Published: September 25, 2007
Disappointment for Burnham-On-Sea in South West Bloom awards

There was disappointment for Burnham-On-Sea this week when the town came bottom in its category in the South West in Bloom awards.

The announcement came at a special ceremony in St Ives on Friday evening (September 21st) when Burnham was named ninth out of ten in the Portman Cup. The tenth town had withdrawn from the competition.

The Portman Cup assesses towns with a population between 12,000 and 18,999, and the judges base their decisions on how each town presents itself in floral displays, permanent horticultural landscaping and environmental issues.

Burnham-On-Sea was handed a bronze award, but local organisers could not hide their disappointment.

Burnham In Bloom Chairman Dave Perrett told Burnham-On-Sea.com: "We've not done well at all. I am very disappointed - we would have liked to have done much better because a lot of effort was put in by many people."

"I've not seen the judges report yet, but expect that it will mention the poor state of the Council's flower beds along The Esplanade and the rubbish in Manor Gardens. Hopefully this will be a wake-up call - we already need to start thinking about next year's entry."

The full results are available on the Southwest In Bloom website here.

Local entries in the town will be highlighted at a ceremony inthe town's Jaycroft Road council chambers on October 12th.