EVERYTHING in the garden will be rosy when the Ockment Centre transforms a tarmaced playground into a haven of flora and fauna for the whole community thanks to a grant of almost £60,000 from the Countryside Agency.

The centre is the first project in the South West to receive funding from the agency's Doorstep Greens programme and only the third in the country.

Manager of the Ockment Centre Lindsey Svensson, who has been working towards this project for three years, is overjoyed.

She said: 'We're thrilled to receive the grant. More than 20,000 people use the centre each year and a community garden has been very high on the local wish-list.

'Now, thanks to the Countryside Agency and the involvement of our community, we are able to turn that wish into a reality.'

The grant will be used to transform the large playground into a 'flexible, raised garden on different levels' through an innovative design by Okehampton garden consultant and BBC Radio Devon gardening expert Tim Argles.

He will incorporate large moveable planters which can be joined to different sized borders with built-in seating areas. Other places will be developed for play, performance and wildlife alongside a central wisteria walkway linking the two buildings, a central water feature and gazebo.

Access will also be opened up to the riverbank which runs adjacent to the centre.

The new garden, which is intended to be completed by August, will be fully accessible to all community members and centre users, including the disabled, elderly and young children.

Doorstep Greens is all about creating more green open space areas close to people's homes in urban and rural places throughout England.

Lindsey said being situated in a built-up area surrounded by terraced houses without gardens, the nearest green space was Simmons Park, a kilometre away.

'People will be able to come here and just sit and relax — it's going to be a huge community resource,' she said.

The Ockment Centre, which runs a range of courses, an internet cafe, creche facilities and houses other voluntary organisations, was offered a 'Millennium Green' grant a couple of years ago but it fell through when the centre could not meet the terms of the lease conditions.

Pupils from Okehampton Primary School will be involved in the garden's construction and the centre welcomes anyone else who would be willing to get their hands dirty!