Not a good year for the roses

I have previously posted about the dire state of the rose beds in Rosebery Park. I raised the problem with council officers and this is part of the response I received:

There are two separate types of bed - flower beds and rose beds.

Flower Beds: When the two main flower beds on the Dorking Road were
planted there was a period of about a week or so before it was completed
and so it might have appeared that we had left gaps. This coincided
with the driest part of the summer and watering the plants was a real
challenge. After completing the planting around 200 plants were stolen
from these beds and we had to replace them. They are due to be
replanted in October.

Rose beds: The rose beds are in a poor state. A project was approved in
2009 to remove the rose beds and replace them with a sensory garden and
undertake other improvements in the park using S106 monies. In the
meantime a bedding working group was set up to undertake an evaluation
of the bedding in general and it did not seem sensible to start any new
work whilst reviewing the existing provision.

This review has now been completed and plans for the replacement of the
roses are being re-thought and will be submitted to Leisure Committee in
November. It does not seem sensible to create new features which will
require significant revenue expenses to maintain to a good standard.

Unfortunately once roses fail it is not possible to just replant to gap
up the beds. Considerable work has to be done and in the current
financial climate it is thought more appropriate to remove these very
old, unsightly beds and to grass them over.

I will ask Operational Services to tend to any weeding that needs to be
done to improve the visual appearance in the interim.

I'm glad that work will be done to weed the beds and lets hope the council gets on and comes up with a sensible and attractive alternative soon.