NORTH WEST IN BLOOM JUDGES VISIT OLDHAM

Two judges visited Oldham to assess the Borough’s latest entry into the prestigious North West in Bloom competition.

The pair – Peter Wiseman and Trevor Leese – were taken on a three-hour tour on Friday, August 6, to assess how the flower power of our ‘Bloom and Grow’ bid matches up to rival towns, cities and villages.

The judges viewed eye-catching visual initiatives – such as three showcase ‘themed’ installations and the creative planting of flowers, shrubs and trees – and learnt about the wide range of partners who have delivered different community elements of the campaign.

Jackie Stanton, Deputy Council Leader, who greeted the judges on arrival, hopes to emulate last year’s success when the Borough won ‘Best Town Centre’ after a six-year absence from the competition.

She said: “I’d like to thank everyone involved with Bloom and Grow for the tremendous work that has been done over the summer.”

“This has again been a fabulous community effort with local residents, businesses and partners all pitching in with imaginative environmentally sustainable projects.

”We’ve had many complimentary comments again about the improvements made and how refreshing it is to see displays of civic pride.

“We would love to emulate last year’s success, but – whatever the result – I am very proud of the creative schemes we have undertaken.

“We‘ll look to build on all those with even more community involvement as we take the campaign to different parts of the Borough in 2011.”

Friday’s whistle-stop judging tour began at Market Place where they met Blue Coat school pupils and teachers to learn about their growing and planting work. They also viewed the stunning ‘Desert Island’ installation and youngsters enjoying the popular ‘beach’ play area.

Judges then surveyed other town centre improvements – which have included a comprehensive deep-clean of 15,000 square metres of high footfall areas to remove mud, grime and chewing gum.

Their tour took in Albion Street, Curzon Street and High Street before the judges met Jay Florence, of Rushcroft Primary School, who beat 200 local schoolchildren in the B&G banner design competition.

A bus next transported the party along the official judging route down West Street and onto Rochdale Road. This includes stops at:

* the Broadway/Shaw Road junction (Underwater themed installation);
* Oozewood Road (The ‘Bucket and Spade’ sculpture);
* Irk Valley (Site of a community clean up with local Scouts);
* Tandle View Court (Housing 21 scheme encouraging residents to grow and sell local produce);
* the former Rapley’s Volvo Garage (Community groups have produced a series of seven giant banners to transform the site).

The tour closed by returning to the front of the Civic Centre where judges met local Girl Guides who have helped create a spectacular bed of flowers to mark the organisation’s centenary.

Along their journey judges also heard detail about the work of Oldham Council’s partners – including FoD (the former Festival of Diversity), the Business Improvement District (BID), the Future Jobs Fund, District Partnerships, NHS Oldham and First Choice Homes Oldham – whose work has made so many community initiatives possible.
Two judges visited Oldham to assess the Borough’s latest entry into the prestigious North West in Bloom competition.

The pair – Peter Wiseman and Trevor Leese – were taken on a three-hour tour on Friday, August 6, to assess how the flower power of our ‘Bloom and Grow’ bid matches up to rival towns, cities and villages.

The judges viewed eye-catching visual initiatives – such as three showcase ‘themed’ installations and the creative planting of flowers, shrubs and trees – and learnt about the wide range of partners who have delivered different community elements of the campaign.

Jackie Stanton, Deputy Council Leader, who greeted the judges on arrival, hopes to emulate last year’s success when the Borough won ‘Best Town Centre’ after a six-year absence from the competition.

She said: “I’d like to thank everyone involved with Bloom and Grow for the tremendous work that has been done over the summer.”

“This has again been a fabulous community effort with local residents, businesses and partners all pitching in with imaginative environmentally sustainable projects.

”We’ve had many complimentary comments again about the improvements made and how refreshing it is to see displays of civic pride.

“We would love to emulate last year’s success, but – whatever the result – I am very proud of the creative schemes we have undertaken.

“We‘ll look to build on all those with even more community involvement as we take the campaign to different parts of the Borough in 2011.”

Friday’s whistle-stop judging tour began at Market Place where they met Blue Coat school pupils and teachers to learn about their growing and planting work. They also viewed the stunning ‘Desert Island’ installation and youngsters enjoying the popular ‘beach’ play area.

Judges then surveyed other town centre improvements – which have included a comprehensive deep-clean of 15,000 square metres of high footfall areas to remove mud, grime and chewing gum.

Their tour took in Albion Street, Curzon Street and High Street before the judges met Jay Florence, of Rushcroft Primary School, who beat 200 local schoolchildren in the B&G banner design competition.

A bus next transported the party along the official judging route down West Street and onto Rochdale Road. This includes stops at:

* the Broadway/Shaw Road junction (Underwater themed installation);
* Oozewood Road (The ‘Bucket and Spade’ sculpture);
* Irk Valley (Site of a community clean up with local Scouts);
* Tandle View Court (Housing 21 scheme encouraging residents to grow and sell local produce);
* the former Rapley’s Volvo Garage (Community groups have produced a series of seven giant banners to transform the site).

The tour closed by returning to the front of the Civic Centre where judges met local Girl Guides who have helped create a spectacular bed of flowers to mark the organisation’s centenary.

Along their journey judges also heard detail about the work of Oldham Council’s partners – including FoD (the former Festival of Diversity), the Business Improvement District (BID), the Future Jobs Fund, District Partnerships, NHS Oldham and First Choice Homes Oldham – whose work has made so many community initiatives possible.