Hull is an area with low canopy cover, so it is important to plant more trees in the area where they are needed, while leaving enough space for people to use the park.

Humber Forest developed a series of design ideas and through consultation with Hull City Council and local ward councillors a plan was agreed, and checks were carried out to ensure the site was suitable.

The site is an urban green space with some existing trees, a pond and several sports pitches which flood during periods of heavy rainfall, so the design required wet tolerant species to try and alleviate this.

Local charitable delivery partner Rewilding Youth were chosen to plant the trees and to develop and hold a community planting day to engage with residents.

An avenue of 15 new alder and willow standard trees were planted between an existing track and sports pitches in an area prone to flooding. These trees will create shade and shelter for those visiting the park, while enhancing the design of the park and helping to reduce flooding. Four further standard trees (oak, Alder and Willow) were also planted to fill in gaps in the existing woodland around the site.

There were several older Oak trees in the park, many of which were in decline so six new Oak standards were planted, these Oak trees will benefit the native wildlife in the local area for many years to come.

A woodland parcel of 684 whips was planted by residents taking part in a community planting day. The community planting day was held to involve the local community and to help them appreciate nature and by getting them involved hopefully they will take ownership of the area and become ambassadors for the trees.

As part of the community planting event Rewilding Youth ran activities for local families, this included tree ID, foraging and crafting workshops. The planting and activity events attracted around 150 residents on the day and was a great success.

The whips were planted at a high density and with minimal (5%) protection around the boundaries to try mark out the border of the planting area to protect from grass mowing and reduce the impact of any anti-social behaviour.

The whips were made up of 16 different native species and included various shrubs such as Hawthorn, Holly and Blackthorn around the perimeter to help boost protection. Other woodland species such as Alder, Beech, Birch, Cherry, Hornbeam, Oak, Rowan and Willow in the centre of the parcel.

Project impact:

Natural flood management and water quality: Potentially enhancing flood alleviation particularly around the track and sports pitches in the Northern section.
Enhancing wildlife: Enhancing tree cover and improving the area for wildlife through the inclusion of several native species to boost insect, bird and mammal populations.
Contribution to Net Zero: Contributing towards Hull City Council’s aim of becoming Carbon Neutral by 2030 and count towards Hull’s status as a Tree City of the World.
Engagement, health and wellbeing: Incorporating a community planting day into the scheme to boost public use and perceived ‘ownership’ of the site by residents (potentially resulting in reduced anti- social behaviour). This will link into a new local community group who wish to get involved with the site on a long-term basis.

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Landowner ›

If you would like more information or to talk through your project ideas, please fill out the form below:

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I am happy to give the personal details required for processing this form. I understand that they will be held as long as the Humber Forest team is working with the landowner. I understand that the data will be used to help match up landowners with the most appropriate funding package/provider to facilitate tree planting on their site. It will also be used to help with statutory reports to government bodies such as DEFRA. The data will be shared with third party organisations, including the Community Forest Trust and any partner organisations involved in that particular tree planting project. I understand that I can withdraw or update my details at any time. For more information about how we store your data and how you can request your right to withdraw consent to use your personal data later please contact Humber Forest

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I am happy to give the personal details required for processing this form. I understand that they will be held as long as the Humber Forest team is working with me or my enquiry. Once my enquiry is closed or work delivered the Humber Forest team will remove my information from any database. I understand that the data will be used to enable the Humber Forest team to help with my enquiry. It will also be used to help with statutory reports to government bodies such as DEFRA if relevant and shared with third party organisations, including the Community Forest Trust and any partner organisations involved in the particular tree planting project, if relevant. I understand that I can withdraw or update my details at any time. For more information about how we store your data and how you can request your right to withdraw consent to use your personal data later please contact Humber Forest

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