Team of ‘hardworking’ volunteers from Leigh Park take care of local woodland by tidying up park

A team from Positive Pathways picked up litter from Memory Park on Portsmouth Water’s proposed reservoir site this week.

The litter pickers managed to remove five large bags of rubbish from the site.

Memory Park in Leigh Park is a memorial woodland situated on the edge of Portsmouth Water’s proposed site for the Havant Thicket Reservoir.

Beverley Palmer, from Positive Pathways, said: ‘I am very proud of our small team for all the

hard work they have put into creating and maintaining the memorial woodland.

‘They have worked with Portsmouth Water staff to transform this area into a place the whole community can come to enjoy.

‘It is a lovely spot, particularly on sunny days, and the volunteers and I thoroughly enjoyed our time litter picking.’

Positive Pathways is a volunteering organisation based in Leigh Park which supports local people over the age of 18 to increase their confidence, build new skills, and for some, find

employment.

The group previously supported Portsmouth Water by planting new trees at Memory Park in December to give local communities a place to visit for quiet reflection, as well as to provide a new woodland corridor for wildlife to move around the wider area.

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Bob Taylor, Portsmouth Water CEO, said: ‘We are really grateful to the volunteers at Positive Pathways and I would like to thank them for all their hard work in creating

and maintaining this beautiful memorial woodland.

‘Not only does it offer a quiet place for the community, it also provides a vital new corridor for wildlife to move off the proposed reservoir site and into the wider area.

‘This is just one of the many measures being taken by our team at Portsmouth Water to create new habitats and ensure wildlife is not present when work begins on site.’

Havant Borough Council and East Hampshire District Council have both granted planning permission for the development of Havant Thicket Reservoir following planning hearings earlier last month.

The next step is for legal commitments to be finalised with the local authorities, before full planning permission is granted.

A message from the Editor, Mark Waldron

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