Fifty new orchards in Oxfordshire to honour King Charles III

Councillors Andrew Prosser and Lidia Arciszewska said the orchards would offer benefits to local wildlife

More than 50 new community orchards are set to be created in Oxfordshire.

West Oxfordshire District Council has secured £50,000 for groups and organisations that want to establish community orchards in their neighbourhoods.

The funding has been provided by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs' (Defra) Coronation Living Heritage Fund.

Applicants must have space to plant at least five fruit trees.

The council said the orchards needed to be on publicly accessible land to allow as many people as possible to benefit from them - a key action within the authority's draft Biodiversity Action Plan.

The orchards would leave a "visible and lasting legacy" to celebrate the Coronation of King Charles III.

A minimum of five trees are needed to qualify as an orchard but there is no upper limit to apply for.The council will host a webinar in partnership with the International Tree Foundation to offer guidance on planting and care.

Councillor Andrew Prosser, member for climate change, said there was a lot of interest in the benefits that orchards could offer for biodiversity.

"The trees planted in the Coronation orchards will play an important role not only by increasing the number of trees in the district, but as they age these trees will develop hollow trunks and rot holes that will offer nesting sites for bats and birds and support an abundance of insect life throughout their life cycle," he said.The closing date for first-round applications is 19 January and those successful will be notified by 31 January.

A second window will open in the autumn in time for next winter's tree planting season.

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