Protest held over town’s animal trail

A PROTEST was held last month against Melksham’s new summer green animal trail, which features six animals which are covered in artificial grass.  

The animals form a trail, which can be followed around the town. The town council initiative has been made possible by part of a £10,000 grant allocated to Melksham by Wiltshire Council. The money has come from the government’s ‘welcome back fund,’ which is designed to support the safe return of local people to the town following the Covid pandemic.  

The protest was led by Charlotte Howard, who is a horticultural consultant and garden designer. She is a campaigner against plastic grass and worked closely with fellow campaigners, Plastics Rebellion. Charlotte said, “It was a great opportunity to engage the families coming to see the animals, the response was extremely positive on the day and I hope we have managed to make a few people think twice before they think of laying plastic in their garden. 

“We loved the animal safari and thought it could have been so much more enjoyable if made from living plants. We were also concerned to hear that the town council, while not funding the project themselves, were pressured to accept the animals on behalf of the town. We hope we have stimulated some useful awareness and conversation about plastic grass as a result of this action. 

“The dangers inherent in artificial turf are often hidden from buyers, not only is it a threat to soil-dwelling organisms and insects and the birds and creatures they enable but the entire plastics lifecycle is problematic for human and animal health from the PFA chemicals present in the blades to the carbon emissions inherent in its inevitable incineration. There are currently no facilities to recycle artificial turf in the UK.” 

City Dressing, the company tasked by Wiltshire Council to bring these ideas to life, explained that they only purchase artificial grass that can be recycled, reused or upcycled; and that the ‘grass’ purchased is made of 90% recycled material.

“Artificial grass has a reputation for being non environmental. Most of the reason for this is when it replaces real lawn it replaces a natural carbon store. City Dressing would never lay artificial grass over an existing lawn. 

“We have looked into laying real turf but it is not possible as the energy needed to transport, lay, maintain and store would increase the environmental impact.” 

Charlotte and Plastics Rebellion will be releasing a short comic film using local actors, on Wednesday 31st August as part of their Toxic Turf campaign and have written an open letter to DEFRA which will be signable.