Neighbours are an Olympic cut above
Olympic spirit...the Olympic rings made by residents of Willow Crescent in Harborough (Picture courtesy of Stephen Fairweather).
THE OLYMPIC rings are proudly being displayed by residents of a Harborough street as they celebrate a golden result in a long-running grass cutting dispute.
The green in Willow Crescent resembled the pastoral scene from Danny Boyle’s Olympic opening ceremony on Saturday morning, as neighbours joined forces to rake the recently mown grass into shape.
The residents had got together to cut the grass after a wrangle over ownership of the land.
Leicestershire County Council had cut the grass for years but stopped earlier this year after realising it had never been adopted by the authority.
However there was good news on that front on Friday, as county Cllr Blake Pain confirmed he had secured its adoption by the authority, meaning it will be cut by them in future.
Resident Alan Sear said: “The street had organised the grass to be cut for a Jubilee street party but it hadn’t been cut since and was knee-high.
“Myself and a neighbour, Paul Sanderson, sent 60 letters out to everybody in the street to try to organise a mowing fund, which was successful.
“Then Cllr Pain approached us and said he would speak to the council. A team was sent down to cut the grass the other day and we have been told it will be cut every four-five weeks.”
It was the grass from that first cut that was shaped into the Olympic rings.
Resident Stephen Fairweather sent the Mail photos of the finished ‘sculpture’, saying he woke up after watching the opening ceremony to find the street’s own ‘Isle of wonders’ unfolding outside.
“Residents were gently raking grass cuttings left over from a recent mowing into the centre of the green,” he said.
“As I watched, more people came out to help, and I was moved to join in myself. It was reflecting for me the opening scene of the ceremony.
“A wheelbarrow and wheelie bin were brought in to aid the process and we were soon enacting the second scene - transforming our land with industry.
“It was a short step to the fun idea that we could shape the grass cuttings to form the Olympic symbol. Children came out to join the adults and we soon had our own five interlocking rings on the green.”
Mr Sear said: “We were there for about four hours. It was a real community thing, the kids came out and they were loving it.
“The good thing to come out of this I took the email addresses of everyone who replied to the letter about grass-cutting so now we are all in contact. It’s created a real network for people to share information and hopefully that will continue.”
Cllr Pain said: “It’s great to see residents getting together to really embrace the idea of the Big Society. But I’m also pleased that a permanent solution has been found in terms of the county council adopting the land.”
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Weather for Market Harborough
Sunday 26 May 2013
Today
Sunny
Temperature: 6 C to 18 C
Wind Speed: 10 mph
Wind direction: North west
Tomorrow
Sunny
Temperature: 7 C to 17 C
Wind Speed: 21 mph
Wind direction: South west
