Shortstown Online!

The start of the third and final phase of the creation of a 52-hectare (128 acre) community woodland in the parish of Eastcotts, Bedfordshire will be on Sunday 5 December 2010 with a community tree-planting day

The event, which will run from 11.00am and 3.00pm, will take place at Shocott Spring. It will give people from surrounding communities the chance to take part in the creation of this community woodland.

The Marston Vale Trust, the charity creating the Forest of Marston Vale, is running the event as part of its ‘Shocott Spring Community Woodland’ project. The third phase will use a £24,900 grant awarded by The Veolia Environmental Trust through the Landfill Communities Fund to plant around 20,000 native broadleaf trees and shrubs to create the final 13 hectares (32 acres) of the community woodland.

The event on the 5 December 2010 is being supported by the Big Lottery Fund. Shocott Spring is halfway between Shortstown and Cotton End, near Bedford. There is no parking at the site and those attending are advised to go to the Forest Centre in Marston Moretaine off the A421, where there will be free parking and a free bus to transport them to the site.