A new bug hotel, designed and built by the Eco Committee of Bentley Heath Primary School, was officially opened by the Mayor of Solihull in Bentley Heath Park on Friday 9 May.
The grand unveiling, organised by the Love Solihull team at Solihull Council, as well as contractors from Veolia and members of staff from the school, showed off the new and safe habitat for all the mini beasts of the area.
Once the ribbon was cut, the pupils were shown how to spread thousands of wildflower seeds across the soil behind the bug hotel. For this project, 0.5kg of wildflower seed was spread, which was then tamped down by the school children. After some time has passed and there has been some rain, these seeds will grow into a multi-coloured array of different wildflowers.
This backdrop to the bug hotel is not only another way of enhancing the beauty of one of our local green spaces but also of improving biodiversity in the area.
The Council currently maintains 1,127,559 square metres of meadows, wildflower/wildlife way, uncultivated land and conservation areas across Solihull including the boroughs 17 Green Flag Awarded parks.
The Mayor of Solihull, Cllr Shahin Ashraf MBE, said:
“Biodiversity is essential to the health and wellbeing of our natural green spaces, and the children of Bentley Heath School have demonstrated their amazing knowledge of this.
“Bentley Heath Park is a place of amazing natural beauty in our borough, and with the efforts of our parks team, the School Council’s Eco Committee, and our dedicated Veolia contractors it’s been made that much lovelier.
“This project is just one example of how we can continually improve this land for the wellbeing of young people and the borough.”
The Deputy Headteacher of Bentley Heath Church of England Primary School, Katrina Bush, said:
“At Bentley Heath Primary School, we encourage our pupils to be courageous advocates for positive change, one key area being the environment and biodiversity. Our school and local community have been working together to completely redesign our Conservation Area, which is a vibrant outdoor space, thoughtfully designed to inspire curiosity and foster a deep connection with nature among children of all ages.
“We also have an Eco Committee on our School Parliament, which has the role of helping to care for our environment and bring about positive change. This year, the Eco Committee have run many initiatives including increasing recycling as well as working with the PTA to redesign some of our grounds.
“The children are excited to be able to extend this work to the local community, with their bug hotel in Bentley Heath Park for all, especially the bees and bugs, can enjoy!”
To find out more about Solihull’s parks & open spaces, as well as how you can get involved in their upkeep and improvement, please visit Love Solihull Parks | lovesolihull.