Saturday 30 September 2017

A blooming great result for Mid & East Antrim at Ulster in Bloom awards announcement


 The results of the 2017 Translink Ulster in Bloom Competition were announced on September 21 officially recognising Northern Ireland’s top gardening talent. 

The annual horticultural competition encourages cities, towns and villages right across Northern Ireland to look their best, boosting civic pride through beautiful plant and floral displays. Now in its 39th year, all 11 local councils participated in the 2017 competition which attracted 160 entries.

Speaking after the results announcement Deputy Mayor of Mid & East Antrim, Cllr Cheryl Johnston, said she is delighted that Mid and East Antrim has once again bloomed scooping twelve awards in total, and winning in four categories.



Cllr Johnston said “Whitehead won the Community Rail Halt Award, with Greenisland coming third in this category. Carrickfergus Station came joint second in the Best Station Award category, sharing second place with Derry-Londonderry.”

“Glenarm and Gracehill came joint third in the Village Category, Cullybackey placed third in the Large Village category, and Ahoghill came second in the Small Town category. Larne placed second in the Town category, and our Borough did particularly well in the Large Town Award category with Carrickfergus coming a close second to Ballymena who won the category.”

“I am also pleased to announce that Carrickfergus won the Special Award for Biodiversity, in recognition of efforts to support biodiversity, and Ballymena won the Roses in Towns Award, thanks to the blooming rose displays around the town.”

Cllr Johnston concluded “I am absolutely thrilled with these results as Mid and East Antrim continues to bloom. Congratulations to all the community groups and volunteers who have put in so much effort and to our hard working Parks & Open Spaces staff who support the ‘Ulster in Bloom’ campaign 365 days a year.”

“I would also like to mention John Hood who was shortlisted for the Ulster Bus Community Champion Award for his longstanding contribution to Ahoghill in Bloom. Although John did not win on this occasion it is great to see volunteer’s efforts recognised and John is still a community champion to us!”

Speaking at the results announcement ceremony, Translink Chairman, Frank Hewitt, said “Congratulations to all the 2017 Translink Ulster in Bloom winners and runners-up! It’s been a highly competitive year with such an impressive standard of entries and we’ve seen a number of new locations reach the top spots. We’d like to thank all the local councils, businesses and community groups who invest their time, effort and expertise throughout the year to make their area a more attractive place to live and visit.
  
Alderman Freda Donnelly, Vice President, Northern Ireland Local Government Association, said: “As Vice President of NILGA, it is my pleasure to convey the Association’s admiration, encouragement and congratulations to everyone who has participated and contributed to the 2017 Translink Ulster in Bloom Competition.  The competition celebrates the successes that can be achieved when councils, “Bloom” committees, residents and businesses, come together to take pride in the places where they live and work, creating a better environment for everyone to live in and share. 

“With the ongoing partnership support of the councils and our sponsors Translink, NILGA is committed to building on the culture of the competition and growing it into the future, harnessing the opportunities provided through council community planning powers.  People in local places can really influence local decisions, which is great for democracy and great for Northern Ireland.”


The Translink Ulster in Bloom Competition is co-ordinated by the Northern Ireland local Government Association (NILGA). 

Friday 29 September 2017

The Tallest Sunflowers in the Borough

The Borough’s tallest sunflower competition winners have been announced.
In first place with a magnificent height of 3m 20cms is the Ahoghill Community Rainbows. Runners-up are Charlotte (11), Jessica (9) and Lucy Bell (7) from Kells with a mighty 3m 5cm sunflower and Cullybackey’s Amy McAlister (12) with a blooming 2m 98cm tall sunflower.
In April Mid and East Antrim Borough Council distributed 5000 packets of free sunflower seed to schools across the Borough to get children growing as part of the MEA In Bloom initiative.


Full list of winners and runners up can be found at www.midandeastantrim.gov.uk/inbloom 

Thursday 28 September 2017

Community is blooming in Mid & East Antrim

The winners and runners-up in the Mid and East Antrim In Bloom general categories - Best Kept Front Garden, Best Kept Front Container Garden, Kept Community Planting Scheme, Best Kept Allotment Garden, Best Kept Commercial Premises, and the Gardening for Wildlife Award – were announced on 24 August.


Our In Bloom competitions showcase the best of our Borough, from front gardens to allotments, local businesses and community groups, all working to enhance our towns and villages. There is also the Gardening for Wildlife Award which celebrates those doing their bit for biodiversity.

The quality and diversity of the entries to the competition this year were extremely high. Well done to everyone.

The winners and runners up, listed below, will be invited to the Mid & East Antrim in Bloom awards ceremony in October.

Best Kept Front Garden
Winner:  Elizabeth Boyd, Cullybackey
Runner-Up: John O’Neill, Carrickfergus
Runner-Up: Janet Wilson, Ballymena

Best Kept Front Container Garden
Winner: Eric Bailey, Islandmagee
Runner-Up: Josie Adams, Whitehead
Runner-Up: Alex Foye, Larne

Best Kept Community Planting Scheme
Winner: Windsor Community Garden, Whitehead
Runner-Up: Ballygally Biodiversity Group
Runner-Up: Lizzies Flower Bed, Glenarm

Best Kept Allotment Garden
Winner: Adrian Johnston, Greenisland Allotment Gardens
Runner-Up: Stephen Hanna, Eden Allotment Gardens
Runner-Up: Alfie Hamilton, Larne Allotment Gardens

Best Kept Commercial Premises
Winner: The Nest, Broughshane
Runner-Up: The Smithfield Arms, Ballymena
Runner-Up: Martha & Mary’s Vintage Tea Room, Ahoghill

Gardening for Wildlife Award
Winner: Julie Hayes, Ballymena
Runner-Up: Cullybackey Community Partnership
Runner-Up: Charles Sheils Charity, Carrickfergus

Well done everyone!