Recently the local retirement village at Elmbridge Cranleigh entered their ‘business premises’ for the South and South East in Bloom competition for the Business Landscape of the Year competition. The Judge, Ann Hayward, who works for the Parks Department at Waverley Borough Council, and the local Parish Councillor, Cathy Gould, toured the village, covering a fair amount of the 28 acres of it, to enjoy the views across the meadow, the walk in the woods and the stroll through the allotments and the courts.
Taking notes, and photographs, they saw the extent of the landscapes, the wildlife, the flowers and beds, croquet lawn, arbours, pond, the street furniture and the long grass area, taking away some ideas for their own uses and hopefully marking the village well for the awards which will be made in mid-September.
Jane Briggs, the chairman of the Residents Association said; “it was a wonderful day, the judge and the Councillor met over 20 residents just going through the courts. We also visited the craft room, the allotments and met some staff including the gardeners, handyman, laundry workers and restaurant employees as well as the village manager Chetan Sharma. The judge remarked on what a lovely ‘buzz’ there was in the residents’ lounge where there was a display of photographs from when the village was a school before 1980 and more recent photographs from 2001 onwards.”
She also said; “I am hoping for a silver award which will be well deserved for all the hard work put in by the staff as well as the residents. Residents washed down benches and checked everything was just perfect for the visit and the gardeners went the extra mile to make sure the grounds were at their very best”.
