Councils tear out flower beds in ‘mean-spirited’ cost-cutting drive
Councils are turfing over flower beds in war memorials and remembrance gardens in an effort to cut costs.
Local authorities have pulled funding from landscaping budgets along with a raft of other services as dozens of councils across Britain face making severe spending cuts to stave off financial collapse.
Labour-led East Lothian Council has torn out flower beds surrounding a First World War memorial in the centre of Cockenzie, near Edinburgh, due to financial constraints at an “extremely challenging time”.
Residents woke up to discover the flower garden had been removed and replaced with grass turf in December.
Lachlan Bruce, a Conservative councillor for the area, said: “Like all authorities in Scotland we face serious challenges because of the SNP government’s continual underfunding of local government and East Lothian in particular.
“Fundamentally, in the face of SNP funding cuts, we need to prioritise the delivery of frontline services, which regrettably means decorative planting cannot be as extensive,” he added.
Rother District Council also announced last summer that flower beds at Bexhill Cemetery in Bexhill, East Sussex, would be grassed over as part of a cost-cutting drive. This was despite a local petition against the move that had garnered more than 800 signatures.
Residents of Royal Sutton Coldfield, in north-east Birmingham, also fear that public gardens will be devoid of flowers this summer after Labour-run Birmingham City Council issued a Section 114 notice in September, effectively declaring bankruptcy.
In February, a row erupted after the town was informed that the city’s budget would not include funding for planters on streets and flower beds surrounding two war memorials. The decision came at “very short notice” according to local councillors.
Birmingham City Council owes almost £3bn to lenders and has recently cut its budget for street lighting, anti-graffiti measures, cultural heritage and landscaping in public green spaces.
David Pears, a Conservative councillor, said: “For a number of years the town has been neglected by Birmingham [City Council]. We were set up [a town council] a few years ago and are well run with a small budget.”
He said Birmingham City Council informed them the funding would be cut at “very short notice and the town council had to make a decision almost on the same day”.
Mr Pears added that it should “never have happened” as residents have been paying council tax to Birmingham “for years for services that haven’t been delivered”.
Sutton Coldfield received a Silver Gilt award as part of Britain in Bloom in 2018. Olive O’Sullivan, CEO of the Sutton Coldfield town council, said: “In previous years there has been a contribution from Birmingham City Council [and] the town council has supplemented that to get some fairly spectacular schemes.
“This year we were advised that because of the cuts they would be looking to us to increase our contribution.” She added that councillors were confident that this would go ahead.
Joanna Marchong, of the TaxPayers’ Alliance said: “Residents are fed up with mean-spirited cuts taking away the small joys in life. Whilst councils undoubtedly need to cut back on spending, they should consider whether there are other areas with fat to trim.”
A spokesman for East Lothian Council said: “As we have three gardeners with around 160 beds to maintain in the area they are responsible for, we have been looking at new options for how to best deploy limited resources at an extremely challenging time. There are a number of pressures on services which we are doing our best to manage.
“While the inner flower beds at the war memorial have been retained, grass has been laid at the location of the previous outer beds. Polyanthus have been planted at the war memorial for spring colour and these will stay as annual bedding.
He added that it was expected the benefits of the changes “will become visible in the fullness of time.”
A Birmingham City Council spokesman said: “Birmingham City Council’s current financial position means it cannot fund such installations of plants and flowers in Sutton Coldfield at present.”
They added the Council was working with Royal Sutton Coldfield Town Council to ensure that displays were maintained, saying their upkeep was being funded by the town council.
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