Councillor Rob Leitch writes of his hopes to develop a voluntary group to help maintain the Walled Gardens at Sidcup Place.
Cllr Rob Leitch
“When I was a young boy, I remember my grandmother taking me to the walled garden at Sidcup Place – it was a beautifully kept place of peace and tranquillity. This garden will be well known to many Sidcup residents and is one of the unique treasures that Sidcup has to offer; hidden away and yet within easy reach of the High Street.
Unfortunately, due to the continuing fall in Government grant, combined with the increasing cost of social care, Bexley Council is required to make another £30 million in savings before 2018. As a result, open space maintenance has been reduced across the Borough, including within the walled garden at Sidcup Place. As such this once beautiful location is in danger of falling into disuse.
I believe that it would be tragic for the community to lose this special area and am responding to the maintenance reductions by forming a‘Sidcup Community Garden‘ project. Over the coming weeks and months, I will be trying to get together a team of volunteers from across Sidcup who can take ownership of the garden and bring it back to life.
Combining a local voluntary force with local schools, local charities, health providers and local businesses, I hope to build a community team which will be able to restore a touch of magic to the walled garden.
To start with, I need your support so please drop me a line at rob.leitch@bexley.gov.uk to find out more/sign up. Together, our local community can restore our garden for the benefit of current and future generations.”
Cllr Rob Leitch, Sidcup Ward, Bexley
We all have precious memories of time with family and friends in our local Sidcup green spaces, including many of the parks which are now threatened by the Council’s plan for selling the land to developers.
I wish Cllr. Leitch’s encouragement to create a Community Garden in Sidcup Place could be extended to other beautiful green spaces, including our parks, in Sidcup. Many local groups would be very happy to support the idea.
We are keen to see groups working to improve the parks and will post information here for any such group. We regularly post information for the team that are working in the Old English Garden in Danson Park as well as for the conservation groups in the Borough. Jonathan Rooks
I think I can remember playing here as a small child