Inspired by the planting work on Somerset Road, we were keen to introduce initiatives to encourage residents of all ages to help inject some green into our neighbourhood, starting with lower Bonner Hill Road.
On 8 March 2022 the Kingston Town Neighbourhood Committee unanimously agreed to provide a Neighbourhood Community Grant to fund the first part of the SSRA's Growing Places campaign, with additional funding secured later in the year for bulbs and plants.
Given the chosen location, the planted zone and new planters have already brought lots of joy to a wide number of Norbiton residents who regularly use the roads, from those visiting Kingston Cemetery and Crematorium to people accessing the Cambridge Road Estate. Scroll down to see the year-long transformation!
PHASE 1: Summer 2022
- With funding secured in March, the width restrictors at the lower end of Bonner Hill Road were converted from a large expanse of concrete into a green zone.
- The initial proposal was that, once cleared, the area would be planted with one small street tree on each side and floral beds around them. However, due to concerns from the highways team about utilities services, it was deemed too risky to dig deeper than 10cm, meaning our initial plans for bigger
- plants had to be revised.
- We therefore used the summer to experiment to see which plants might survive / thrive in the giant window box, watering heavily over summer and tending to the weeds and planting bulbs over winter.
PHASE 2: Summer 2023
- Following conversations with Glendale and The Community Brain, in July 23 our handy volunteers were able to build tiered planters on each side of the road using reclaimed railway sleepers.
- With the support of Julie and the Glendale crew, Sunflower Street members, plus ongoing praise from people passing by, in August we were finally able to plant a host of attractive shrubs and colourful flowers that aren't simply shallow rooting plants.
- And what a transformation it is too! We hope you'll agree that the new planters add visual interest to the street scene, whilst maintaining the safety of the traffic calming measure. Best of all, we've already had lots of lovely messages from a wide range of people who regularly use the road and are looking forward to planting bulbs for some spring jollity next year.
- Excitingly, our little gardening project also came third in Kingston Society's Townscape Awards People's Choice category in autumn 2023 - proof that small actions can have a big impact!
