The organisers of Burnham-On-Sea’s entry into the national Britain In Bloom competition are this week celebrating after the town won a coveted silver award.
Burnham In Bloom Chairman Dave Perrett received the award from Lady Emma Fellowes at a ceremony held in Yeovil this week.
The South West in Bloom judges visited Burnham-On-Sea over the summer, as we reported here, when they said they were “impressed” by the floral displays and the standard of The Esplanade, High Street, businesses, parks and schools.
Mr Perrett, pictured below with Lady Emma Fellowes and Mayor of Yeovil David Recardo, told Burnham-On-Sea.com: “We are delighted that Burnham has won a silver award in the pennant category for towns. It’s exciting to win this award for a second year after a gap of several years.”
He attended the awards ceremony as Burnham’s representative at Yeovil’s Westlands Centre alongside 400 other people from across the south west.
The judges’ report states: “The majority of the baskets and displays in the town are planted by the local council and were attractive. There was more of local people and businesses getting involved with the bloom campaign and clearly great pride was demonstrated in many areas visited during the tour.”
“The bloom activity is underpinned by the local gardens competition, which has proved to be very successful. It was good to visit the local primary school where the children had recently been involved with planting their own sensory garden with plans to further develop this.”
“The judge was introduced to the Friends of Apex Park who help maintain it to a high standard. This is a great community asset, well used by all age groups with excellent signage, a delightful walkway around the lake and a haven for wilife.”
The judges also identified several areas for improvement, saying that some of the flower planters in Burnham High Street need a better mix of plants, with more sustainable planting. They also said that more evidence of sponsorship from the local business community would be welcome.
Several certificates were received by the Bloom judges which will be presented during the annual Burnham In Bloom awards presentation evening on Friday November 23rd at 7.30pm.
Nine of the awards will go to local schools in Burnham-On-Sea and Highbridge who entered the neighbourhood awards scheme, while one will go to Salt Express at Edithmead which entered the business category.
