Fundamental Principles and Purposes of the Millenium Green
The Green is under the total control of the trustees, and the borough and county councils have no legal powers whatever regarding its maintenance, except insofar as any planning issues are concerned. The local authorities were involved in the design process, and the Green conforms fully to the planning permission that was granted; indeed the various planning officers who have visited the site over the years have ensured that this is the case. Any objections to what was planned should have been made when the planning permission was applied for, and as over five years have elapsed since that time, there is now no case at all for such objections.
The design of the Green involved exhaustive processes, with the involvement of many experts: architects, landscape designers, civil and structural engineers, environmentalists, biologists, and so on. One of its purposes, enshrined in our legal Deed of Trust that governs us, is to
…include significant "natural" areas where people can enjoy Nature and wildlife at first hand.
Moreover, the trustees are empowered
…to take such steps as [they] may from time to time consider appropriate to increase the suitability of the Property as a place on or from which to enjoy nature and natural beauty.
In other words, the Green is intended to be a semi-wild area, where people can simply walk and sit, with no provision for formal recreation of any kind. In fact, under another legal document that controls the trust's actions, there is a specific covenant which forbids formal ball games, and the encouragement of long grass in 'meadow-type' situations is designed partly to prevent these. This may seems strange, as the area was once a playing field, but when the land was transferred to us, this clause was inserted to protect the residents of Cloudberry Close from disturbance. Unfortunately, our insurers have forbidden the installation of some simple wooden play equipment that was intended for use by young children.
I understand that the legal requirements that I have outlined, and many others, cannot be altered without a decision of the High Court (something which is so unlikely as to be unthinkable); the intention is to prevent the Green from any threat of development, for example, and to ensure its existence in perpetuity.
The Trust is regulated by the Countryside Agency, the Millennium Commission, and the Charity Commission. Regular inspections of the Green are undertaken, and the Trust's finances and business dealings are overseen. There has never been any suggestion that these bodies are less than happy with how the Green is being developed; indeed, we have been encouraged to apply for significant extra funding from several public sources, as the Green is seen by the authorities as being very successful.
The public in general seem to be pleased with what is going on; for example, this view is always articulated at our Annual General Meeting, which anyone is invited to attend, and which is publicised widely. The meeting is
…convened to seek the views and opinions of inhabitants on the use and enjoyment of the Property and the appointment of Trustees,…
but in common with most charitable trusts, the trustees themselves have the complete and final responsibility for these matters. We have many supporters, especially in the Allington area, some of whom act as volunteers on the Green; in fact, we rely almost totally on voluntary help, and there is never enough, so the burden of maintenance falls on a few of us. This is a community resource: if the community does not help to maintain it, it will fail in the long-term.
Some people do not understand that the Green is not meant to be clipped and tidied like a formal park: they may see thistles as 'weeds', for example, but we do not, as they provide resources for many insects and birds. (Gardeners who remove all thistles, nettles and other 'weeds' are a menace, and are contributing to much of the loss of wildlife in this country.) Thistles will be abundant on any disturbed ground for a few years as succession occurs, but as the young trees and shrubs develop, there will be a gradual transformation. This can be witnessed already by observing how thistles are disappearing from the end of the main bank near Christmas Lodge, as the Kentish cob nut trees are beginning to flourish.
Perhaps at this point, I may quote Charles Darwin, the greatest of biologists:
It is interesting to contemplate an entangled bank, clothed with many plants of many kinds, with birds singing on the bushes, with various insects flitting about, and with worms crawling through the damp earth, and to reflect that these elaborately constructed forms, so different from each other, and dependent on each other in so complex a manner, have all been produced by laws acting around us.
I think that quotation encapsulates one way in which we can view the Millennium Green: as a place to sit and think about such issues.
Those of us who work on areas like this know that we will never see the full fruits of our labour: it will take decades for the vegetation to mature, but we must try to adopt the kind of long-term vision that was shown by the great landscape gardeners of the past.
There is a huge diversity of wild plants on the Green, and it is easily the richest habitat in this respect in the whole of Allington. Two years ago, a colleague of mine, who is a professional botanist, counted 60 species in only half an hour! Doubtless, there are now far more than this, and we hope to be producing educational materials, including information on signs and notice boards, which will help visitors to appreciate this valuable environment. As always, money is a stumbling block, but our fundraiser is working hard at present in order to draw in the considerable sums that will be needed for this purpose.
These explanations should help to place the Millennium Green into context, and demonstrate that the trustees are doing exactly what is required of them: if they were not, then the authorities would have pointed that out long ago. The Green is not, and will never be, a completely 'tidy' place: Nature is untidy, and the Green must reflect that fact, or it will become unnatural and sterile, like so many of the gardens that surround it in Allington. One lady who walked through the Green recently, told me what a wonderful place she thinks it is, and reminiscent of fields and meadows that have long since disappeared from much of our countryside.
If anyone would like to help us with maintenance, we would be delighted to see them. The Green can be visited at any time, and we appreciate the removal of non-native species such as Buddleja and sycamore, for example.
Please contact me if you would like further information.
Yours sincerely
Dr Brian White (Chairman of the Trustees)
