Council in U-turn over plan to sell off nursery

Scarborough Council’s Manor Road Nursery produces approximately 320,000 plants a year which are used in bedding, hanging baskets, containers and displays across the district. These plants are either grown from seed, bought in as seedling plants and grown on, or purchased as mature plants and shrubs.

However the authority last year unveiled plans to close its Manor Road site and outsource the growing of its plants to an outside company in an attempt to slash costs.

Campaigners were furious at the proposals, claiming Scarborough could risk losing its award-winning floral displays and unique heritage plants if the proposal went ahead.

It was agreed that a task force should be set up to revisit the issue. It has now produced a report which recommends that the council re-thinks its plans and looks at other ways of making the savings needed.

Its report recommends keeping the nursery and in-house service to take care of all the council’s needs for plants, shrubs and trees, and reducing the nursery’s annual budget by at least £34,000 by 2015/2016 in line with projected savings.

It says this can be largely achieved by reviewing existing practices including external buying arrangements and bringing in new ways of working. The group is also recommending the existing grounds maintenance contracts be reviewed and the possible replacement of the boilers at the Manor Road Nursery with biomass boilers is considered.

David Archer, the council’s strategic director, said: “The task group has undertaken a very detailed review of the business case for selling the nursery and in doing so, group members have explored a wide range of options before deciding on their final recommendations.

“The feedback from the community groups that directly benefit from the nursery’s service has been particularly beneficial to this process.”

Coun Janet Jefferson, chairman of the Manor Road Nursery Task Group, says: “As detailed in our report our task group was set up because council wished to review and challenge the cabinet recommendation to council to approve in principle the disposal of the Manor Road Nursery site.

“Council members had two main concerns around suppliers ability to deliver and potential loss of our ‘in-house’ service to fall back on and also loss of valuable community work and social capital.”

At present the authority holds a “substantial stock” of 371 varieties of heritage plants which are unique to the borough and which the task group considered were a very important element of the service provided in its parks and gardens.

In its report, which will be considered by members of the local authority’s Resources Scrutiny Committee next month, the group says: “Heritage plants are of significant historical value and importance to the Borough and we feel that their future should be secured.”

The report adds: “Although there is obviously the opportunity to generate a capital receipt from the sale of the Manor Road Nursery site, this would be very largely offset by the investment needed at the new depot.”

It says if it is decided that a holding area is needed where an external supplier can drop-off plants which can then be brought on or kept until they are needed, investment would be needed in equipment such as polytunnels.

The task group began its review in the autumn, after members of the local authority’s cabinet, earlier backed the sell-off plans.

It has reviewed all aspects of the business case for selling the nursery site in Scarborough.

This included detailed talks with community groups such as the Friends of Manor Road Nursery and local In Bloom groups and the council’s preferred plant supplier, Aldby Field Nurseries Ltd and officers from other councils that already buy in plants from external suppliers

All the recommendations, if adopted, will be subject to ongoing review by the scrutiny committee.

The task group’s recommendations will be presented to members of the resources scrutiny committee on April 9. It will then be presented to members of the council’s cabinet which meets on April 23 and finally full council on May 13 for approval.

[email protected]