Ludlow in bloom wins gold for the third time

Ludlow has scooped a top horticultural award as part of the annual Heart of England In Bloom competition for the third year in a row.

The awards, organised by the Royal Horticultural Society, judged Ludlow the deserving winner of a Gold Award in the prestigious event’s town category.  Judges thought Ludlow was “clean and welcoming” and also noted that it was an area of achievement to have clean streets and a lack of graffiti and fouling.

Shropshire Council’s street scene team help the dedicated Ludlow in Bloom volunteers throughout the year to keep the town looking at its best, and particularly for judging day. In the run up to judging, landscape operatives repair and refurbish street name plates and bins, litter pick, cut verges, look after the town’s car parks, as well as maintain the flower beds at Smithfield car park.  The highways team maintain and clean roadsigns and grit bins as well as asking the owners of overgrown hedges to cut them back.  They also provide signs to manage the traffic when deep cleans are being carried out.  The streetscene team carry out increased numbers of site inspections, co-ordinate work between different teams and arrange additional deep cleans of streets where parked vehicles prevent access for effective routine street cleaning. 

The council’s contractor, Veolia Environmental Services, undertake streetcleaning to remove fouling, broken glass, litter, graffiti, flyposting and flytipped waste.  They also provide a concentration of staff and resources for deep cleans.

Councillor Martin Bennett, Shropshire Council’s deputy Cabinet member, said:

“This award is extremely well-deserved.  The streetscene team work closely with the Ludlow in Bloom volunteers and many other groups to ensure the town is always clean and tidy.”

Rosanna Taylor-Smith, Shropshire Councillor for Ludlow North, said:

“As a member of the Ludlow in Bloom Committee I am delighted that once again Ludlow has won a well-deserved gold in the Heart of England in Bloom!  This is only possible with the help and hard work of many individuals and groups within the town, Ludlow Town Council’s officers, Shropshire Council and many more, especially all the young people who entered art, environmental and plant growing competitions and those who entered the other gardening, art and mural competitions run by Ludlow in Bloom.

“Congratulations also to the Lower Broad Street residents who won an outstanding award for their entry in the HOE Neighbourhood Category and also to the Globe (Thai restaurant and bar), who entered the HOE Competition for the first time this year and won silver gilt in the ‘hotel and pub garden awards’ category.”

Tracey Huffer, Shropshire Councillor for Ludlow East, added:

“This is a fantastic achievement for Ludlow, gold again, well done and a big thank you to streetscene, highways, Veolia and all of the volunteers who work really hard continuously throughout the whole year to help keep our lovely town a place to be proud of.”

The criteria for judging has three elements: horticultural achievement, environmental responsibility and community participation.  To report a problem with flytipping, graffiti, flyposting or litter in your area contact the environmental maintenance teams on 0345 678 9006 or alternatively report a problem online at shropshire.gov.uk/environmentmaintenance.nsf