Penny-pinching council to cut back on hanging baskets to 'save energy'

A council is set to cut back on its award-winning hanging baskets by more than two thirds with the aims of improving its environmental footprint and slashing maintenance costs.

Councillors in Cheltenham have backed the move to reduce the number of hanging baskets in the town from over 300 to just 100.

Window boxes at both the Gloucestershire town's Municipal offices and Town Hall will also see their numbers cut by 96.

The decision has also been made to the change the annual bedding-based plants in Cheltenham's Long Gardens with perennial plants.

The council's meeting report claim the cuts would 'require less water and energy in the plants production and maintenance'.

The council has also claimed that with these changes, it will save just shy of £50,000 per annum, pushing them closer towards their target of a £500k reduction in costs associated with environmental services.

Local residents have expressed their ire with Cheltenham Council's decision, with many claiming that the floral displays are an 'absolutely essential' characteristic of the community.

One Cheltenham resident named Steph, who declined to provide her surname, stated; 'The council offices used to have a wonderful, spectacular display of window boxes and hanging baskets.

'But now the council are selling that building so they may not feel that they really are that bothered anymore because they are not having a big part in the town centre and it will be down to the individual shops and businesses to fund it'.

Steph went on to add that Cheltenham town centre 'is not what it used to be' and that the hanging baskets were an essential part in stopping it from 'looking sad and tired'.

Husband and wife pairing Geoff and Jacque Gibbons raised their concerns with the new edict, particularly its potential impact on local wildlife and pets.

'I was happy with the hanging baskets. I don't want any pesticides being sprayed (on new perennial bedding plants) around the town which the council do,' Mr. Gibbins said.

Jacque went on to add; 'Our dog gets poisoned every year from the pesticides... I have sympathy with the council, I really do. But I think it's a shame. Spreading joy is money well spent. We are very upset about these pesticides'. 

Not all locals are united in their discontent at the floral cost-cutting policies of Cheltenham council, with some believing the additional revenues saved could be better spent elsewhere in the community.

One local resident named Jane, who also declined to give her surname, stated her belief that whilst the hanging baskets were 'pretty', that more 'sustainable landscaping is needed'.

'The amount of man hours and watering and everything that it takes to keep those (hanging baskets), really goes against the way the country should be moving,' she added.

Cheltenham council saw its report into environmental cost-saving measures approved by its cabinet last week, which stated; 'The council has a long tradition of planting its central green spaces with seasonal bedding plants in the Spring and Summer, as well as installing hanging baskets and window boxes through high footfall areas of the town centre during the summer.

'The council declared a climate emergency in 2019 and carried a motion earlier this year declaring recognition of the nature emergency and committing, amongst other things, to embed nature's recovery at the heart of all strategic plans, policy areas and decision-making processes. 

'Current planting practices utilise seasonal plants that are not considered favourable in terms of their production costs, benefit to nature, and intensive maintenance requirements'.