Tidy Randalstown is seeking approval from Antrim and Newtownabbey Borough Council for permission to make a bid for a community garden designed by an expert horticulturist.
The community group has earmarked a section of land owned by the local authority at the viaduct for a makeover.
Tidy Randalstown requires the permission of the land owner ahead of making an application to the Royal Horticultural Society’s (RHS) Garden Day Fund.
The RHS is working in partnership with leading garden designers to deliver community gardens worth up to £50,000 to celebrate Garden Day 2022 by creating “an inclusive and welcoming space for everyone in the local community to enjoy”.
The RHS says: “To celebrate RHS Garden Day 2022, we’ll be gifting a new garden to one community in each of the UK’s four home nations. Working in partnership with leading garden designers, each garden will be worth up to £50,000.”
The RHS is prioritising projects which demonstrate the well-being or environmental benefits of a new garden, inclusivity by involving a diverse range of groups and individuals, and those which raise awareness of the importance of plants and gardening and employ gardening practices that support and benefit the environment.
If successful, the garden project will take place this spring.
Meanwhile, Tidy Randalstown is set to represent Northern Ireland in the small town category of this year’s Britain in Bloom competition. Recently the town won the best small town category in Ulster in Bloom.
The Mayor of Antrim and Newtownabbey, Councillor Billy Webb, said:
“The success and beauty of Randalstown is due to the hours of voluntary work by the local community and I can’t praise them enough for their efforts. It has been a pleasure to support and encourage them and I wish them every success at the competition.”