Britain in Bloom under threat as drought spreads
BRITAIN in Bloom could be under threat this year as towns and villages are forced to scale back their usual dazzling floral displays because of the hosepipe ban.
Another 17 counties have been added to the drought zone engulfing England, bringing the number of people hit to 35million.
The additional counties, in the south west and Midlands, will today be classed as ‘water-stressed’, an official term for in drought, making the total area affected the largest since 1976.
Although the hosepipe ban currently in force for 20million people has not yet been extended, contingency plans are being drawn up as the Environment Agency confirmed the drought is likely to last until Christmas.
The ban is already affecting many of the 1,100 towns and villages across the country which enter Britain in Bloom, a national horticultural competition.
Thousands of bulbs which have been ordered and paid for by local committees may not even be planted due to the arid conditions.
local councils are said to be holding crisis talks with the Environment Agency and water companies to devise ways to irrigate public flowerbeds and hanging baskets.
North Norfolk District Council, which is in one of the worst-hit areas, may have to plant 30,000 flowers in June as it has already ordered them – even though campaigners warn they will wither and die.
Joan Thame, chairman of the ‘in bloom’ committee in Sheringham, Norfolk, says they have abandoned plans for colourful baskets this year as they are usually watered with bowsers, which are filled from the mains.
‘It will make a huge difference, particularly this year, with the Jubilee and the Olympics,’ she said.
Chris Roberts, chairman of the ‘in bloom’ committee in nearby North Walsham, said they will struggle too. ‘Without the displays it’s going to look a bit miserable in town,’ he said. Several other towns,
Councils in crisis talks
including Horsham in West Sussex, are also reducing the number of hanging baskets.
In Essex, an appeal has gone out for residents in Colchester to donate water, while the award- winning Bulphan in Bloom committee may pull out entirely. Swin- don Council had ordered £10,000 worth of bedding plants, but has decided not to plant them and is hoping to sell or swap them for drought resistant varieties.
The hosepipe ban is also likely to prove embarrassing for the Government as global attention turns to Britain for the Olympics and Queen’s Diamond Jubilee. Parks are included in the ban, and london’s iconic fountains will be turned off.
From today the drought zone includes Cornwall, Devon, Dorset, Somerset, Bristol, Gloucestershire, parts of Hampshire and Wiltshire, Nottinghamshire, leicestershire, Derbyshire, Staffordshire, Warwickshire, Shropshire, Worcestershire, Herefordshire and the West Midlands.