Palm Trees and Great Minds.

I like Gordon Oliver’s palm tree and during a recent trip to London I bumped into its little friend! There in the middle of a roundabout at the Milbank end of Lambeth Bridge is a spectacular palm tree. I was heading to Waterloo Station for the train back to Torbay but paused for a while to photograph the beast complete with a London bus in the background. Can it be that Torbay’s mayor is indeed a visionary? Great minds thinking alike and that sort of thing perhaps? Hard to say but obviously Boris Johnson has a similar empathy with the palm tree.

Those who brave the Kingskerwell journey will know that the famous palm tree is now missing, but we shouldn’t worry because it is going to reappear when the super-roundabout at the Torbay end of the new road is built. Now I know that many people started to jump up and down when the palm tree first appeared saying that it was a waste of money and of no interest. I have to disagree! For me it is a brilliant statement and a spectacular welcome to the English Riviera. In these troubled times to have something that lifts the spirit is simply brilliant and the palm tree does that for me. For those heading along the new road the palm tree will stand proud offering an almost exotic welcome.

More palm trees have appeared locally of course and recently a couple popped up at each end of the Hollicombe pedestrian refuge on the busy Torquay to Paignton coast road. Once again this little display adds a huge amount of atmospheric ambiance to what was once a dull stretch of road. Of course a new housing estate is about to spring up on the site of the old gasworks at Hollicombe and the pedestrian refuge will provide an oasis of safety as residents head to the beach whilst seemingly endless traffic thunders between Torquay and Paignton. The additional greenery is more than welcome.

The thing is that at the moment large chunks of green space seem to have a habit of suddenly disappearing and it isn’t until they’ve gone that we sadly realise what we have lost. One such event is the proposed redevelopment of Armada Park in Torquay which is likely to be a less accessible green space as a local football club seek permission to expand. This will inevitably mean car parking, clubhouse facility (toilets, changing rooms, food et cetera) and playing area screening. Armada Park is a hugely popular open space and much used by the local community. This is something to think carefully about as I feel certain local councillors Nicole Amil, Michael Hytch and Mark Poutney will be doing. I gather that the Cockington, Chelston and Livermead Community Partnership will be holding a public meeting at 7pm on the 7^th October at the Saint Peter’s Centre Queensway to discuss the possible lease of Armada Park. You have a voice and hopefully an opinion! I’m pleased that the meeting is being held at the Saint Peter’s Centre because this is a focal point for the local community.

Thinking about community focal points I came across an interesting place recently whilst wandering around the streets of London. Age Exchange is a community space in Blackheath which has somehow managed to unite the young and old with common purpose. The building has a little café, computers, a small library and meeting rooms. When I was there the people mix included older folk, teenagers, working people popping in for a break, mothers, toddlers and an assortment of others all enjoying the pleasant atmosphere. It seems to me that somewhere like the Saint Peter’s Centre might offer that potential. We need these days to find things to pull communities together. People bang on about social media and the Internet but it seems to me that cyberspace can in point of fact be a very lonely place. It gives the impression of friendship but lacks the vibrancy of face to face contact.

Curiously there is a flip side to the loss of green space and that has to be the huge number of weeds popping up in once cared for urban areas! Cutting back on urban care is one consequence of the economic downturn. However there is nothing stopping us from doing a little neighbourhood weeding, litter clearing and sweeping of course.

Keep the smile!