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Garden pennant a home-grown effort
• I WRITE as chairwoman of Culpeper Garden and also, like Councillor Lucy Watt, a member of the environment theme group of the Strategic Partnership which administers the Neighbourhood Renewal Fund provided by the government (Garden backers, May 18).
I am therefore surprised that Cllr Watt thinks the Strategic Partnership enabled Culpeper to gain its Green Pennant.
This is untrue. We were awarded the Green Pennant entirely as a result of our own efforts. The fact that we received it was very useful to the council in assessing Neighbourhood Renewal funds, which require a target of five green flags – and we made up the requisite number.
In consequence, we have received government funding of £15,000 and the council has benefited to the tune of £348,000 for improving four of its parks – and will receive a great deal more money in the coming year.
Cllr Watt also comments that the council has made ground available to us in the park adjoining the garden. In fact, we applied for a £5,000 government grant to renovate and re-plant a sadly neglected border already existing in the park.
We raised the money, provided the tools and volunteers and a great many plants. All this was hard work for us and cost the council absolutely nothing. But Cllr Watt thinks we should be grateful to the council. I think it is the other way round.
The border is now flourishing and has vastly improved the appearance of the park, which is run by Greenspace. We have a good relationship with them and have worked with the park rangers to plant bulbs in the park, with the help of local families.
We do not ask the council for help in our outreach work but we would appreciate some funding to help us run one of the most beautiful and popular parks in the borough, open seven days a week, and attracting visitors from all over the world.
ELIZABETH EVANS
Moon Street, N1 |
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