Themed garden to boost community (From Echo)

Themed garden to boost community

9:30am Wednesday 20th June 2012 in News By Melissa Hills

A NEW nautical-themed garden is set to built on an unused bit of land near Concord Beach on Canvey.

Joan Liddiard and Janice Payne, both councillors for the South ward, have secured £2,000 of funding from the Canvey East Neighbourhood Committee to create the new part of the existing Lifeguards Garden, off Eastern Esplanade.

The new garden will feature a centrepiece rowing boat filled with plants, along with benches for families to sit and relax on.

The 5th Canvey Air Scouts has also volunteered to look after the plants and help design the garden.

Mrs Payne, who is a member of the Canvey Island Independent Party, said: “This project has been in the pipeline for two years and it’s great to have come this far.

“The Scouts will be helping design the garden and take care of it. It’s a lovely community project for everyone to be involved with.

“We hope to transform this bit of land in time to make it an area where a family can relax after spending a day on the beach.

“The garden is going to have a nautical theme in order to keep it in line with the name of the garden.

“We hope in time to also get some benches installed to really make the most of the area.”

The boat, which has been donated to the project, is called White Waves and comes from a house in Thorney Bay Road.

Mrs Liddiard added: “This is a lovely project and it’s been great to get the Scouts involved, they are going to do a great job.

“We hope to have the boat in place within three weeks and it will be filled with soil and a range of different plants. It’s going to be a lovely area to relax once finished.

“This really is a piece of land which is doing nothing and with the community coming together it’s going to be transformed.”