Why isn't Formby growing more trees?

I know that as a community Formby recognises the importance of trees, witness the campaign to save the village horse chestnut trees. But there seems little or no movement in sowing and growing more. 

I constantly find myself asking, why is that? We've got the space, we know how important they are to the planet and well being on a personal level.

Chemists will tell you of the importance of  catalysts.

So where and who are our community catalysts?

In Frome it was a group of people who paved the way with a movement around the idea of 'Flatpack Democracy. As a Formby Parish Councillor I had hopes that it would become the source of inspiration for a myriad of community activists, a hub for community catalysts. Sadly that hasn't happened. 

We need to learn from Frome.

Here's a video from the Tree Conference 2018, lets watch Peter Macfadyen explain.

Frome town council is run by an independent party of local residence facilitated by Peter Macfadyen, author of Flatpack Democracy.  In this section of the 2018 Tree Conference we give Peter the stage to explain a bit about that pioneering work and what policies they have put in place.

Peter then interviews Julian Hight who has been working hard to restore Selwood Forest with an active group of passionate supporters, local landlords, representatives from national bodies like the Woodland Trust and Wildlife Trusts.

This is a good template for how communities can develop citizen-led wildlife corridors and landscape restoration.  The Selwood Forest group’s work continues to go from strength to strength.