Prenton High School pupils helping to maintain community garden at Victoria Park in Tranmere

Jun 24 2009 by Lorna Hughes, Birkenhead News

STUDENTS from Prenton High School are sowing the seeds of change in Victoria Park.

Twenty Year 8 pupils donned wellies last week to take part in a planting day at the Tranmere park’s community garden.

The planting day is part of a project launched by Riverside Housing, which has been awarded £450,000 in Big Lottery funding to develop green spaces in Tranmere and Rock Ferry.

Prenton High School will help to maintain the community garden, which is in a fenced-off area open to the public.

Their work will support Wirral Council’s bid for Green Flag status for Victoria Park.

The outcome of the bid will be announced in July.

Sian Martin-Baez, regeneration officer for Riverside, said: “Sometimes young people feel excluded from decisions that are made about developing public spaces.

“We want everyone to get involved in making our green spaces places that people want to spend time in. And we are also encouraging people to help maintain these areas to develop a sense of ownership.”

Pupils also took part in a community consultation, set up by social enterprise Green Apprentices, to gauge their view on what they wanted to see in the park. Suggestions included new lighting, benches and a spruced-up cricket pavilion.