A new Compost Demonstration Site which aims to encourage home composting is opening near Penrith this week.
A third Compost Demonstration Site in Westmorland and Furness is set to open this week (Tuesday 3 September) at Basecamp North Lakes, home to Alpacaly Ever After, outside of Penrith.
Thanks to funding from Westmorland and Furness Council, and additional funding from Cumbria Action for Sustainability’s Community Fund, the new composting site has been established to allow the public to learn how easy it is to compost at home.
The site, gratefully provided by Alpacaly Ever After and Basecamp North Lakes, will be used by volunteer Master Composters from organic gardening charity, Garden Organic, to explain the various composting systems. Garden groups and other organisations will be able to book visits to the site for talks and demonstrations, and a series of interpretation boards will also allow people to look around the site unassisted.
For several years, Garden Organic has been contracted by the council to train Master Composters to provide home composting advice to residents across the area. As part of this work, the volunteers give presentations and attend events to promote and encourage home composting.
Everyone is welcome to attend on Tuesday, no need to book, just come along any time between 10.00am and 2.00pm to stroll around the site, learn about composting and take part in a range of family friendly activities including building bug hotels, seed bomb making, pebble painting and bird spotting.
Councillor Giles Archibald, Cabinet Member for Climate, Biodiversity and Environmental Services, said:
“I’m very pleased the council is supporting and helping to fund yet another compost demonstration site, this time near Penrith.
“This latest addition is in an excellent location, managed organically and joins a growing number of sites as part of a wider network across Westmorland and Furness and Cumberland.
“By collaborating with our partners across the area, we are able to encourage and show more people how easy it is to compost at home. Home composting organic waste not only helps to reduce carbon emissions but is a good way to reduce the amount of waste sent for treatment.
“We want even more people to get involved in composting at home so I urge everyone to give home composting a go, and for those who live in the areas of the sites and are interested in learning more, to visit.”
This latest site joins those at Ford Park in Ulverston and Appleby Road Community Garden at The Queen Katherine School in Kendal. For more information or to book a group visit to any of our compost demonstration sites, please email mccumbria@gardenorganic.org.uk.
