Histon Road Recreation Ground: Places for People and Nature

Improving Biodiversity on Histon Recreation Ground, bounded by Histon Road, Canturbury Street and Richmond Road. This space is an established recreational green space for play, sport, socialising and nature in Castle ward, being approximately 1.8 Hectares in size.

The project will combine a) measures to enhance biodiversity under this EIP project, with b) an approved project to install Sheffield bicycle stands and picnic tables and c) a proposed LHI application to improve security for children when the leaving via the Histon Road passage. The measures under this project to include:

i) A soil bed (up to 30 sqm) for a native perennial wildflower meadow to prevent rapid succession by more dominant grass and plant species

ii) Species friendly nectar and food plants together with nettle patches and brambles

iii) Log piles, bee hotels for cavity nesters, beetle tower and hedgehog nest site

iv) Tree planting to support habitat and food sources for habitat, all season interest for visitors, reduce local air pollution and provide shade in the Summer 

v) Install additional woodcrete bird boxes for species in addition to existing boxes for blue tits and tawny owl.

This will create a more biodiverse recreational space making the most of the trees, bushes and shrubs for promotion of wildlife by renewing and adding additional bird and bat boxes, creating areas of more appropriate meadow via native perennial turf meadow (as large areas of the recreation space are laid to grass or previous attempts at meadow establishment, which have a low biodiversity value) and introduction of hard wood logs and possibly beetle towers, e.g. hard wood vertical logs sunk vertically into the ground and drilled for solitary bees and other invertebrates.