Soissons gets a 3rd flower!

The contest
Some figures
Target for 2007: keeping this 3rd flower!

The contest:
The contest "Flowery villages and cities" rewards towns and their citizens for their efforts to make attractive green spaces.
This contest ranks participating cities from one to four flowers.

Requirements to obtain a third flower:
The city must have been already rewarded with "2 flowers" and remarked by its efforts to flower the city and improve its environment.

Selection criteria:

• Landscaped and plant life heritage
• Sustained development and environment
• Liveliness and tourist development
• Cleanliness

Today the Municipality efforts have been rewarded with a third flower awarded by the Regional Committee of the Flowery Villages and Cities.
This honour rewards the Municipality commitment to improve the environment, the streets and the green spaces.
According to Mrs Pitois-Dehu: "This third flower rewards too the professionalism and know-how of the 45 gardeners and 30
roadmenders who are in charge of the green spaces maintenance and the city cleanliness".
So the third flower confirms the efforts made by the Municipality; those improvements were observed by a very demanding panel of judges that refer to many selection criteria to take their decision, notably:

• Originality and importance of the flowering spaces
• Balanced distribution in the city of the flowering spaces
• Plant life environment along the year
• Campaigns to increase public awareness to flowering/green spaces

Here are some figures:
In 2006:

• Operating budget of the environment department: 175,000 euros
• Capital budget of the environment department: 310,000 euros; 5% more than in 2005
• Planting of 250 shrubs and 2000 perennials

In 2007: replacement as planned of 160 trees, 500 shrubs and 500 perennials

Targets for 2007: keeping this third flower
According to Mrs Errasti : "The most difficult thing now is to keep this third flower. Consequently the effort will be maintained in the budget 2007 so that the Environment and Green Spaces Department can design high-quality new landscaped spaces and offer projects about the sustained development".
Jean-François Bensmail, who is in charge of the Environment and Green Spaces Department, gives details of the main developments for 2007: l'Ecusson roundabout, the Gambetta Bridge and the building of a pavilion in the Town Hall Gardens.