Packed Athenaeum shows its interest in the Abbey Gardens future

By MattRisby | Sunday, December 11, 2011, 11:18

Scores of Bury St Edmunds residents and visitors showed their interest in the future of the Abbey Gardens on Saturday at an exhibition on Saturday.

The Abbey Gardens in Bury St Edmunds are set for a big 2012, with a possible £1m of funding coming to rennovate them

St Edmundsbury Borough Council is set to lodge a bid for £1m worth of lottery funding which could transform parts of the popular town centre tourist attraction for the forseeable future.

At yesterday's Athenaeum forum, one of the main issues seems to be the access points to the gadens and improving them as well as making more use of the River Lark which trickles through the rear of the gardens.

Visitors were able to see plans and photographs of the gardens and also able to add their own ideas of what they would like to see the possible £1m spent on.

With the decision of the funding set to dominate the news in Bury St Edmunds through the first half of 2012, the Abbey Gardens Friends have a meeting, also at the Athenaeum on January 4 at 6.30pm.

Anyone interested in the future of the gardens is urged to go and can register their support to the group at www.stedmundsbury.gov.uk/sebc/play/AGFriends.cfm or email Pauline Byford at pabyford@btinternet.com

The final result of whether the Abbey Gardens gets the funding should be known by July 2012.