Preston Park rose garden to be restored

Herbaceous borders in the Rose Garden at Preston Park will bloom beautifully next summer after winning a public vote for their restoration.

Residents were asked to choose between two potential projects after Brighton & Hove City Council secured around £150,000 funding from car parking fees and local developers to be spent in Preston Park.

The proposed projects were restoring the Coronation Garden (the former blind garden next to Preston Manor) and replanting the herbaceous borders at the edge of Rose Garden.

Around 250 people voted and the results were very close with the Rose Garden winning by just six votes. Work on the garden, which includes clearing existing planting, redesigning and replanting the borders and installing heritage benches in the bays, is due to start soon and be completed by Summer 2018.

There’s also good news for those who voted for the Coronation Garden as the council is hoping to have enough funding left over to begin restoration work next year returning it back to a wildflower meadow.

Cllr Gill Mitchell, chair of the Environment, Transport and Sustainability Committee, said: “It’s really important that local people are involved in helping making decisions over how money is spent in their local parks, and I’d like to thank all those who voted.

“The results showed strong support for both projects so I’m very pleased that the funding is likely to cover both the cost of work on the Rose Garden and the beginning of work on the Coronation Garden.

“We will continue to seek opportunities to attract more funding for our beautiful and much-loved city parks.”

The public vote and projects put forward are part of the Preston Park Conservation Management Plan, a joint initiative with the Friends of Preston Park and the council’s Cityparks department. The council hopes to attract further funding to support additional projects identified in the Management Plan.