Refreshments plan for town gardens (From Ledbury Reporter)

Refreshments plan for town gardens

4:10pm Wednesday 18th April 2012 in Ledbury By Robert Hale

MALVERN Town Council agreed this week to seek planning permission for a temporary refreshment unit in Rose Bank Gardens, close to the town centre.

The town council formally took over control of the gardens in February from Malvern Hills District Council, having signed a 99-year lease.

Members heard at a council meeting that staff have already started general maintenance duties, including daily litter-picking, in the gardens.

They agreed to hold a site visit to the gardens, so that all councillors can see what it has to offer, before they start making more detailed plans for the site’s future.

Councillor Pat Mewton, who proposed the visit, said: “We have to have a close look at it, have to see the state of it, so we know what needs doing there.

“Maybe we should also take it a little step further and ask all the people living in Malvern to tell us at the town council what their ideas are for the gardens.”

The town council took over the gardens, off Wells Road, to reverse what many see as years of neglect.

Coun Adrian Ward has already proposed that the gardens become a showcase for garden designers, linked to events at the Three Counties Showground.

At the meeting, councillors also approved promoting the idea at the Malvern Autumn Show, and decided that town clerk Richard Chapman should pursue funding for works to the garden.

Discussion on a proposal to rename the gardens to mark of the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee has been postponed to a later date.

A plan to erect a commemorative sculpture in the gardens has also been approved.