Birmingham City Council are considering proposals to close Kings Heath Park Nursery/Garden Centre for good as part of the re-organisation of the parks department. They also plan to drastically reduce the amount of plants produced and sold to the public at Cofton Garden Centre.
I have launched a petition calling the council to think again, look at other options and reconsider this short sighted decision.
Kings Heath Park Nursery has served the local and wider community for many years providing a large variety of good quality, competitively priced plants in an attractive and welcoming setting within the park as well as a popular floristry service. People come from far beyond the local area to purchase their summer bedding and other plants. The floristry service offers a high class service for businesses and the public, offering bouquets, banquet, wedding and funeral flowers as well as providing floral displays for council functions.
Closing the nursery will not only deprive Kings Heath Park of one of its major attractions, at a time when the council is trying to increase footfall, but it will also have a knock on impact on the nearby Cartland Tea Rooms that also brings income to the park and to the charity Thrive which operates from the old TV garden to offer therapeutic gardening programmes to people with a defined health, social or educational need.
The glass houses will not be maintained if the nursery is closed and will be vulnerable to vandalism. Once beyond repair they are unlikely to be restored and these valuable community buildings will be lost for good.
Plug plants will no longer be bought and grown on by parks staff at the nurseries which will have an impact on the sale of hanging baskets and floral displays to BIDS and charities like Moseley in Bloom to enhance the city retail areas.
Nursery staff have been given very little information or notice of the closure and yet could offer a big insight into increasing the commercial opportunities of the nursery site.
Little thought appears to have gone into business development or exploring other models which could keep the nursery open, for example utilising volunteers and considering use of S106 monies or other funding streams.
Kings Heath Park Nursery/Garden Centre is a valuable and important part of the Kings Heath Community – the (now closed) School of Horticultural Training is in a listed building with English Heritage and offered training and apprenticeships. A history of Kings Heath Park’s association with horticulture can be found on Thrive’s website:
https://www.thrive.org.uk/how-we-help/regional-centres-and-programmes/birmingham/thrive-birmingham-history
My petition calls on Birmingham City Council to recognise the importance of Kings Heath Park Nursery as a community asset and to do everything in its power to keep it open, growing and selling plants to the public.
Councillors Izzy Knowles, Philip Mills & Moseley Liberal Democrats 