Queen’s Green Canopy in East Sussex kicks off the Jubilee weekend by planting trees with Southern Water

On 31 May, Deputy Lieutenant David Allam met with Katy Taylor, Chief Customer Officer of Southern Water at the Hailsham South Wastewater Treatment Works. The event saw three new trees planted, adding to many more trees and shrubs introduced in recent months as part of a wider enhancement project at the site.

Two wild cherry trees and a field maple were dedicated to the Queen’s Green Canopy initiative, alongside 14 other recently planted mature trees.

Katy Taylor said: ‘This site is the perfect place to plant these trees in honour of the Queen’s Jubilee. As part of a £20m investment, we have installed new technology in Hailsham, which left old settlement lagoons redundant. We have worked with conservationists to sculpt them into a nature reserve, which when complete will comprise around a thousand trees in the area alongside a wild meadow and waterways with floating islands, to support wildlife.

‘I was delighted to meet with David on this special occasion, just before the Jubilee celebrations start this long bank holiday weekend.’

Mr Allam is part of the East Sussex working group for the Queen’s Green Canopy initiative and added: ‘I am thrilled to be planting these wild cherry and field maple trees at this Southern Water site as part of this fantastic nationwide initiative which I hope will inspire everyone to get involved in planting trees for the Queen’s Jubilee.

‘We are grateful that Southern Water has recently planted a number of other trees on this site which they are also dedicating to the Queen’s Green Canopy.

‘The Queen’s Green Canopy is an excellent environmental initiative, and a wonderful way to mark Her Majesty’s 70 years of service to the nation in this Platinum Jubilee year. There are many ways to take part in the Queen’s Green Canopy initiative, and I would urge everyone to visit the website, get involved and spread the word.’

The Queen’s Green Canopy is a unique tree planting initiative which invites people and organisations from across the United Kingdom to ‘Plant a Tree for the Jubilee’ and upload a photo to the national map. See our main QGC page for details.

The trees planted, two wild cherries and a field maple, were chosen because they are more suitable for planting at this time of year. They will also be planted with water bladder irrigation pouches to aid with any water stress that could occur during the summer as they continue to establish.