GREEN-fingered volunteers of the West Byfleet Community Gardening Group (WBCGG) hope to add a touch of colour for commuters using the local railway station.
The gardening enthusiasts are being trained and accredited so that they can work safely at West Byfleet station, which it has adopted as one of its projects, creating a planted area on the platforms and surrounding area.
The group was first formed by three volunteers. Now they have a dozen weekly volunteers and 150 followers on Facebook who are keen gardeners willing to give time, energy and spare plants to green up the area.
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In addition to its gardening, the group also plans to approach local artists and community groups about repainting a wall outside Claremont Cars that has been covered with graffiti. The landlord and manager of Claremont Cars is giving them free artistic license to re-spray the graffitied wall with a fresh new image and Louisa Abrahams, a member of WBCGG, said: “It would be fantastic to have a striking, bright image, inspired by nature.”
Rebecca Bradshaw, one of the founding members of the group, said: “One of the outcomes that the group prides itself on is that it really is a community group with nearly all of our plants being donated by members of the community. For example, recently the new owners of a house where a rose lover had tended his roses for 30 years, donated about 20 of these cherished bushes which the group have planted around the station. It's lovely to see this person's love of roses continue and shared within the community.
“Other shrubs and flowering plants have been donated by members of the group that have cleared weeds and litter to give all the plants a new life and bring hope and colour to commuters.”
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Donations for the station project have also come from local businesses including Keeble Brown, who are developing the old Sheer House site. They have given two large white concrete planters which were outside the demolished parade of shops and are being planted up and placed outside the railway ticket office.
The group has also approached local garden centres asking for donations of any plants that are past their best that can be used in the beds around the station.
The enthusiasts are also in talks with Woking Borough Council about adding plant interest and colour to Birch Green. They are also hoping to initiate the planting of a ‘Bee Highway’, inspired by a project in Oslo, where towns and villages are planted with bee friendly plants to create a series of areas that will encourage bees and other pollinators to pass through the area.
* For information about volunteering, donations of money, plants or time, email: [email protected]