As many of you will have noticed, development work on the Irvine Road Orchard has now begun, with builders clearing the site in preparation for the laying of drains and building the access road.
These drone images show that the remaining part of the site, destined to be the community orchard, will be largely unaffected by the building activity, as it is already cordoned off. We expect to gain full access in late summer, when there will be a lot to do. If you are interested in helping out, let us know. All help will be very welcome.
An aerial photo of the orchard work in progress. While it’s disappointing to see how much of the orchard will be built on, the developers seem to have respected the 60/40 split. The only change from IRARA’s original ideas is the turning area which encroaches into the orchard area, but is apparently mandatory.
This shot shows the access road and the location of the future orchard entry gate. We also get a ready-made log pile and bark chippings for stag beetles and other invertebrates.
From this angle it looks quite a large development, but there will be only six detached houses on the 40% of the site to be developed.
This angle shows the wildlife access strip on the Shady Lane boundary. This is important to ensure that animals can freely access the orchard and contains some of the most important large trees.
This shot, taken in high summer shows how it used to be. Most of the large trees are still in place on the boundaries, but some smaller fruit trees and scrub adjacent to The Chase have gone. Our task will be to ‘develop’ the central area into a far more efficient and productive orchard and wildlife site.
