Members of a conservation group said that they were “horrified” by a council plan to replace lawns in the Brighton war memorial garden with a bed of wild flowers.
And their criticism has been echoed by former council leader Mary Mears who said that it added insult to injury after the memorial was left in a dreadful state for VJ Day on Saturday 15 August.
The criticisms came after a presentation to Brighton and Hove City Council’s Conservation Advisory Group by council official Oliver Spratley.
Roger Amerena, the joint chair of the group, said: “There’s a manicured lawn which repeats the style in front of the war memorial itself.
“The grassed area either side of the central path are to be a bed of local wild flowers.
“We weren’t happy about it at all. I commented that (we were) horrified. I said that those of us that take part in ceremonies there know that the grassed area is used for seating and for the band.”
He said that the proposal detracted from the solemnity of the garden of remembrance as well as being impractical given the thousands who attend services of remembrance there.
Councillor Mears, who is also chairman of the Brighton and Hove Royal British Legion, said that after this was another upsetting example of the council not properly understanding the significance of the war memorial to veterans.
Late last week the Conservative councillor said: “This week the council forgot VJ Day 75, leaving the war memorial in a terrible state.
“One of veterans who attended was very upset and couldn’t understand how the city could leave the memorial in such a state ahead of such an important event.
“If this was not bad enough, a civic group has recently found out that the council has plans afoot to remove several grassed areas at the Old Steine War Memorial replace them with beds of local wild flowers under the Valley Gardens Stage 3 project.
“One local group made contact this week to say how horrified they were at this proposal from the council.
“The grassed areas which the council plans to replace with wild flower beds are used at remembrance services both for the seating of participants and spectators including veterans and dignitaries and for the band to set up and play.
“How would a remembrance service work under these new plans?
“Perhaps these schemes are being formulated by people who have never attended a remembrance service.”
Councillor Mears said that she would write to the new council leader Phélim Mac Cafferty and chief executive Geoff Raw about the issue.
As much as I love wild flowers, I don’t think change for changes
sake (under whatever guise it’s called), is appropriate. There’s more change than a lot of us can cope with at the moment,so really have to ask the council to slow down, and have some respect.
Absence of real, mindful thought went into this. Its a childishly giddy proposal that just thinks ‘where is there a space’ and not what the space values involved are about.
Virtue is as virtue does !
Well said Franny many of us like seeing wild flowers, sadly when they die off they look like a weedy mess. The War Memorial at the Steine is not the place for them. This is a place for respect so leave well alone we don’t need another hot mess.
Probably want to put a cycle lane through the middle
Perhaps a war memorial and is ill placed in the centre of Brighton. Why not move it to a more solemn place.
An interesting point. But the Memorial is there. And needs attention. That said, I think the dead would prefer to sustain varied flowers than bland turf.
Grass is a wild plant too and its vivid green is not ‘bland turf’; it’s beautiful
The turf is there as a simple colour to frame the memorial, not because turf is needed.
This is not a place for flowerbeds, formal or otherwise.
A wildflower garden may sound like a colourful alternative but is in fact a cheap form of gardening used by a cash-strapped parks department.
The wild flowers can look great for a moment but they last about two weeks and then they look a mess for the rest of the year – suggesting neglect.
Someone will suggest turning the Pavilion Gardens into a meadow next. If these councillors can’t adapt to living in a city perhaps they should move to a country village.
Pure laziness of the council tbh.
Another money saving idea because they don’t want to pay for gardeners to cut the grass.
It will make it look as shabby as the rest of the city whilst paying out millions on unneeded follies & cycle lanes.