We know that many residents want to get involved in work that supports greening and as a council we want to engage the community in projects that support a green and healthy city.
We have learned a great deal from past initiatives and our understanding of what is needed to achieve climate resilience is continually evolving. Our current focus is on directing energy and resources towards actions that will make the most significant impact in areas that need them the most. The priority areas for action are outlined in our Greening Strategy 2023.
There are some good examples of where residents have supported greening efforts, particularly in capital and grant-funded projects, including:
- Help from the Fawcett Road Greening group to plant up the beds within the Fratton Pocket Park project.
- Community tree planting sessions helped by volunteers, as part of us planting around 2,500 new trees across the city during the growing season at the start of 2025.
We also encourage residents to activate private spaces and work together to promote and celebrate efforts such as forecourt greening, which can make a substantial difference. However, requests to green highways, including footways and existing tree pits, are generally not feasible due to limited benefits and mixed evidence on the effectiveness of planting in existing tree pits.
We are currently exploring ways for residents to support more greening efforts, including the possibility of organised groups adopting tree pits for watering and tending to trees. We will provide guidance on this in due course.
Principles for community greening projects
All greening activities supported and promoted by the council must align with our Greening Strategy 2023.
We encourage residents who wish to get involved to join established groups. The starting point for community greening should be private spaces as there is much that can be done in personal spaces, such as creating bee-friendly window boxes and activating forecourts to support cooling.
While we cannot support the placement of new planters on highways, we will seek opportunities within our own capital projects to engage established groups in greening activities.
Together, we can make Portsmouth a greener and healthier city.