THE CALSTOCK in Bloom team are back in action with big plans for the village this year.

At the weekend, the team were busy digging out the old growth in one of the beds in the village car park getting ready for a fresh design in preparation for this year’s Britain in Bloom.

Colin Bates, Chair of Calstock in Bloom is optimistic about this year’s plans which focus on sustainability and community involvement.

Colin said: ‘The plans are evolving, but we generally have two themes. The first one is sustainability, and that was driven last year by the drought and the implications of that.

‘We’ll be planting the bed with drought-tolerant plants and going down that theme of trying to do our most so we don’t have to be watering all the time.

‘We’ll be putting a footpath in so it opens up the bed to people and a bug hotel. We’ve also got a compost bin that we’re going to redesign so it’s in keeping with the history of the valley so it’s going to look like a wagon.’

To incorporate some of the valley’s heritage, Colin also conducted research into which daffodils were grown in the valley historically and the team have planted fortune daffodils to provide a connection to the heritage of the valley.

‘The other theme is getting more community involvement’, said Colin.

‘Giving the opportunity for residents to get involved so they don’t feel they have to come and join the group on a permanent basis, but can dip in and out.

‘Giving people the chance to improve the appearance of the village and to take pride in where they live.’