At a recent Cabinet meeting, Folkestone & Hythe District Council members agreed to show appreciation for Her Majesty’s 70 years’ service by planting an avenue of trees as part of The Queen’s Green Canopy which is a unique tree planting initiative created to mark Her Majesty’s Platinum Jubilee in 2022.

To mark this significant event 12 commemorative London Planes will be planted at Cheriton Recreation Ground with a plaque marking the dedication placed opposite the existing Golden Jubilee plaque at the park entrance (the recreation ground was dedicated to the Queen’s Golden Jubilee).

Every year, 10 trees will be available for the public to apply to have planted in council-owned parks and open spaces. These are: Folkestone’s Radnor Park, Cheriton Recreation Ground, Morehall Recreation Ground, the western end of Lower Leas Coastal Park, and Hawkinge Cemetery Green Burial Plot.

The location of the trees will be chosen on a year-by-year basis from these places. The trees will be mainly native broad-leaved and deciduous and a list of species for people to choose from will be available.

Cllr Lesley Whybrow, Cabinet member for the Environment, welcomed the tree-planting campaign, saying it was a “great opportunity to take part in a nationwide tree-planting campaign to celebrate the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee next year.”

The Sandgate Community Gardeners are already moving forward with tree planting plans and a team led by them planted 12 fruit trees in Fremantle Park as part of Sandgates contribution to the Queen’s Green Canopy project for the 2022 Platinum Jubilee with another 12 fruit trees newly planted in Sandgate Park too – both orchards will be dedicated in June 2022.