A Scunthorpe couple who set up a memorial garden to help grieving parents after the tragic loss of their baby son Rory have been left “frustrated” and “worried” after spending thousands of pounds on trying to rectify ongoing flooding issues at the site.
Andrew and Donna Clifford opened the Baby Rainbow Memorial Garden in Central Park in April last year after months of hard work. They came up with the idea for the site after their son Rory sadly died aged just nine days old in November 2019 of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS).
After helping many people in the area who have lost babies and children to cope with their grief through the memorial garden, the couple say they have had no choice but to spend £2,500 on trying to solve the flooding problems at the site – money they say should have been spent on improvements to the garden.
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Donna told Scunthorpe Live: “The tanks that were installed at the garden should be able to deal with [the flooding], but Central Park isn’t coping well with the rain. There’s a cross junction just next to the baby garden that belongs to North Lincolnshire Council and is constantly getting flooded, so all the water is coming from there down the path and into the garden.
“When the garden was in development [the council] were pumping it out, but the moment the garden opened it became our responsibility.”
(Image: Donna Clifford/GrimsbyLive)
After the couple asked for a lease of land agreement to enable them to register as a charity, Donna said it was stated within the terms that it was their responsibility to rectify all cases of flooding on the site and the surrounding areas, which belong to North Lincolnshire Council.
The couple didn’t want to lose the garden and agreed to the terms – although they have not yet officially signed the lease of land agreement.
“The agreement says the council wouldn’t take any responsibility for flooding in our area or damage caused by flooding – not just our area but the adjoining areas as well – which means their areas.
(Image: Donna Clifford/GrimsbyLive)
“They said they’ve spent so much time on this issue that they can’t do any more, but the flooding isn’t coming from the garden anymore, it’s coming from the council-owned part. If they sorted their flooding issues out we wouldn’t have these problems.”
North Lincolnshire Council told Scunthorpe Live that Donna and Andrew’s responsibilities have been “made clear” in the heads of terms – but the couple are worried that the amount of money they are spending on rectifying the flooding problems will stop them from being able to use the funds directly for the charity.
They say they have spent around £2,500 on pumps, piping and fuel in a bid to tackle the ongoing flooding, and are forced to spend hours pumping the water from the site after spells of rain.
Andrew said: “We only have a limited fund and we’ve had to buy a £480 pump plus piping and fuel. We’re losing money for the charity. We’re relying on fundraising solely to plant the garden and the money is slowly running out, so we’re not going to be able to do what we’re doing.
(Image: Donna Clifford/GrimsbyLive)
“Between the two pumps and all the fuel we’re talking around £2,500 which could have gone to improvements in the garden, new trees, new areas, but we can’t do that because the funds are being taken by things like this.”
Donna said the couple feel frustrated with the situation because of how many people rely on the garden to help them cope with their grief.
“It’s really frustrating because so many people rely on it. I don’t want people seeing new plaques that have gone up and people who have had plaques up since day one and seeing them damaged,” she said.
“We’re so worried everything will be damaged by the flooding. We’ve got so many people behind us, people who have lost babies, and walkers in Central Park. They come up to us and say it floods all the time and that it’s disgusting that the council won’t sort it.”
A spokesperson for North Lincolnshire Council told Scunthorpe Live: “The council has invested heavily to support the group to complete the memorial garden – including over 1,000 hours of labour (many voluntary). New paths were installed along with raised flower beds, planting, a rockery, benches and new turf.
“The council’s investment in the garden is over £80,000. The council has also done substantial work to alleviate surface water and solutions are being investigated for Central Park as a whole.
“It was the groups that requested a lease from the council so they could apply for charitable status. The council agreed to this and provided heads of terms that were agreed. The lease has not yet been signed.
“The council is happy to continue working with the group but if they are the leaseholder they do have responsibilities that have been made clear in the heads of terms.”
Original artice: https://www.grimsbytelegraph.co.uk/all-about/scunthorpe
