Work to refurbish Burnham-On-Sea’s Marine Cove gardens is still ‘on track’ despite an attack by vandals earlier this week, claim project bosses.
Two people gained entry to the gardens early on Sunday morning, pushing over metal fences protecting the site, before dumping a concrete ball into the refurbished pond along with a metal scaffold, as pictured here.
CCTV footage of the incident – which clearly shows two people carrying out the incident – is being examined by police and security has been beefed up.
Sedgemoor District Council’s Parks & Open Spaces Officer, Harley Cook, who is managing the huge project to refurbish the gardens, told Burnham-On-Sea.com: “It’s very disappointing this has happened. Two people pushed over the security fences in St Andrew’s churchyard to get access to the gardens.”
“They then rolled a concrete ball around the site and pushed it into the water feature. We’re hoping the base of the pond has not been damaged and are awaiting a final inspection.”
But he added: “The project has been progressing well and there is a really strong community spirit around the work.”
“We expect the building work to finish later this month or in early September in time for a grand opening on September 24th.”
The Marine Cove refurbishment project is part-funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund, which last year awarded it a total of £344,200.
The work includes installing new paving, walls, shelters, bins, seating and water features such as the fountain and fish ponds, plus landscaping.
