Facts about the Cheverly Green Plan
TOWARD A SUSTAINABLE CHEVERLY
A Green Infrastructure Initiative for Our Town
“GREEN INFRASTRUCTURE” IS…
Green infrastructure refers to the interconnected network of ecosystems; woodlands, waterways, wetlands, grasslands, and other green areas that support native plant and animal species; maintain natural ecological processes; sustain and regulate air, water and soil resources; and contribute to health and quality of life. This infrastructure can be viewed on the level of our global biosphere or, more narrowly, in terms of regional or local environments that sustain life and keep it adapting, evolving and diversifying.
The basis of all ecosystems is a dynamic organic network of plants, animals, and microorganisms, that shape, and are shaped by, their interactions with the inorganic matrix of air, minerals and water in which they are embedded. The interaction of organic and inorganic elements has produced incredibly complex, diverse and dynamic ecosystems on which we are wholly dependent. The more diverse and robust these ecosystems are, the better they are able to support life. Human well-being and environmental biodiversity are inextricably linked. Without it we could not survive.
MISSION OF THE CHEVERLY GREEN INFRASTRUCTURE INITIATIVE
Preserve, restore and sustain the natural environment of Cheverly and surrounding areas as an intact and healthy ecosystem, through a community participatory process, balancing the fulfillment of human needs and protection of the natural environment.
This plan will help guide future development, redevelopment, and investment policy decisions in a proactive and sustainable manner within and around the Town of Cheverly.
CHEVERLY GREEN INFRASTRUCTURE STEERING COMMITTEE
A Steering Committee is presently being assembled at the invitation of Mayor Julia Ann Mosley. The committee will be comprised of key community organization representatives and will be formally announced at Cheverly Day, May 17, 2008.
This Steering Committee will guide the process of designing, implementing and sustaining the green infrastructure network throughout the Town of Cheverly. The Steering Committee is responsible to the Cheverly citizenry at large and, in particular, to the many stakeholder organizations and individuals, that is, all who have an interest in or might be affected by the green infrastructure initiative. The Steering Committee will also reach out to neighboring communities for their participation.
In order to effectively carry out its mission, the Steering Committee will establish various working groups to complete specific tasks necessary to design, implement and sustain a green infrastructure network; and an advisory committee to study specific aspects of the initiative and provide recommendations to the Steering Committee.
CHEVERLY GREEN INFRASTRUCTURE WORKSHOP
One of the first activities to be planned the Steering Committee will be a community-wide green infrastructure workshop to describe the principles and values of green infrastructure; explain the benefits this initiative affords Cheverly; what a green infrastructure plan might look like; and ask community members to identify special places. It is anticipated that this workshop will be held in late June.