Judges wowed by colourful blooms in district centres
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- Category: Walsall Council
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Beautiful blooms helped Walsall's five district centres secure several awards and drew special praise from the judges at a ceremony celebrating this year's Heart of England in Bloom competition.
Aldridge, entering the competition for the second time, secured the silver gilt award while Darlaston, Bloxwich, Willenhall and Brownhills received bronze awards.All the entries were co-ordinated by Walsall Council's district centre management team.
Aldridge was singled out for special praise winning the community achievement award recognising the hard work put in by everyone who co-ordinated the village's entry.
There was also a special achievement award for Walsall Council's Economic Regeneration Officer Diane Mansell, who oversaw the Darlaston and Willenhall entries, for the significant improvements each town had made compared to last year.
A wide cross section of the community from schoolchildren to businesses have been involved in helping spread an array of colour throughout the district centres and improve their overall appearance.
Projects included:-
* Planters placed in Aldridge High Street
* Wildflower seeds planted by St Joseph's RC Primary in Victoria Park, Darlaston
* Brownhills in Bloom logo designed by Brownhills School pupils
* Community planting day in Bloxwich
* Painting across Darlaston town centre by Community Payback including benches, fences, railings and children's playground.
* Shop fronts in King Street, Darlaston, spruced up by traders.
* 30 hanging baskets installed in Willenhall and Darlaston town centres.
Judges looked at three main categories which were horticultural achievement, environmental awareness and community involvement. All five district centres competed in the urban community category.
Councillor Adrian Andrew, Walsall Council cabinet member for regeneration, said: "All our district centres looked fantastic this summer which is down to the hard work of everyone who has been involved from officers to members of the community.It's particularly pleasing to see people showing pride in their local community and taking responsibility for doing a lot of the hard work themselves.
"Together with turning our district centres into a sea of colour we have also worked hard to tackle issues such as litter, graffiti and vandalism and make some real lasting changes.
"We are determined to raise the profile of our district centres and this competition has had a real impact in helping us to do that and make them really attractive places for people to visit."
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