A group of volunteers from Ross-on-Wye came together on Sunday, July 31st, to spruce up the Railway Garden, at the bottom of Ledbury Road.

This area had become a cause of concern for local Councillors and police officers, as it was reported that some people were consuming alcohol in the Railway Garden. The Railway Garden is an alcohol-free zone, but the high hedges made it easy for them to hide.

On the Ross-on-Wye Notice Board on Facebook, one local woman, Tracey Reading asked if any other Ross residents were fed up with the “unkempt” state of the Railway Garden, and she was met by an overwhelming response of other community-minded people eager to help.

Tracey told the Ross Gazette that she was very pleased with the outcome. She said:?“(We are) happy with what we achieved, very much a team effort, and the results are just fantastic, still planning on making it look even better.”

Local residents were joined by four Ross Town Councillors, Valerie Coker, Hannah Lerego, Daniel Lister and Richard Mayo. The group worked hard and within a few hours, the space was transformed.

“We had a lot of the cutting done in the first hour and half,” Tracey told the Gazette.?“we litter picked, washed the information boards, cleared up broken glass on the Railway tracks, swept and bagged up rubbish, and we were finished by about 3pm.

“The volunteers were fantastic, I can’t praise them enough. We have got this important part of Ross back; it’s important now to keep it from ever getting that bad again, so having a group of volunteers to help maintain it, will be our next step.”

Tracey added:?“The plan is to try and get a volunteer group together, with the view that the council will let us maintain it.”

The Railway Garden is currently owned by Herefordshire Council, and the group secured permission to tidy the space on Sunday.

If they secure permission to continue to maintain the garden, they will try to raise funds to make the garden look even nicer; they hope to add some colour by planting some flowers, and to replace and repair the benches. “None of us want it going back to how it was,” Tracey said.