A MEMORIAL garden complete with community orchard, and a sculpture has been created in Sale West as part of a £1m investment fund.

Our Sale West was one of 150 'Big Local' areas across England which benefitted from a Lottery award in October 2015, to be invested over a period of 10 years, with the aim of carrying out improvements in Sale West.

As part of the extensive upgrades made to the local area including improved youth provision and community activities, City of Trees is aiding the creation of a community garden on Chepstow Avenue.

The new garden will be open to the public and consists of 10 fruit trees, originally planted in 2013, as well the planting of a new beech hedge to enclose the area, and an ornamental Tibetan cherry tree.

There will also be a sculpture which has yet to be designed but will be picked by the community.

The garden was the idea of Our Sale West Board who, after consulting with the community, found that the current space was not used. The community wanted a nice place to relax and somewhere dedicated to residents’ past.

As well as the creation of the garden, members of the community will benefit from fruit tree training to learn more about and maintain the orchard, ensuring harvests for generations to come.

Clare Standish, Our Sale West project development officer, said: “We are excited to be working with City of Trees on the garden which is the first of many environmental improvements we plan to carry out over the next 10 years.”

Kevin Wigley from City of Trees, said: “We were thrilled to work with both residents and Big Local on the creation of this garden, which is a fantastic addition to the area and will provide a great resource for local people”.

Our Sale West is one of 150 Big Local areas in England and Wales. The aim of the Big Local programme is to enable residents to make decisions about their own areas and support projects the community wants.