At the recent 2007 South & South East England in Bloom winners ceremony, held at The Hawth Theatre, Crawley, Sussex, Gosport Borough Council was awarded a ‘Silver’ for the Best Large Town/Small City category.
Caroline Smith, Parks Officer, Dave Stubington, Arboriculture Officer and Sian Misselbrook, In Bloom Co-ordinator for the Council attended the ceremony on behalf of the Borough and were delighted to receive the award from Olympic Swimmer Duncan Goodhew.
“I was disappointed not to be able to attend the ceremony myself but was delighted that the Officers who had put so much into the competition were those able to collect the Award on behalf of the Borough,” said Cllr Dennis Wright, Chairman of the Community & Environment Board.
“This is great news for the Borough and for the residents, who I know take a great pride in the town. I want to say thanks and congratulate everyone involved; the nursery for the excellent quality of the plants; to Caroline for the designs; the contractors who carry out the planting; and also the people of Gosport. For it‘s not just the public areas that are judged, but the town as a whole. Judges also look at rest homes and pubs as they are driving around and at areas which groups of residents or ‘Friends’ have taken on the responsibility of, places like Crescent Gardens, Grove Avenue and Leesland Park. It is the work of these groups that really make a difference when it comes to a competition like this.”
The judges take more than just the flower displays and the Council maintained areas into consideration, with points also awarded for Business and Community efforts and Street Cleanliness. The Judges were particularly impressed by the work of the Friends of Crescent Gardens and St Marks Cemetery, Fred Gibson and the Countryside Team and the Streetscene recycling team. They were also impressed with the flower displays, in particular the quality of the plants and the structured displays.
“We did vary the designs this year and Caroline broke away from the normal low lying bedding displays by adding more height to the planting. So it was nice the changes made were picked up on by the judges,” added Dennis.
One thing the judges did recommend for improvement was more planting of verges with bulbs etc and looking to more community involvement with projects.
The Council currently works with local ‘Friends’ groups and schoolchildren on various projects. But if there are any local community groups that would like to get involved in next years Southern England in Bloom, Gosport in Bloom, or in developing local planting projects then the Council would love to hear from them. They should contact Sian Misselbrook, In Bloom co-ordinator Tel: (023) 9254 5628.
The competition which covers Hampshire, Dorset and the Isle of Wight is co-ordinated by the Southern Tourist Board with the aim of bringing together local communities to make their area a more attractive place to live, work and visit.
