Land army clean up

2:04pm Wednesday 3rd October 2001

A forgotten patch of land behind a block of flats in Borehamwood is being turned into a community garden by residents.

The land, behind Gaitskell House in Howard Drive, has become an eyesore over the years, with people using it as a place to dump furniture and rubbish.

But now Gaitskell House's residents have joined forces with the environmental charity Groundwork Hertfordshire to bring life back to the land, and on Thursday they spent the day clearing away rubbish.

Linnea Godfrey, the charity's community project manager, said that with luck and good weather the garden would be ready to open by Christmas, and said when complete it would feature park benches and flowers. She said the work undertaken on Thursday, to clear the rubbish from the site, was one of the most important parts of the project, and that volunteers could now concentrate on laying out the garden and planting bulbs.

The project is being supported with money from the National Lottery, Ridgehill Housing Association, Barclays Bank, the Borehamwood Community Partnership and Environments for Everyone.