Village field spraying

[Felicity T]

I read in the April Gazette that the village field is to be 'sprayed off'. I presume this means it is to be sprayed with a general herbicide. May I ask why? Has a site survey been undertaken to see if there are any special or even endangered plants in the field? I recall a few years ago that the field was a glorious blaze of yellow with buttercups and dandelions, followed by a lovely soft white as the dandelions went to seed.
Does the village want a lovely natural field for dog walking, horse riding, kite flying etc. or an urban park, like a mini Ferry meadows?

[clive ibotson]

Seems fair comment!

[flossie]

I am hoping it's not going to be for Dog walking and Horse riding, there are lots of houses with no or very small gardens so I was hoping for somewhere to, I agree with, fly a kite, picnic's, have a kick around and just enjoy the ponds and the outdoors without having to travel too far from home.

[SimFH]

Cross the lane to Kings Cliffe Active and you can do all of these things - in fact you always could - that is the picnic, fly kites, have a kickabout (rather than the horse riding)

[Russell Brown]

Felicity,  yes the field will be sprayed and then power harrowed to level off the ground (we've been told by people who know such things that's the only practical way to do it).

After that it will be re-seeded with a low maintenance 'parkland' type grass and a 'conservation wildflower meadow' mix in the meadow area along the western side of the field. A 4m wildlife corridor will be left along the southern boundary (next to the disused railway line).

We (the PC) did consult with the Wildlife Trust about the whole project (including the spraying and reseeding) and they were supportive of the plan.

Here's the plan again in case anyone missed it before: