Update: this article passed at town meeting.
PLEASE SUPPORT ARTICLE 8, ITEM NO. 6 – SCENIC FARMLAND RESTORATION at TOWN MEETING, MONDAY, MAY 5, 2014.
The Community Preservation Committee has recommended that town meeting approve a number of items including item number 6, Scenic Farmland Restoration, namely Cloverdale Conservation Area.
CLOVERDALE is a twenty plus acre property that was deeded to the town when the Apple D’Or housing development was built. It is under Littleton Conservation Commission control.
The property is bounded by Great Road on the west, Surrey Road on the east, and Grist Mill Road on the south and north.
This property was owned by the Mannion family who emigrated from Ireland in the mid-1800s. John Mannion and his family members operated “Cloverdale Farm”, and later “Dell Dale Farm”, until the 1950s when it was sold to the Byrne family. Over subsequent years pieces of the farm were gradually sold off and developed for housing. The town is quite fortunate to now own over twenty acres of the former Mannion family farm. An interesting feature of this property is a “cattle walk” tunnel under Great Road which was used to safely transport dairy cows from the barn on Mannion Place to the pasture.
Much of this property had become a tangled mass of invasive plants and broken trees. In recent years volunteers have carved their way through Oriental Bittersweet, Poison Ivy, Glossy Buckthorn and Garlic Mustard in an effort to halt the destruction.
Our vision for the preservation of Cloverdale requires the removal of dead and undesirable trees, stumps, large stone piles and Invasives. This will allow for rough grading in preparation for reseeding, ultimately providing a manageable combination of pasture/meadow and open woodland. This might eventually return to active agriculture/grazing or become a scenic parkland with trails and picnic areas. It will surely improve the entrance to our wonderful town.
The preservation of farmland along 2A/119 is a primary goal of our Open Space Plan. We urge you to support this effort at Town Meeting.
The Community Preservation Committee, Board of Selectmen, and the Littleton Conservation Trust support this article. Please join us by voting “YES” on Article 8, Item No. 6 – Scenic Farmland Restoration.