THE new gardeners who planted Petersfield Town Council's flower beds this summer have apologised for the poor display this year and offered to extend their contract free of charge. Christian Dupont of Philip Voice, grounds maintenance specialists, told members of the council's grounds committee last week he was as disappointed as councillors at the state of the flowerbeds earlier this summer. But he pointed out that the cause had been beyond the control of himself and his staff, who discovered they had used contaminated soil in the beds, leading to massive chickweed growth. He said he hoped the new successful autumn planting had gone some way to making amends. "I can only apologise," he told councillors, and he offered to extend his six-month contract with the council free of charge to maintain the plants that had been put in this autumn. He told the meeting: "I would be more than happy for our contract to be renewed next year as an opportunity to prove that the town planting scheme is within our capabilities." Thanking Mr Dupont for attending the meeting, grounds committee chairman Chris Jenner told him: "We did realise that there had been difficulties this year and we thank you for sticking with it."
