After 100 years, King’s Park Plant Nursery has permanently closed. BCP Council decided to axe the facility as part of £41m of further cuts to balance its books. Councils across the country are in dire financial straits, following 14 years of swingeing cuts to council funding by the Conservative Government.
Green Councillors Alasdair Keddie (Queen’s Park & Charminster) and Sara Armstrong (East Cliff & Springbourne) visited the nursery at the end to personally thank the staff and volunteers.
Alasdair commented: “There is no doubt that the nursery has made a huge contribution to the area over the years and will be sorely missed. It was an emotional visit and a sad end to an incredible local resource
“We were able to collect some surplus plants and tree bark to distribute to community projects in the area. These include Queen’s Park Infant Academy who will use them for their Forest School and peace garden.
“Plants will also be planted out in the beds by the roundabout on Queen’s Park South Drive, to form a bee-friendly wildlife space managed by community volunteers.”
Councillor Sara Armstrong added: “We thanked staff and volunteers for their service to the town and bid farewell to this community asset. There were emotional scenes as the volunteers worked their last day, recounting fond memories and bidding goodbye to each other. The end of an era.“