Greening Penrith
PACT is working with the Vitality of Penrith (VoP) and local traders to green Penrith. At the December 2010 Community Conference, organised by the VoP, many people listed their most important community challenge as the greening of Penrith.
There is a long established Penrith in Bloom initiative whereby local traders purchase hanging baskets and window boxes to improve their frontage and make the town more welcoming to residents and visitors. PACT is looking to raise funding to take forward four specific initiatives to "Green Penrith":
Place flower boxes at all of the town entrances to welcome people into the town.
Extend the existing Penrith in Bloom initiative with a view to placing hanging baskets on all lamp posts in the centre of the town.
Develop a style of planter which can be placed in key locations around town. The aim would be to get a high quality, consistent set of products which will add value to the town in the long term. These will be planted with trees, bushes and flowers.
Encourage community groups to take responsibility for maintaining some key flower beds in the centre of town.
The Council has given some money to kick start this initiative but PACT is hopeful of at least doubling this, through donations, sponsorship and grants to enable the vast majority of this work to be taken forward.
Some sketch drawings below show where some of the planters might be placed. The exact detail will be agreed after discussions with Highways.
December 2011 update
The first phase of work was completed towards the end of the week commencing 21st November. Planters have been installed round the Monument and in Little Dockray. There is a bit more work to do to finish this first phase of work, reposition the waste bins in Little Dockray and under plant the trees with shrubs, flowers and bulbs.
The planters have been constructed by Richardson Timber Merchants. They are of tantalised timber coated with a high quality stain. The internal surfaces are coated with a rubberised membrane, supplied at a discounted price by T.W. Ralph and Sons Ltd. These design details should ensure that they have a life of well over 30 years with minimal maintenance requirements. Richardson’s did all the fixing work round the Monument scribing the planters into the niches and allowing for the slope on the pavement. This work, which was heavily subsidies by Richardson’s, is to a very high standard and will ensure that the planters do not act as a litter trap.
The work in Little Dockray involved making good the area immediately around the existing benches, taking out tarmac insets and reinserting granite cobbles. Two bollards have been removed and the other two bollards and two litter bins will be removed to enable the planters to be placed adjacent to the benches. Two new litter bins will be inserted in due course.
The several tons of ericaceous compost for the planters have been kindly donated by Jenkinsons Timber products.
The trees have been provided and fixed at cost by Larch Cottage Nurseries. They are root balled and braced below soil level to ensure they are stable. Larch Cottage Nurseries are also sourcing shrubs, flowers and bulbs to under plant the trees but getting quality plants at this time of year is providing its own range of challenges.
Whilst the above traders have been very generous with their time and expertise we also need to recognise and thank Eden District Council, The Penrith Lottery, The Neighbourhood Forum, The Penrith Building Society, The Penrith Co-operative and The Skipton Building Society who all provided funding to support this initiative.
Finally thanks is also extended to the group of volunteers who have helped to make this all possible.
Initial feedback suggests that this scheme has been well received and we would like to extend the scheme into Middlegate and potentially even take over responsibility for some of the existing flower beds in town. However this depends on being able to raise additional funding. PACT are therefore seeking to raise a further £10k to take this work forward.
We are looking for more volunteers to take forward this work specifically ensuring that the planters are kept tidy, replanting as appropriate and taking forward other associated initiatives as appropriate. If you are interested pleased make yourself known through this web site.
Click to see a larger sketch image:
