Despite this summer’s heatwave, Shrewsbury’s floral features have been declared blooming brilliant after being awarded Gold in the RHS Heart of England in Bloom competition.
The results were announced at an awards ceremony in Burton upon Trent on Thursday.
Shrewsbury achieved Gold in the Small City category in the competition, awarded to ‘exceptional achievers who have demonstrated a consistently high standard in all areas of the judging criteria.’
Judges visited the town on July 26 when the town was judged against exacting criteria for its floral features, environmental responsibility and community involvement.
Councillor Keith Roberts, chairman of the Shrewsbury in Bloom committee, said he was delighted with the results, especially considering this year’s challenging weather conditions: “This is a fantastic result for Shrewsbury and is a great reflection of the work from everyone involved with the Bloom campaign. The Town Council’s horticultural team has had an exceptional summer to deal with, and the floral displays around the town have been superb thanks to the hard work they have undertaken to make sure that everything looks amazing.
“We are absolutely delighted to have achieved Gold standard once again, maintaining Shrewsbury’s enviable reputation as the Town of Flowers.”
Helen Ball, town clerk, added: “We have so many people who work incredibly hard to prepare for the Bloom campaign and I would like to thank everyone who is involved. We see a great team effort from both Shrewsbury Town Council and our partners at Shropshire Council, as well as our businesses who sponsor the traffic islands and the Shrewsbury Business Improvement District for their involvement in organising the purchase of hundreds of hanging baskets this year and, of course, our residents.
“The Bloom Campaign engenders a civic pride in our town and embodies a Team Shrewsbury approach. We encourage our local communities to get involved and I think we have been able to demonstrate that to the judges this year. We always endeavour to improve on our past results and I believe this means that the local residents, visitors, tourists and shoppers have a better experience of Shrewsbury.”
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