Our 2035 vision...
"...is to restore nature across Chiddingly Parish, and beyond, by creating connected habitats, increasing biodiversity, and eradicating invasive species. We will engage our entire community, especially children, to become champions for nature. Chiddingly will become a centre for community-led nature restoration, sustainable living, and environmental education."
This vision has been shaped over a series of meetings, culminating in a 'community vision workshop' in April 2025. At this workshop, participants were asked: "Imagine it is 10 years into the future and you are telling someone what we have achieved through our various projects. Write down the five most important things to you.” The responses were transcribed and analysed by Greening Chiddingly member Sally Ashby using manual collation, word cloud generation and Perplexity AI. This page distils this vision and presents our community priorities for action to 2035.
Word cloud generated from the responses to the community vision workshop in April 2025.
Participants at the community vision workshop, April 2025 (image © Sally Ashby).
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Examples of responses from the community vision workshop (image © Sally Ashby).
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Our Top 5 community priorities
The vision workshop revealed a community deeply committed to environmental restoration and sustainable living. Our five priorities reflect both practical conservation goals and aspirations for stronger community bonds through shared environmental stewardship, management of natural resources and education-centered approaches to conservation.
1. Biodiversity enhancement
Our first priority is to restore and enhance biodiversity across the parish. We envisage Chiddingly with thriving ecosystems where diverse plant and animal species flourish, particularly noting the importance of increased bird and insect populations as indicators of environmental health.
2. Invasive species management and native species recovery
Our second priority is to remove key invasive species from along our watercourses (including Himalayan Balsam) so that native plants and wildlife can return to, and thrive in, our rivers and streams.
3. Educational excellence in nature conservation
Our third priority is for children from Chiddingly and surrounding areas to have access to natural areas for learning, and for the village school to develop as a hub for environmental education that extends into the wider community.
4. Connected wildlife corridors and habitats
Our fourth priority is to restore and reconnect hedgerows and woodlands across Chiddingly Parish to provide wildlife corridors at a landscape scale and link habitats across the parish and beyond.
5. Community engagement in conservation
Our fifth priorty is to see widespread community engagement in nature restoration, through community arts and other hands-on activities, with habitat restoration and conservation efforts seen as unifying actions that bring residents together while protecting our natural resources.
If this page has inspired you and you want to help us meet these priorities, see our Get Involved page.
Dawn bird survey in Whitesmith (image © Sally Ashby).
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Primroses at Burchetts Farm in Whitesmith (image © Sally Ashby).
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