1 October 2011

Please note: this news article is in our archive. Articles were correct at time of publication, but should not be relied on for accuracy after the passage of time.

A TEAM of willing volunteers including Town Mayor John Saull, fellow councillors, Town Clerk Julie Holden and "friends" of Chequer Mead, formed a work party last month to clear overgrown shrubs along the front of the theatre and around its parking area.

Theatre manager Hannah Kester, who also put in a morning’s work on the project, said she was very grateful to everyone who had given up their time – especially as it coincided with England’s debut match in the Rugby World Cup.

"Low maintenance shrubs were planted along the front of the theatre when it was built, and they have grown so slowly over the past 15 years that we just didn’t notice how far they had spread.

"But they had got to the stage where they were seriously encroaching over the footpath and the parking spaces, and we realised it was time to cut out all the dead wood and give them a really good prune."

The Council’s outdoor staff hauled away all the trimmings, and the newly-tidied beds will be reviewed next Spring to decide what further action needs to be taken.