'˜Village green' for Horsham town centre

A community garden is to be created in New Street, Horsham.
New St pocket park - artist impressionNew St pocket park - artist impression
New St pocket park - artist impression

Horsham District Council in parnership with Horsham in Bloom and a number of local partner organisations have secured funds to transform a local green space into a community garden.

The new ‘village green’ will be created behind the Brighton Road Baptist Church at the southern end of New Street.

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Work to develop the area is expected to start from April 2016.

Jonathan Chowen (Con, Cowfold, Shermanbury and West Grinstead), Horsham District Council’s Cabinet Member for Community and Culture, said: “I am delighted that by working together with local partners we have the prospect of creating a really special ‘village green’.

‘‘We will also be looking for as many volunteers as possible from the local community to come forward to help shape and maintain the area for all ages of the neighbourhood to enjoy.”

Sue Brundish, chair of Horsham in Bloom, has been a key driver on this project. She explained: “We have already been fortunate to have enough money in the pot for an initial fence to be installed, funded from a range of sources including the Government’s Pocket Park initiative and developer contributions allocated by Horsham District Council.

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‘‘Now being in the position to develop our new ‘village green’, we’re delighted to announce that we have secured funding for the landscaping and equipment fitting aspects of the project from the Tesco Bags of Help Programme, a UK wide initiative which donates proceeds for the sale of carrier bags to improve green spaces in local communities.

‘‘We want to create a vibrant community garden which is safe and can be enjoyed by people of all ages and from all backgrounds.”

Ideas for the new park area include a community orchard, seating areas and a community notice board. Funding is also available for a community tool chest and it is hoped that a team of volunteers will help develop and maintain the area going forward.

The amount of funding the community will receive for the project will be between £8,000 and £12,000.

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To get involved with the project, email: [email protected].

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