Queen guitarist Brian May barred from planting daffodils in his village on safety grounds
By Lianne Kolirin, CNN
(CNN) — Legendary rocker Brian May became a local hero in the quiet English village where he lives when he donated thousands of daffodil bulbs to brighten up the green outside the church last year.
But plans to extend his floral donations for next year have bitten the dust after local authorities intervened and blocked the move.
The Queen guitarist and founding member donated 3,000 daffodil bulbs to the local community and has been regularly posting online about the progress of their growth on the church green in Elstead, Surrey, where he lives. Back in October, he wrote about how school children had turned out to plant the flowers and has kept his followers updated on their progress since then, sharing photos and videos.
In his most recent post on Instagram this week, he said he has been “quite thrilled” about the “happy comments” from villagers about the floral display.
May, who wrote some of Queen’s biggest hits, including “We Will Rock You” and “Who Wants to Live Forever,” thanked Team Daffodil –– the community volunteers who helped plant the bulbs –– but in the same post also revealed that the village authorities had rejected his offer to donate more flowers to the nearby village green.
His donation has been blocked on safety grounds, he explained.
May told his 3.6 million followers that he is “reluctantly” canceling his order for more bulbs, adding: “We were all hoping to adorn the main Village Green for next Spring … but sadly the Parish Council last night rejected my plan. Apparently the main objection is that the sight lines on the Green will be affected for traffic. We’re struggling to imagine how 18 inch stalks could instruct anyone’s view! Especially when the green is normally surrounded by parked vehicles, including a 7 foot high ice cream van!!!”
One user, called hil1962, said they were part of “Team Daffodil” and described this year’s blooms as a “triumphant success.” They added: “My thoughts on the Parish Council are not suitable for this forum! They are being incredibly shortsighted in my opinion.”
A spokesperson for Elstead Parish Council confirmed its decision in an email to CNN, but said it had offered “alternative equally prominent sites” for further planting.
Although the spokesperson did not specify the reason for the rejection, they said: “At its meeting on 20th April the council reviewed a proposal for large scale planting on the village green. Whilst it was unable to support the scale of the initial proposal, the parish council was very keen to put forward several equally prominent locations as alternative sites for planting.
“The Parish Council has a duty to balance the practical usage of our green along with the views of our residents. The main village green is used in several ways throughout the year. It hosts key community events, is crossed regularly on foot and is valued by some as an open space.
“As a council we have said that we very much welcome further discussion about these options and thank everyone involved for their enthusiasm and ideas.”
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