“PLEASE TAKE CARE OF PARKVILLE FARM, CLONMEL, MR MAGNIER”
Dear Mr Magnier, Hedgerows Ireland, the Tipperary based group dedicated to all aspects of hedgerows, has been approached by local residents who live near Parkville farm, Clonmel, recently bought by you at auction. They are worried about what may soon happen to the ancient hedgerows, the wildflower meadows, the mature trees, the duck pond, the walled garden and the beautiful stone courtyard farm buildings which form an iconic ‘eye catcher’ on the road from Clonmel to Fethard.
As you know, the farm is immediately adjacent to the town boundary, and neighbours in the area have told us stories about blackberry picking along the ditches, mushroom foraging in the fields and how Parkville is loved and cherished by young and old alike, the first glimpse of countryside and rural beauty on the edge of town. We’ve been told about sightings of badgers, foxes, bats, wrens, thrushes, blue tits, yellow hammers, duck and much more. The farm is a rich haven for wildlife.
Our own group has been working with Teagasc and farm organisations in recent years to highlight the incredibly important role played by hedgerows and trees in our landscape. Apart from providing a home to wildlife (95% of our biodiversity is in hedges and ditches) they also store massive amounts of carbon, they prevent flooding, and provide shelter shade and beauty to the landscape. We simply cannot afford to lose any more, and replanting new hedges somewhere else is not the answer as a new hedge will take 50 years to match the Parkville hedges which have a rich variety of plant species and are over 200 years old. So we are asking you to conserve and protect this beautiful old farm with its traditional stone buildings and abundant field margins for the sake of your children and grandchildren and those of the people of Clonmel. Thank you,
Alan Moore, Hedgerows Ireland and local residents.
PS. Hedgerows Ireland is now working with other stakeholders groups to lobby the government to limit the investment buying of land by billionaires. Without this change, our young and existing farmers cannot compete to buy land and the Irish family farm will not survive.