More than 150 years of municipal plant growing is set to come to an end next year when Kirklees Council’s nursery closes.
Gardeners at the council’s nursery in Bradley, Huddersfield, have been told it will shut in March.
The nursery, which supplies hanging baskets and bedding plants for parks and gardens across Kirklees, is set to be sold off for industrial development, the Examiner understands.
According to a source, council chiefs had looked at finding a new, smaller site for the nursery but have now abandoned plans to relocate.
Instead the council will stop growing its own plants and buy what they need from commercial suppliers.
Staffing at the nursery has been reduced over the last two years with three gardeners taking early retirement.
The nursery is currently run by a three-day-a-week manager, one full-time gardener and five seasonal workers hired for the spring and summer.
The seasonal staff will finish at the end of October and the two other workers could be redeployed within the council.
Staff are said to be “devastated” at how the closure has been handled and a source said: “The staff are dedicated and love their job and enjoy the praise of the public for their work.
“They were told in August that the nursery will close in March, ending a 150-year tradition of growing. All that history, skill and expertise will be lost without trace.”
The small team is responsible for some 400,000 plants for beds, hanging baskets and floral display in Kirklees every year.
This summer they produced almost 2,000 hanging baskets – and a four-man team goes around the district five days a week watering the displays.
Using special machinery some 60,000 winter bedding plants were planted out in just two-and-a-half days by four gardeners.
The nursery also made special displays for last year’s Tour de France and the French-themed farm which appeared in St George’s Square in July - you can look back at that fantastic event here.
The gardeners also create civic floral displays for the likes of the mayor-making ceremony, Royal visits and concerts at Huddersfield Town Hall. They also helped restore and stock the conservatories at Greenhead Park in Huddersfield.
Staff are said to be angry at how the loss of plant production has been handled by the council.
The plans were briefly mentioned in a Cabinet report in July which approved controversial cuts to grass cutting.
The report, headed: Parks and Open Spaces Maintenance Standards, said that “400,000 plants per year to go into beds, hanging baskets and floral displays” in Kirklees and that the assistant director for place, Joanne Bartholomew, “be delegated the responsibility to find the most cost effective solution to the future provision of seasonal plants.”
The report added: “New service standards in planting and floral displays will be implemented by April 2016.”
The source said: “The people of Kirklees are rightly proud of their flowers. Last year there were 120 barrier planters out in our towns and they lift your heart when you see them.
“The staff know there have to be cutbacks but it’s the way they’ve been done that has upset them. It’s such a shame.”
A council spokesman said: “We are continuing to consider options for the supply of plants.
“As part of this an exercise will be carried out to assess the capacity of local suppliers to meet our needs, however no final decision on the preferred option has been made at this point.”
The council said previously that Bradley Nursery was “under review” like all its land and buildings.
