Turf War At Chiswick Town Hall

Local group annoyed as Council allow artificial grass in flower bed

A local group which piloted a wildflower scheme at Turnham Green is annoyed that Hounslow Council has allowed artificial grass to be used in a flower-bed outside Chiswick Town Hall.

The Friends of Turnham Green says while they are delighted to see something being done to remedy the long-standing "shabbiness" of the flower bed, they do not feel an artificial lawn is "appropriate" for the site.

"The plastic grass is completely out of keeping both with the historic value of the Town Hall itself and also with the Friends' long-standing commitment to improving bio-diversity on and around the Green", says a letter from the Friends to the Council's contractors Fusion Lifestyle.

Three years ago the FOTG piloted a large scale wild flower scheme on Turnham Green which has been popular with locals and they have called for a project outside the Town Hall that would "work more harmoniously within the ethos of that scheme".

The Friends said that while they appreciated that the Council and its contractors Fusion Lifestyle are looking for "cost effective solutions", they would be happy to talk about running a volunteer maintenance scheme in partnership.

A Council spokesman said: “The area has been laid with artificial grass for a trial period, and we would welcome comments both positive and negative on the area. Following the trial period all comments made will be considered and a decision will be made based on the responses.”

The project was carried out by a local landscape company and a spokesman said he hoped it would be amicably resolved.

A spokesman for the company which provided the artificial grass product said: "The previous area was in a rather sorry state. In my opinion, the local voluntary group have jumped to the chance to complain about something attractive in the area (once they found out it was in fact artificial) but have done very little maintain in previous occasions. Artificial Grass is highly natural looking and is fully permeable. This is a highly practical solution in comparison to Natural Turf."

May 13, 2014