Meon Vale woodland, open spaces, and playgrounds
Tell us your views, share your ideas
At the end of last year, we confirmed we would be withdrawing proposals to build any new homes on the woodland and grassland areas at Meon Vale. The feedback from residents was clear and we appreciate how important it is to safeguard the woodland and grassland areas: now we would like to hear from you again.
We want to make Meon Vale an even better place to live and are in the early stages of creating plans for the village’s outside shared spaces. This includes two new playgrounds for younger and older children, currently set to be located within the woodland (see map below), as well as options to manage and enhance the existing woodland areas.
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We’ll be formally presenting proposals for the two playgrounds to the community and consulting on these later this year. But first, to help shape the vision for this part of your village, we’d like to harness the enthusiasm we’ve seen from residents and gather your thoughts and ideas.
Above all, we want to ensure that the proposals for the open spaces at Meon Vale will be:
- Collaborative – working with you, the community, and key stakeholders including Friends of Meon Vale Woodland, so everyone actively plays a part in shaping the best possible plans
- Inclusive – making sure there’s something available for everybody and that the spaces are accessible for people of all ages and physical abilities, meeting all needs
- Fit for the future – setting the site up for long-term success so that the area can be managed and enhanced successfully for years to come
To help gather your ideas we’ve set up a short questionnaire which is open until Friday 26 March. We’d be really grateful if you could take ten minutes of your time to fill this out.
We’d like to know what you’d like to see included in the two playgrounds for younger and older children. How would you like to see the woodland and grassland managed and enhanced? Do you have any suggestions for any of the other open spaces such as the wetland area?
St. Modwen will take all of the comments received on board and lead on the delivery of these new spaces for the community, but we want to work closely with residents at Meon Vale so that we can ensure it is done in a way that means the ongoing maintenance of the area is financially sustainable.
We’ll also be sharing the feedback we receive with the new working group that is being set up. The working group will be run by residents with support from St. Modwen and will eventually take on a more formal role in directing the Meon Vale Management Company, of which all property owners in the village are members.
As part of this we’d also like to set up a smaller woodland working group, who would act as a dedicated consultation group for the ongoing enhancement and management of the woodland, grassland and wetland areas. Please let us know via the questionnaire or by emailing us directly if you’d like to become a member.
We look forward to hearing from you – so please get involved, share your ideas and get creative!
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Design your own playground – family competition
As we start working on proposals for the new play areas at Meon Vale, we’re inviting all of the local children who will one day use these play areas to enter our ‘Design your own playground’ competition.
Entry is simple: on an A4 page draw all the things you’d love to see in your dream playground – try to make it as imaginative, creative, and as colourful as possible!
All you need to do is send us a photo or scan of your drawing by email to meonvaleestates@stmodwen.co.uk along with your name and age by Sunday 28 March. If you would like, you can also write to us about your ideas. We’ll be awarding prizes for the best designs in two age groups: 8’s and under, and 9-16’s.
The winning designs will be chosen by an independent judge and will receive a year’s National Trust membership. We’ll also publish the best entries in our future newsletter updates and, where we can, will be taking inspiration from these entries for our final designs.
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Current and upcoming works at Meon Vale
As well as preparing plans for the future of the woodland and grassland areas at Meon Vale, in the meantime we’re also making sure that the outside spaces are well looked after.
Recently you may have seen new barking being put down on the footpath beyond the bridge off the greenway, as well as some potholes and low areas being repaired by the grounds team. The team has also been clearing up a lot of dog waste left along the greenway and would like to remind all dog walkers there are plenty of dedicated bins to use to help keep this route clean and tidy for all users.
From 9 March we’ll be using a team of specialist tree surgeons from Fairways Ltd to prune, deadwood and clear some of the damaged and dangerous trees within the woodland area. These were identified by a tree survey carried out late last year and were flagged as health and safety concerns. Any timber that needs to be felled as part of the necessary maintenance will be stacked up and used as habitat piles and shelters for wildlife.
If you have any queries about these works, please do not hesitate to contact our Regional Customer Support Team on 01905 357777, who are available between the hours of 8.00am and 7.00pm Monday to Friday, or email them via meonvale@mainstaygroup.co.uk
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All the best
The Meon Vale St. Modwen Team
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