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Peace and Hope Garden
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Peace & Hope Garden FAQs
In partnership with the local community, the parish council would like to transform a 9-acre scrubland site known as the Jubilee Field, into a treasured and greatly enhanced sustainable green space and community facility. The Jubilee Peace and Hope Garden project balances nationally significant Nature recovery with improving community well-being, protecting social heritage and supporting lifelong learning and greater inclusion. Our project has 3 very clear objectives:To create the Jubilee Peace and Hope Garden:
The space will create an improved sustainable habitat for local flora and fauna and offer a space of reflection and support improved wellbeing for the local community.To save local and national environmental heritage through the preservation and replanting of the Black Poplar Tree and share the local farming, landscape and social heritage with the community.To provide diverse communities with skills, knowledge and access to local nature recovery networks, empowering them to continue to become increasingly engaged in preserving and protecting the local heritage.
Our aim is to ensure that a wide range of people engage with the project, find out about the important heritage of the area and learn about how to support nature recovery in the area. This includes the local community many of whom are fairly new to the local area due to the increase in new housing. The landscaping work will increase biodiversity. The planting scheme includes Black Poplars, to help to preserve the UK’s most endangered native species.
The Black Poplar tree: a nearly extinct native tree that has seen its natural habitat wain due to the changes in land use over hundreds of years, with only 7000 trees left in the UK, and only 600 of these are female In Hatton, the project’s focus area, the Black Poplar tree’s habitat, has been eroded by industrialisation and new housing. The tree needs wetlands to thrive, and the wetlands were drained to make way for more dairy farming and then housing. The story of the tree, in how both man and nature have used this species for centuries, is unique to this country, making it an important story to preserve and share. For Hatton, the tree’s heritage is interwoven between nature, farming, culture and industrialisation. Nature recovery is key to a rural area where industry and housing have recently expanded exponentially. The site is ideally placed geographically within the village to serve local residents, nearby villages and schools and the 1000+ incoming workforce. The site has the potential to support health and well-being, social cohesion and to be a connection to nature that creates such a diversity of habitats and micro-climates that it can kick-start nature’s recovery and support greater biodiversity of flora, fauna and wildlife. The site would be connected to other nearby environmental initiatives (e.g. bee hives, protected butterfly fields and riverside meadows). Derbyshire Wildlife Trust has advised without intervention, the site is at risk of losing its capacity to be transformed. The project’s landscaping design incorporates a pond whilst still maintaining the unique wetlands geography that makes it a rare site suitable for Black Poplars. The parish council has worked on this project with the following:-People ExpressRepresentatives from the community formed a working groupDerbyshire Wildlife TrustEast Staffs Wildlife Trust Cultural Heritage Officer (Dr Mark Knight)Biodiversity Officer at South Derbyshire District Council – on pond inclusion and benefits, potential nature recovery outcomes for the scheme, and landscaping advice to create the greatest diversity of micro-climates (e.g. s-shaped bund)Project Earth - advice on the best Black poplar trees (male and female) from Kew GardensDerbyshire Amphibian and Reptile Group (DARG) - pond adviceGreenwood Days – how to access a network of at-risk craft practitioners, sustainable seating and community facilities, creating an eco-friendly Story Tree Circle for Early YearsLocal farming community - heritage research and key contactsNestle Ecological staff –existing bee and butterfly and other existing local nature recovery initiativesThistley Meadow - protected river-side site and Butterfly Meadow, (local nature recovery initiative community run)The Transforming Trent Valley Project (TTTV) - how to connect to local walking & cycling networks, information on native flora and fauna, nature recovery family engagement ideasGreenwood Projects - guidance on evaluationTurner and Co Built & Landscape Design Company - guidance on designing and costing digital outputsCalke Abbey - advice on boardwalks and family-friendly interactive landscaping
The ambition of the project is that the Jubilee Peace and Hope Garden, Hatton will achieve the standards and quality measures as set out in the Green Flag award scheme.
Alongside long-term maintenance, the other ambition of the project is to extend its environmental recovery outcomes over the next decade. We would like to encourage local landowners and local families and groups (like schools) with gardens to replicate the actions in the maintenance plan in their own green space, building up a joined-up nature recovery network on a wider geographical scale.The day-to-day maintenance of the site will be managed by Hatton Parish Council, with advice and specialist support from Derbyshire Wildlife Trust and Nestlé and support managing volunteers.
The long-term maintenance plan will be achieved by:A landscaping and planting scheme that is low-maintenanceThe budget for all capital costs relating to the community facilities allows for their construction from durable materials (e.g. dry stone wall seating, metal-based interpretation panels, stone/metal landmark).Hatton Parish Council will develop a Biodiversity Policy and Action Plan as a part of the project, using the process to fully understand their new annual environmental responsibilities for the enhanced site.Hatton Parish Council, supported by the partnership and led by Derbyshire Wildlife Trust, will create a Jubilee Garden Maintenance Plan, with the costs allocated within the annual precept. The plan will include regular inspections and monitoring and emergency planning for misuse of the site (e.g. vandalism). The site already has litter disposal services.The creation of a bund and pond will address the site’s risk of annual flooding.Supporting Derbyshire Wildlife Trust to train up local volunteers who can run new Nature Tots (Early Years) and Junior Rangers (aged 11 to 18) groups and activities. Currently, there are no groups in this area.Offering the digital assets as public resources to local Archives and ongoing environmental groups (e.g. Magic Attic, Derbyshire Records Office, Hedgehog Society).
The Jubilee Peace and Hope Garden has been developed in exceptional circumstances: the Parish Council has a large protected green space together with access to one-off investment to enhance it, the resources to sustain it and huge support from the local community and specialist partners to help protect and preserve its environmental, social and hidden industrial heritage.
The project comes at a crucial time when the neighbouring extensive housing building is set to reshape not only the scale and footprint of the village but also diversify and increase its population. The new building schemes, alongside the expansion of local industry, have encroached on rural life and nature’s habitat. This project will make a timely contribution to carbon capture and offsetting, helping to address Climate Change.Protect At-Risk HeritageThe 9-acre site has been identified by our partner Wildlife Trust as significant: nationally to preserve the Black Poplar Tree (our learning can be shared with other sites), and locally, it is an important ‘corridor’ to connect up existing nature recovery sites.Local Environmental Strategies. The project supports Derbyshire County Council’s Million Trees (by 2030) project, which is part of their strategy to tackle Climate Change. The project directly aligns with the ‘vision’ for South Derbyshire’s ‘Action Plan for Nature’ (see below), part of their Climate and Environment Action Plan 2021 to 2030.
“South Derbyshire will be a District where its green spaces, natural habitats and biodiversity is fully valued, properly managed and appropriately protected…”
This project seeks to restore and enhance the local natural heritage, creating a model with the potential for significant environmental benefits on a national scale.This will happen through:
Creating the new accessible nature reserve and garden: ensuring that the unique habitat thrives, managing the negative impact of the flooding but enabling the positive outcomes to still take effect. The area will connect all other local environmental initiatives, such as Nestle’s Bee farm and nesting peregrine falcon at the factory site, Derbyshire Wildlife Trust’s Nature Network Recovery project, a local butterfly field and Derbyshire County Council’s commitment to plant 1 million trees by 2030
Create a local Biodiversity policy and action plan: Each key partner and the local community will contribute ideas and commit to the delivery of the action plan post project, to ensure sustainability of the area, so future generations can benefit. Developing initiatives such as nature-based citizen science to simultaneously monitor the site for changes in species presence, improve wildlife identification skills, and increase enthusiasm for nature and using fixed point photography to map the habitat restoration will create sustainable outputs post-project.
Achieving Green Flag status: This will elevate the site to a nationally recognised level ensuring that a sustainable maintenance plan is set out and delivered by the key stakeholders/partners.
These outputs have been designed with the consideration of an ecological appraisal and management recommendations report. The report provided a comprehensive evaluation of the site's current ecological status and significance.
Significant species of fauna and flora includes the endangered native Black Poplar Tree, Hedgerows, Nathusius Pipistrelle bats, Peregrine Falcons and great crested newts. The site sits withing the DWT’s Derbyshire Nature Recovery network and will provide a key nature corridor to link priority habitats and woodland creation sites with Hatton Jubilee Garden.
The Habitat Survey includes actionable insights to guide Hatton Parish Council and those managing the project towards achieving key environmental objectives. Therefore, in combination with the project’s planned outputs, the environmental strategic goals are:Carbon Footprint Reduction: Implement strategies to reduce CO₂ emissions and minimise the negative environmental impact of local activities, especially increased house building and industrial use.Biodiversity Enhancement: Improve biodiversity metrics through targeted conservation actions. Increase ecological resilience by enhancing habitats to support a wide range of species.Sustainable Habitat Development: Develop and maintain robust ecosystems capable of protecting and expanding species populations. Foster long-term ecological stability and adaptability.Ultimately, the anticipated outcomes of this work are:Environmental Gains: Establish a replicable framework that links local ecological improvements to broader national goals.Community Impact: Empower the parish to lead sustainable practices that contribute to biodiversity conservation and climate resilience.Legacy Building: Position the initiative as a benchmark for environmental stewardship, inspiring similar projects across the country.
This project has developed in response to widespread consultation, and will be delivered with partners and stakeholders, empowering a broader range of people to be involved in the designing, planning, delivery and maintenance stages. Participation is not just based on visiting and experiencing the geographical site, as this needs to be balanced with protecting the space for nature to recover. The learning from this project will ripple outwards to neighbouring diverse rural and urban communities.
People Express will play an overall coordination. and information-sharing role within the Partnership’s Project Management Team. It will also play an enabling and supporting role, when needed, to ‘empower’ the smaller Partners with less experience to deliver key strands of the project (e.g. Youth of Hatton, Community Working Group). Working with partners to produce a working management plan and delivery timetable (based on the plans created for this application), setting out key milestones, targets and evaluation data required to evidence successful outcomes. This will be shaped by and shared with all stakeholders (e.g. including schools, community groups, Nestlé). A regular schedule of bi-monthly Project Management meetings will be set up over the lifetime of the project, aligned with key milestones. At the first meeting, the roles and responsibilities will be clarified and agreed upon with all partners, opportunities and challenges will be explored, and the project plan, timetable and risk register will be revisited and revised as required. At each Management meeting, People Express will coordinate written reports and/or verbal presentations updating progress against targets and highlighting key achievements and/or challenges that can be celebrated and resolved collectively. The external evaluator will establish a set of benchmarks (e.g. the level of existing community awareness and understanding of and value placed on local environmental/social heritage) and baselines (e.g. the current biodiversity value of the site). All partners and stakeholders will have access to training in collecting relevant data where required, the External Evaluator will collate the data and supply updated reports to the Management team.
Hatton Parish Council: was shortlisted in 2022 for the National ‘Star Council’ Award by NALC (National Association of Local Councils) for improving the lives of their communities. The Council has cross-representation across all village wards and has successfully managed several capital and community projects. The Clerk is highly skilled and hugely committed, with strong financial, governance and management skills. The Council members include diverse representation, including from the farming community, local landowners and working communities.
Derbyshire Wildlife Trust: is a well-known and highly respected leading authority on nature recovery, biodiversity and environmental heritage, with access to a wealth of skilled staff, resources, local and national networks and contacts.
Youth of Hatton: is a popular, well-run volunteer-led community group based in Hatton that sets up sporting and creative activities for young people of all ages. They have a Facebook following of 900 families, and their events and activities are consistently well attended. The volunteers who run the club have considerable experience in delivering informal, fun and inclusive projects to address the limited level of opportunities available in a rurally isolated area.
Jubilee Garden Working Group: is made up of 8 local volunteers who applied for the role via the Parish Council after several consultation/open meetings about the project were held. Members represent a geographical spread across the village, including streets neighbouring the site of the project. Each member brings local contacts and networks; they include a former specialist nurse, a local businessman, a volunteer firefighter, and a Forest School/Early Years Teacher.
People Express: People Express is a professional participatory arts organisation, rooted in communities in South Derbyshire since 1990 and East Staffordshire since 2023. It supports local groups to work with a wide range of highly skilled and inspirational professional artists across all art forms and has successfully encouraged people of all ages and abilities to get involved in the arts, by listening to what they would like to do and what they have to say.
The project will commission an external Evaluator with the skills, experience and expertise to support the partnership to recognise, document, capture, collate and share in accessible formats the project’s key achievements. Using an external evaluator supports equity, transparency and honest feedback. A specialist ‘heritage’ evaluator will produce a more informed/valuable final report providing a useful tool for other heritage projects. The purpose of our evaluation is to identify and capture the significant changes and outcomes achieved by the project for both communities and nature. The evaluation will be captured in a wide range of formats, including, questionnaires (digital/paper), informal one-to-one and group feedback sessions, structured interviews, and accessible, fun, child-friendly/creative activities. The evaluation will start pre-delivery, collecting data to establish baselines and benchmarks, allowing us to measure gains/losses and level of impact as the project progresses. The data collected will be quantitative (e.g. number of trees planted, number of young people engaged, number of virtual visitors to VR garden, demographics) and qualitative (e.g. has well-being improved, do communities feel an increased sense of pride of place, is the site/facilities accessible, do partners feel their skills have increased, is the quality of the green space sufficient for the Green Flag Award).
Management/DeliveryEnsuring the Partnership functions effectively and with equity is why a working management plan agreed upon by all parties is key. Any changes will need the approval of all parties.The capital work is a major transformation requiring specialist expertise/experience to ensure safety (for nature and communities) and a high standard. Derbyshire Wildlife Trust will manage external contracting and supervising the work onsite.
StaffingThe project is complex with several key objectives, relying on one staff member to understand/manage all the delivery would expose the project to risk (if they were unable to deliver or left). All partners will have a working knowledge of overall delivery, and the working management plan is a guide for any new staff that may be required.The project aims to recruit underserved communities into paid work placement opportunities in Conservation. This is a widely acknowledged challenge for the sector. To support this area of work, we will undertake consultation ahead of the recruitment with diverse communities to better understand their barriers and perspectives.
FinancialBudgeting for the project has been ongoing throughout its development, based on quotes and advice from several companies, freelance workers, digital specialists, dry stone walling groups etc. However, we recognise costs may increase and will factor in sufficient contingency.
TechnicalAlongside budgeting, we explored the technical expertise required to deliver all elements of the project (the partnership does not have all the skills required). We identified high-quality freelance staff for key areas (e.g. evaluation, digital assets, designing interpretation information, researching craft workers, oral history training).
Community EngagementThe neighbouring streets to the site have concerns over potential increased visitor numbers and additional car parked to access the site. Representatives from those streets have been appointed to the Jubilee Working Group to help address their concerns.To reach underserved communities (e.g. global majority, neurodiverse, experiencing racism) is challenging and would not be possible if the project did not extend its reach and have trusted partners engaged (e.g. isolated ESOL families via Scientia School).
EnvironmentalThe planting scheme involves tender and at-risk saplings that may fail to ‘take’, the Maintenance Plan will include regular monitoring and a budget for replacement plants/trees as required.
SustainabilityOnce the project is completed, visitors may not be aware of or respect its ‘nature recovery’ ambitions. For dog walkers, we will work with a local rescue sanctuary to develop guidance on best use.
Frequently asked questions
Peace & Hope Garden FAQs
NDP FAQs
In partnership with the local community, the parish council would like to transform a 9-acre scrubland site known as the Jubilee Field, into a treasured and greatly enhanced sustainable green space and community facility. The Jubilee Peace and Hope Garden project balances nationally significant Nature recovery with improving community well-being, protecting social heritage and supporting lifelong learning and greater inclusion. Our project has 3 very clear objectives:To create the Jubilee Peace and Hope Garden:
The space will create an improved sustainable habitat for local flora and fauna and offer a space of reflection and support improved wellbeing for the local community.To save local and national environmental heritage through the preservation and replanting of the Black Poplar Tree and share the local farming, landscape and social heritage with the community.To provide diverse communities with skills, knowledge and access to local nature recovery networks, empowering them to continue to become increasingly engaged in preserving and protecting the local heritage.
Our aim is to ensure that a wide range of people engage with the project, find out about the important heritage of the area and learn about how to support nature recovery in the area. This includes the local community many of whom are fairly new to the local area due to the increase in new housing. The landscaping work will increase biodiversity. The planting scheme includes Black Poplars, to help to preserve the UK’s most endangered native species.
The Black Poplar tree: a nearly extinct native tree that has seen its natural habitat wain due to the changes in land use over hundreds of years, with only 7000 trees left in the UK, and only 600 of these are female In Hatton, the project’s focus area, the Black Poplar tree’s habitat, has been eroded by industrialisation and new housing. The tree needs wetlands to thrive, and the wetlands were drained to make way for more dairy farming and then housing. The story of the tree, in how both man and nature have used this species for centuries, is unique to this country, making it an important story to preserve and share. For Hatton, the tree’s heritage is interwoven between nature, farming, culture and industrialisation. Nature recovery is key to a rural area where industry and housing have recently expanded exponentially. The site is ideally placed geographically within the village to serve local residents, nearby villages and schools and the 1000+ incoming workforce. The site has the potential to support health and well-being, social cohesion and to be a connection to nature that creates such a diversity of habitats and micro-climates that it can kick-start nature’s recovery and support greater biodiversity of flora, fauna and wildlife. The site would be connected to other nearby environmental initiatives (e.g. bee hives, protected butterfly fields and riverside meadows). Derbyshire Wildlife Trust has advised without intervention, the site is at risk of losing its capacity to be transformed. The project’s landscaping design incorporates a pond whilst still maintaining the unique wetlands geography that makes it a rare site suitable for Black Poplars. The parish council has worked on this project with the following:-People ExpressRepresentatives from the community formed a working groupDerbyshire Wildlife TrustEast Staffs Wildlife Trust Cultural Heritage Officer (Dr Mark Knight)Biodiversity Officer at South Derbyshire District Council – on pond inclusion and benefits, potential nature recovery outcomes for the scheme, and landscaping advice to create the greatest diversity of micro-climates (e.g. s-shaped bund)Project Earth - advice on the best Black poplar trees (male and female) from Kew GardensDerbyshire Amphibian and Reptile Group (DARG) - pond adviceGreenwood Days – how to access a network of at-risk craft practitioners, sustainable seating and community facilities, creating an eco-friendly Story Tree Circle for Early YearsLocal farming community - heritage research and key contactsNestle Ecological staff –existing bee and butterfly and other existing local nature recovery initiativesThistley Meadow - protected river-side site and Butterfly Meadow, (local nature recovery initiative community run)The Transforming Trent Valley Project (TTTV) - how to connect to local walking & cycling networks, information on native flora and fauna, nature recovery family engagement ideasGreenwood Projects - guidance on evaluationTurner and Co Built & Landscape Design Company - guidance on designing and costing digital outputsCalke Abbey - advice on boardwalks and family-friendly interactive landscaping
The ambition of the project is that the Jubilee Peace and Hope Garden, Hatton will achieve the standards and quality measures as set out in the Green Flag award scheme.
Alongside long-term maintenance, the other ambition of the project is to extend its environmental recovery outcomes over the next decade. We would like to encourage local landowners and local families and groups (like schools) with gardens to replicate the actions in the maintenance plan in their own green space, building up a joined-up nature recovery network on a wider geographical scale.The day-to-day maintenance of the site will be managed by Hatton Parish Council, with advice and specialist support from Derbyshire Wildlife Trust and Nestlé and support managing volunteers.
The long-term maintenance plan will be achieved by:A landscaping and planting scheme that is low-maintenanceThe budget for all capital costs relating to the community facilities allows for their construction from durable materials (e.g. dry stone wall seating, metal-based interpretation panels, stone/metal landmark).Hatton Parish Council will develop a Biodiversity Policy and Action Plan as a part of the project, using the process to fully understand their new annual environmental responsibilities for the enhanced site.Hatton Parish Council, supported by the partnership and led by Derbyshire Wildlife Trust, will create a Jubilee Garden Maintenance Plan, with the costs allocated within the annual precept. The plan will include regular inspections and monitoring and emergency planning for misuse of the site (e.g. vandalism). The site already has litter disposal services.The creation of a bund and pond will address the site’s risk of annual flooding.Supporting Derbyshire Wildlife Trust to train up local volunteers who can run new Nature Tots (Early Years) and Junior Rangers (aged 11 to 18) groups and activities. Currently, there are no groups in this area.Offering the digital assets as public resources to local Archives and ongoing environmental groups (e.g. Magic Attic, Derbyshire Records Office, Hedgehog Society).
The Jubilee Peace and Hope Garden has been developed in exceptional circumstances: the Parish Council has a large protected green space together with access to one-off investment to enhance it, the resources to sustain it and huge support from the local community and specialist partners to help protect and preserve its environmental, social and hidden industrial heritage.
The project comes at a crucial time when the neighbouring extensive housing building is set to reshape not only the scale and footprint of the village but also diversify and increase its population. The new building schemes, alongside the expansion of local industry, have encroached on rural life and nature’s habitat. This project will make a timely contribution to carbon capture and offsetting, helping to address Climate Change.Protect At-Risk HeritageThe 9-acre site has been identified by our partner Wildlife Trust as significant: nationally to preserve the Black Poplar Tree (our learning can be shared with other sites), and locally, it is an important ‘corridor’ to connect up existing nature recovery sites.Local Environmental Strategies. The project supports Derbyshire County Council’s Million Trees (by 2030) project, which is part of their strategy to tackle Climate Change. The project directly aligns with the ‘vision’ for South Derbyshire’s ‘Action Plan for Nature’ (see below), part of their Climate and Environment Action Plan 2021 to 2030.
“South Derbyshire will be a District where its green spaces, natural habitats and biodiversity is fully valued, properly managed and appropriately protected…”
This project seeks to restore and enhance the local natural heritage, creating a model with the potential for significant environmental benefits on a national scale.This will happen through:
Creating the new accessible nature reserve and garden: ensuring that the unique habitat thrives, managing the negative impact of the flooding but enabling the positive outcomes to still take effect. The area will connect all other local environmental initiatives, such as Nestle’s Bee farm and nesting peregrine falcon at the factory site, Derbyshire Wildlife Trust’s Nature Network Recovery project, a local butterfly field and Derbyshire County Council’s commitment to plant 1 million trees by 2030
Create a local Biodiversity policy and action plan: Each key partner and the local community will contribute ideas and commit to the delivery of the action plan post project, to ensure sustainability of the area, so future generations can benefit. Developing initiatives such as nature-based citizen science to simultaneously monitor the site for changes in species presence, improve wildlife identification skills, and increase enthusiasm for nature and using fixed point photography to map the habitat restoration will create sustainable outputs post-project.
Achieving Green Flag status: This will elevate the site to a nationally recognised level ensuring that a sustainable maintenance plan is set out and delivered by the key stakeholders/partners.
These outputs have been designed with the consideration of an ecological appraisal and management recommendations report. The report provided a comprehensive evaluation of the site's current ecological status and significance.
Significant species of fauna and flora includes the endangered native Black Poplar Tree, Hedgerows, Nathusius Pipistrelle bats, Peregrine Falcons and great crested newts. The site sits withing the DWT’s Derbyshire Nature Recovery network and will provide a key nature corridor to link priority habitats and woodland creation sites with Hatton Jubilee Garden.
The Habitat Survey includes actionable insights to guide Hatton Parish Council and those managing the project towards achieving key environmental objectives. Therefore, in combination with the project’s planned outputs, the environmental strategic goals are:Carbon Footprint Reduction: Implement strategies to reduce CO₂ emissions and minimise the negative environmental impact of local activities, especially increased house building and industrial use.Biodiversity Enhancement: Improve biodiversity metrics through targeted conservation actions. Increase ecological resilience by enhancing habitats to support a wide range of species.Sustainable Habitat Development: Develop and maintain robust ecosystems capable of protecting and expanding species populations. Foster long-term ecological stability and adaptability.Ultimately, the anticipated outcomes of this work are:Environmental Gains: Establish a replicable framework that links local ecological improvements to broader national goals.Community Impact: Empower the parish to lead sustainable practices that contribute to biodiversity conservation and climate resilience.Legacy Building: Position the initiative as a benchmark for environmental stewardship, inspiring similar projects across the country.
This project has developed in response to widespread consultation, and will be delivered with partners and stakeholders, empowering a broader range of people to be involved in the designing, planning, delivery and maintenance stages. Participation is not just based on visiting and experiencing the geographical site, as this needs to be balanced with protecting the space for nature to recover. The learning from this project will ripple outwards to neighbouring diverse rural and urban communities.
People Express will play an overall coordination. and information-sharing role within the Partnership’s Project Management Team. It will also play an enabling and supporting role, when needed, to ‘empower’ the smaller Partners with less experience to deliver key strands of the project (e.g. Youth of Hatton, Community Working Group). Working with partners to produce a working management plan and delivery timetable (based on the plans created for this application), setting out key milestones, targets and evaluation data required to evidence successful outcomes. This will be shaped by and shared with all stakeholders (e.g. including schools, community groups, Nestlé). A regular schedule of bi-monthly Project Management meetings will be set up over the lifetime of the project, aligned with key milestones. At the first meeting, the roles and responsibilities will be clarified and agreed upon with all partners, opportunities and challenges will be explored, and the project plan, timetable and risk register will be revisited and revised as required. At each Management meeting, People Express will coordinate written reports and/or verbal presentations updating progress against targets and highlighting key achievements and/or challenges that can be celebrated and resolved collectively. The external evaluator will establish a set of benchmarks (e.g. the level of existing community awareness and understanding of and value placed on local environmental/social heritage) and baselines (e.g. the current biodiversity value of the site). All partners and stakeholders will have access to training in collecting relevant data where required, the External Evaluator will collate the data and supply updated reports to the Management team.
Hatton Parish Council: was shortlisted in 2022 for the National ‘Star Council’ Award by NALC (National Association of Local Councils) for improving the lives of their communities. The Council has cross-representation across all village wards and has successfully managed several capital and community projects. The Clerk is highly skilled and hugely committed, with strong financial, governance and management skills. The Council members include diverse representation, including from the farming community, local landowners and working communities.
Derbyshire Wildlife Trust: is a well-known and highly respected leading authority on nature recovery, biodiversity and environmental heritage, with access to a wealth of skilled staff, resources, local and national networks and contacts.
Youth of Hatton: is a popular, well-run volunteer-led community group based in Hatton that sets up sporting and creative activities for young people of all ages. They have a Facebook following of 900 families, and their events and activities are consistently well attended. The volunteers who run the club have considerable experience in delivering informal, fun and inclusive projects to address the limited level of opportunities available in a rurally isolated area.
Jubilee Garden Working Group: is made up of 8 local volunteers who applied for the role via the Parish Council after several consultation/open meetings about the project were held. Members represent a geographical spread across the village, including streets neighbouring the site of the project. Each member brings local contacts and networks; they include a former specialist nurse, a local businessman, a volunteer firefighter, and a Forest School/Early Years Teacher.
People Express: People Express is a professional participatory arts organisation, rooted in communities in South Derbyshire since 1990 and East Staffordshire since 2023. It supports local groups to work with a wide range of highly skilled and inspirational professional artists across all art forms and has successfully encouraged people of all ages and abilities to get involved in the arts, by listening to what they would like to do and what they have to say.
The project will commission an external Evaluator with the skills, experience and expertise to support the partnership to recognise, document, capture, collate and share in accessible formats the project’s key achievements. Using an external evaluator supports equity, transparency and honest feedback. A specialist ‘heritage’ evaluator will produce a more informed/valuable final report providing a useful tool for other heritage projects. The purpose of our evaluation is to identify and capture the significant changes and outcomes achieved by the project for both communities and nature. The evaluation will be captured in a wide range of formats, including, questionnaires (digital/paper), informal one-to-one and group feedback sessions, structured interviews, and accessible, fun, child-friendly/creative activities. The evaluation will start pre-delivery, collecting data to establish baselines and benchmarks, allowing us to measure gains/losses and level of impact as the project progresses. The data collected will be quantitative (e.g. number of trees planted, number of young people engaged, number of virtual visitors to VR garden, demographics) and qualitative (e.g. has well-being improved, do communities feel an increased sense of pride of place, is the site/facilities accessible, do partners feel their skills have increased, is the quality of the green space sufficient for the Green Flag Award).
Management/DeliveryEnsuring the Partnership functions effectively and with equity is why a working management plan agreed upon by all parties is key. Any changes will need the approval of all parties.The capital work is a major transformation requiring specialist expertise/experience to ensure safety (for nature and communities) and a high standard. Derbyshire Wildlife Trust will manage external contracting and supervising the work onsite.
StaffingThe project is complex with several key objectives, relying on one staff member to understand/manage all the delivery would expose the project to risk (if they were unable to deliver or left). All partners will have a working knowledge of overall delivery, and the working management plan is a guide for any new staff that may be required.The project aims to recruit underserved communities into paid work placement opportunities in Conservation. This is a widely acknowledged challenge for the sector. To support this area of work, we will undertake consultation ahead of the recruitment with diverse communities to better understand their barriers and perspectives.
FinancialBudgeting for the project has been ongoing throughout its development, based on quotes and advice from several companies, freelance workers, digital specialists, dry stone walling groups etc. However, we recognise costs may increase and will factor in sufficient contingency.
TechnicalAlongside budgeting, we explored the technical expertise required to deliver all elements of the project (the partnership does not have all the skills required). We identified high-quality freelance staff for key areas (e.g. evaluation, digital assets, designing interpretation information, researching craft workers, oral history training).
Community EngagementThe neighbouring streets to the site have concerns over potential increased visitor numbers and additional car parked to access the site. Representatives from those streets have been appointed to the Jubilee Working Group to help address their concerns.To reach underserved communities (e.g. global majority, neurodiverse, experiencing racism) is challenging and would not be possible if the project did not extend its reach and have trusted partners engaged (e.g. isolated ESOL families via Scientia School).
EnvironmentalThe planting scheme involves tender and at-risk saplings that may fail to ‘take’, the Maintenance Plan will include regular monitoring and a budget for replacement plants/trees as required.
SustainabilityOnce the project is completed, visitors may not be aware of or respect its ‘nature recovery’ ambitions. For dog walkers, we will work with a local rescue sanctuary to develop guidance on best use.
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