Fernery and Aviary Saved

The Fernery and Aviary at Southport's Botanic Gardens have been saved.

John Dodd is "chuffed to bits"

The decision was taken at the Sefton Council budget meeting on Thursday 1st March. The original Labour budget proposed a £50,000 cut to the Fernery, Aviary and nursery shop at Botanic Gardens, as well as the Conservatory in Hesketh Park. These cuts were reversed as councillors from all parties responded to calls to save the famous attractions.

Local Lib Dem Councillor John Dodd has been vocal in opposition to the threatened closures. He hailed the result, saying, “I am chuffed to bits. There has been a fantastic grass roots campaign to defend these jewels in Southport's crown."

John Dodd Speaks Out on the Fernery

Lib Dem councillor John Dodd has spoken out against Labour’s proposed budget cuts in funding for the Botanic Gardens fernery and aviary.

John Dodd is fighting to save the Fernery

John Dodd declared “Botanic Gardens is the jewel in Sefton’s crown. The fernery and aviary are two of the popular attractions that draw visitors to the Botanic Gardens and to Southport as a whole.  It is outrageous that, due to further budget cuts, they may be forced to close.

"The road-train and boats were casualties of previous cuts and again, last year, the Botanic Gardens took another tremendous hit. ENOUGH IS ENOUGH!

"I vehemently support the retention of both the aviary and the fernery.  I will continue to campaign to this effect up to, and including Thursday 1st March when Sefton Council’s budget meeting takes place at Bootle Town Hall.

"I simply cannot take a back seat and casually observe the brutal, continuous destruction of Southport‘s rich heritage."

Concern over Labour's Southport cuts

Local Lib Dem councillors remain concerned about a number of cuts included in council budget proposals from the controlling Sefton Labour Group.

Three main areas where Labour's cuts will particularly hit Southport are tourism, the fernery and aviary at Botanic Gardens, and charges to sports clubs. Although the Tourist Information Centre itself looks safe for now, Labour's proposals still call for a cut of £27,000 in the tourism marketing budget. The Lib Dems are calling for that cut to be over-turned.

On Botanic Gardens, John Dodd said "I share the widespread concern about the impact closure of the Botanic Gardens fernery and aviary would have. With my colleagues, I have been fighting to save these precious resources. I am pleased that many councillors now agree with us that the fernery and aviary should be saved."

The Labour budget also proposes massive increases in charges to local sports clubs. John Dodd added "In some cases sports clubs will have to pay over 300% more. This is simply far too much. We are calling for a much smaller increase, and for any extra charges to be staggered over two years."

Botanic Gardens Fernery the Best in England

The Daily Telegraph newspaper gardening column lists the fernery in Southport's Botanic Gardens as the best in England and the second best in the whole of the UK.

The Telegraph describes our fernery as "A splendid example of one of the many public ferneries constructed in the nineteenth century. Opened in 1876 and recently restored, the walls are covered in tufa, steps lead up to viewing platforms above grottoes at each end, and mirrors reflect endless ferny vistas"

John Dodd and his fellow councillors will fight to save the Botanic Gardens fernery and the aviary from the proposed cuts that the Labour Leader of Sefton Council decided to consult on.

An online version of the Telegraph gardening column about ferneries is here.