£2,000 Environmental Boost for local park

A local business has celebrated its 50^th anniversary with a £2,000 project in partnership with its local park.

Airedale Group is supporting Glusburn and Cross Hills Parish Council to make improvements to Glusburn Park which will benefit both the environment and the local community.

Using the donation from the Cross Hill’s based chemical company, the parish council has created a wildflower area to encourage insects, birds and wildlife into the area and a community herb garden where residents are encouraged to help themselves to herbs to liven up their meals.

Stewart Anthony, parish councillor for Glusburn and Cross Hills, explains: “Glusburn Park is a classic example of Victorian gardening where laurels and privets have been used to provide greenery but which don’t offer any real value to the environment or insect-life.

“The introduction of the wildflower area will attract bees, birds and many more species to the park which we know are so important to the environment. The support we receive from businesses like Airedale Group is invaluable in ensuring the future of local facilities such as our park, providing a much-loved area of the village for our residents.”

The park was first designated in 1925 and today includes a children’s play area, fitness equipment, skatepark and tennis courts.

Daniel Marr, commercial director at Airedale Group, adds: “We wanted to celebrate our 50^th anniversary with an activity that was meaningful for our neighbours and was also beneficial to the environment. As a company we’re increasingly aware of our responsibility to the environment and our communities and this project forms part of our Environment, Social and Governance policy which we will be building on in the coming months and longer term to minimise our carbon footprint.

“This seemed like the ideal project and we’re happy to help bring back the bees and bugs to the park and also help to make mealtimes a little more exciting with the herb bed, especially with so many people cutting back on food spend at the moment.”

Airedale Group, founded in 1973, is based in Cross Hills and provides chemicals and related services to the UK and Europe.