Waterside Garden Centre is currently closed due to flooding.
Tue 2nd Jan - Overnight we suffered extensive flooding across the Garden Centre - we are currently closed due to this.
Sun 7th Jan - A message from Andy & Sue:
To all our wonderful customers and staff - Sue and I would like to thank you all, for your fantastic support, offers of help and best wishes. We are totally overwhelmed with all the kind messages.
We are currently working with our Insurance Company to go forward and are slowly coming to terms with what has happened.
We will rebuild and restock, but this will take time. Please be patient with us.
Thank you again for all of the wonderful support we’ve received, and when the time is right, we will put out messages for help.
Thank you all, Andy and Sue.
Mon 22nd Jan - Progress update:
Over the last two weeks, we've completely gutted the garden centre (which was heartbreaking). We've now stripped the entire centre & just in the last few days, we've had over 60 dehumidifiers in to start the drying process before we move on to the next stages of the rebuild.
Although we are incredibly grateful for all the offers of extra hands that we've had since the flooding, unfortunately for health & safety purposes we can't accept the generous offers but we have really appreciated just how many people offered to help us.
We are all working hard to achieve re-opening in April, we can’t make any promises but if we can open earlier, we will let you know. We’re all very much looking forward to re-opening.
Fri 2nd Feb - Drying update:
Drying the building out is a huge task - so to help with that we've now got 3 more HUGE dehumidifiers in from Sweden. This is going to help us with drying the building quicker so that we can move on to the next project which will be the walls, flooring & starting to look more like a garden centre again.
Our team are all working incredibly hard to achieve our goal of re-opening April - there is still a lot of work to do, but our fingers are crossed!
Mon 5th Feb - Gary the Gorilla:
We've had lots of people ask about Gary & how he's doing. He did take a big tumble, and we were worried we might've lost him - but we found him amongst the debris on his side.
He's since had a really thorough wash & is back to feeling like himself, he's grateful for all the kind messages he's received & is looking forward to seeing you all again when we re-open.
Fri 9th Feb - Pets Corner:
Pet's Corner also experienced terrible damage to their shop here at Waterside, fortunately, they did not have any live animals.
We just wanted to take the time to share with you that unfortunately, they have made the decision to not re-open their shop.
Mon 26th Feb - Gareth Davies MP:
Statement from Gareth Davies: "Waterside Garden Centre was hit hard by recent significant flooding. I was pleased to meet with owner, Andy, this morning to see the scale of the damage for myself and the great work going on to rebuild and recover.
I continue to do all I can to ensure that local businesses and households are able to access the support they need, while pushing for better future local flood resilience with the agencies responsible."
We'd like to thank Gareth Davies MP, for coming to speak with us & for his genuine concern for what happened to Gretford, surrounding villages & ourselves. It is nice to have a voice from someone who can influence future problems after non-communication with anyone from the Environment Agency explaining the situation.
Wed 28th Feb - Oasis Restaurant:
The extraction canopy has now been built for the kitchen. There's still lots to do before you can enjoy our homemade scones again, but this is a huge step in the right direction for the restaurant.
Lots of work is going on around the centre too, we've had the new heaters installed & they're working - this is further helping to dry the building. Along with our team of electricians re-wiring the whole centre. The walls are also up & we will be starting on carpeting the floors soon!
It's so motivating for the whole team to see their hard work paying off & the centre coming back together.
Tue 12th Mar - Progress update:
Last week we had our first few deliveries containing stock since the flooding!
We've now had deliveries of Woodlodge pots, Meadow View chippings & decorative stones & birdcare.
Slowly, but surely we're starting to look more & more like a garden centre again.