Golden touch for city’s blooms

Canterbury has struck gold again in the South and South East in Bloom competition.

It is the only small city in the region to take home the top honour, with the award yet another in a long line of accolades for the Canterbury in Bloom committee and the city’s green-fingered volunteers.

While the national Britain in Bloom awards were postponed this year due to Covid-19 , Canterbury remains one of the leading cities in the country for its collaborative and colourful approach to keeping the city’s street displays, public gardens, and green spaces flourishing. Led by the Canterbury Business Improvement District (BID), the committee comprises of 19 local community groups, businesses and local authority members working together to make improvements to the city’s horticulture,

biodiversity and environment. Canterbury BID chief executive, Lis Carlson said: “In what has been a challenging year for many, we are thrilled to receive this award, and that Canterbury has continued to blossom so brightly thanks to the care and attention of so many people.

“While some planned projects were affected by the Covid-19 lockdown, the teams continued to work tirelessly before, during and after lockdown to keep Canterbury blooming for residents and visitors to enjoy.”

Over the past year more than 20 horticulture projects have launched or continued in the city. Canterbury BID completed a new round of deep-street cleaning over the summer, and put a new schedule of regular cleaning in place as well as putting up 400 colourful hanging baskets.

New murals were also installed around Kingsmead Fields and Rheims Way underpass.

Hanging baskets in the city