Bright idea to restore planters pays dividends
COMMUNITY SPIRIT CREATES GREETING THAT’S A FLORAL FEAST
OVERGROWN, moulding and left untouched for several years, these brick planters became an eyesore in the village.
After driving past them every day and seeing the neglected planters, residents decided to take action to clean them up.
Showing true community spirit, the villagers have united to make the planters more attractive for those who pass.
Their efforts involved removing all the dead vegetation, scrubbing and replacing the brickwork to make it gleam, and planting colourful new plants. The planters now look as good as new and contain beautiful flowers.
Resident and business owner Jel Singh Nagra said: “West Allotment is North Tyneside’s best-kept secret.
“It’s a lovely place, the people are lovely and we are all very proud of our village.
“That’s why we decided to come together and do something about the brick planters as they were in quite a bad state.
“So we cleaned them up and planted new flowers and now they look fantastic and are a great way to welcome people to the village.”
This idea came from a post on Facebook on the West Allotment Village Forum group, where a resident mentioned that something needed to be done about the overgrown planters.
The villagers contacted North Tyneside Council and found that it doesn’t own the planters. After finding out who does look after the planters, the villagers began to giving them a new lease of life.
One local family kindly donated money to help buy the new plants while others helped out in any way they could.
The 45-year-old added: “The community really came together. It was such a team effort from everyone in the village.
“People let us use their water for the plants and everyone mucked in and did what they could to help.”
Elected mayor Norma Redfearn has praised the determined group for their dedication.
She said: “It’s always fantastic to see our local residents come together like this to make a positive change to their community.
“Villagers in West Allotment are rightly proud of where they live and have given up their own time, and even donated money, to clean