The post you are reporting:
Yes I do, but I'm in that peasant mix too, Howard.
This is an email I sent to the Horticulture Manager at the back end of May:
"Good Morning Darren - hope you are well.
There is much consternation amongst the Townsfolk - businesses and residents, about the disgraceful state of the black flower-tubs in Dover Town.
I appreciate there may be a lack of money at DDC, but is something to be done about them ?
There are different flowers that bloom all year round, so the Town could look lovely all year round.
I know that early last year I was talking to Martin (who, as you know has now left) and the Community Pay-Back Team and then DDC supplied the flowers and the Community Pay-Back Team supplied the labour; I appreciate that they were/are not professional gardeners and there was some concern as to how well they worked and planted, but the Town did look good for a few weeks - until they needed dead-heading and/or weeding and because no one attended to them, they began to look awful, like they do now.
I appreciate you are the professional Darren as regards horticulture, but are you waiting for something to happen, or someone to give direction ? Forgive me if that sounds disrespectful, it's not meant to, but something needs to be done and done urgently, the Town is a disgrace - as regards this subject.
Is it perhaps that you (DDC) are waiting for some agreement from the Town Council ?
Kind Regards Darren
Roger Walkden"
I will reproduce parts of his reply:
"DDC met with the Chairman and the Mayor of Dover some time ago and discussed the renovation and replanting of the town centre planters. At the meeting it was agreed that DDC would proceed with a rolling programme of renovation to the planters, with a £2000 contribution from the Town Council."
From previous experience, the planting suffered from vandalism or theft shortly after being installed so I recommended we planted and stored the containers in the security of the Council's depot until the planting had successfully established before transferring them to site. Unfortunately the planting still suffered from these misfortunes but not to the previous extent.
DDC proceeded by removing 10 planters into Connaught depot and replanting with permanent, mostly evergreen plants to improve and promote sustainability of planting as opposed to costly annual bedding over the past..
Following the return of the established planters to site, another 10 planters were removed to replant as part of the ongoing programme, however the programme relied on the financial contribution from the Town Council.
The Town Council has not contributed any funds to the project to date, and with the tight budgets at DDC has stalled the project.
I recently had a meeting with the new Town Clerk of Dover and this matter was raised. With the recent elections I hope momentum can build to progress this scheme with the support of the Town Council.
I note your comments regarding the weeds in the planters. There has been some confusion over the maintenance responsibility of the planters but I will raise appropriate works to rectify in the interim.
I appreciate your comments and that you must be frustrated with the lack of visible action but please be assured we are trying to resolve the matter with the limited resource we have"
I hope I am not giving away confidences, but as you will have read above, DTC (as at the 23/05) had not contributed their agreed amount of £2,000 - whether the elections got in the way, or whether there was a political reason, I have no idea. Of course, they may have paid their pledged contribution by now, so it can move on.
Roger