Work Starts on Hanwell Community Meadow

Community action will see transformation of neglected green space

( Volunteers at clean-up pic courtesy Paul James)

The community of Old Hanwell pulled out all the stops last weekend and got to work on a major project to create Katherine Buchan Meadow.

Amanda Rutkowski tells Ealing Today about the initiative which will see the total transformation of this neglected green space.

The project to create Katherine Buchan Meadow came about after years of watching  the comings and goings, and general decline of the green space that sits within the heart of  Old Hanwell in Green Lane and Du Burstow Terrace.

In 1876 our namesake Katherine Buchan built four almshouses for single women of the parish, her daughter built a further six which stood for a hundred years into the mid seventies.

What had once been an attractive 'rest garden' built in the mid seventies on the rubble of the 100 year old almshouses, turned into an unnoticed 'cut through' used by commuters, parents and children on the school run.  A convenient place to let the dog relieve itself and with its broken seats hidden from view by overgrown shrubs this neglected down at heel little green space increasingly attracted anti-social behaviour.  

In 2015 Ealing Council launched 'Transform Your Space 2', an initiative encouraging communities to come up with a proposal to improve the environment they live in and through Spacehive, a crowd-funding site, raise support and funds in a bid to see the proposal come to life. 

Seizing on this opportunity two local residents (Sim Flemons and Amanda Rutkowski) put together a plan to put forward to the local community. 

The aim, to create a beautiful open light airy space introducing and encouraging a diversity of wildlife to make a truly communal space connecting and engaging  the local community through the creation and stewardship of the green. To encourage people to pause, to take a breath, to take in the beauty of their surroundings

The plan is very simple; to remove the existing overgrown shrub that hides the broken down seating and timber retaining wall. Lift the existing path, to re route it around the base of the newly reformed mound and to install a beautiful bespoke curved seat to run along some of it's length. 

A tree seat and bike rack will sit around a tree opposite the proposed new entrance to St Marks Primary school.  A pictorial meadow will grow up around these structures to attract pollinators such as  bees, butterflies and birds and a stag beetle loggery will encourage this endangered species into our meadow.  Framed by a beech hedge hiding the existing fencing and reflecting the colour of the church building in Autumn.

(artists impression of meadow)

The encouragement, and support from our community has been amazing and this time last year with this support shown through the online campaign, Creating Katherine Buchan Meadow, which raised £1,000 the scheme was awarded the remaining £46,300 by the Transform Your Space initiative. 

Needless to say we were all, ( and still are), thrilled!

This past year has been a steep learning curve for all of us, planning and refining the details supported by the Ealing Parks Department.

Last Sunday we held a Breaking Ground Community Work Party.  It was heart warming to see our community come together with such enthusiasm, clearing shrubs, filling bin bags with years of accumulated litter mainly cans and bottles.  It was great to have  the children joining in, learning how to use tools, lifting the existing daffodils and potting them up and of course playing with worms!

 On Monday morning the safety fences went up and work has begun in earnest. We will be holding a series of community working parties during the installation and throughout the year.  This is a long term  ongoing project.

To find out more about the progress of the  project or to get involved please contact us through the facebook group Katherine Buchan Meadow.

Amanda Rutkowski

16th February 2017