Entrants to the Aylesbury in Bloom Garden Competition organised by Aylesbury Town Council (ATC) must agree and adhere to the following terms and conditions.

Definitions:

The “entrant” is the Resident, School, Business or Organisation entering the competition.

“ATC” is Aylesbury Town Council, who is coordinating the competition.

The “garden” is any type of garden entered and includes:

  • For Residents: best front garden, best back garden, best edible garden, best wildlife/nature garden, best container garden (including window boxes, pots, baskets), best young gardener (under 16 years).
  • For Schools: best garden in a pot
  • For Organisations & Businesses: best communal garden

The above are separate categories for the competition.

The “ATC Website” is aylesburytowncouncil.gov.uk

1.   Entries and Categories

  1. The entrant must be situated within the boundaries of the Parish of Aylesbury Town. If the entrant has any doubt as to whether their property falls within the boundaries, they should contact ATC using the details on the ATC website, or on this form.
  2. All types of gardens are accepted including, but not exclusive to, the types mentioned under the definition of “garden” above.
  3. The minimum number of entrants needed for a category to run is two. If only one entrant is entered into a category, they will be informed that their category is no longer valid on or before the judging day and offered the opportunity to change categories if desired and possible.
  4. The judging criteria for each category will be made available on the ATC website on 19 April 2021. The judges will use these criteria to make their decision, to ensure their decision is fair and not clouded by personal preference.
  5. The entrant may make additional information and photographs available to the judges on the judging date to better explain the work which has gone into the garden.
  6. ATC may suggest to certain entrants that they may wish to change or add a category if the judges feel the entrant would be better suited to a different category. This may happen after the judging has taken place. Neither ATC nor the judges will move an entrant into another category without that entrant’s permission.
  7. Entries close on the 14 June 2021.
  8. The judges’ decision is final and no correspondence will be entered into.

2.   Judging Day

  1. ATC will confirm the identity of the judges by letter.
  2. The exact date of judging will be confirmed nearer the time but is expected to take place at the end of June (for schools only), mid-July and August. ATC will inform the entrant of the exact judging date and time by letter after the closing date of 14 June 2021.
  3. The entrant will also be informed a reasonable time in advance of the judges’ estimated time of arrival at the entrant’s property on judging day. However please note these times will be subject to change. If the actual time of arrival will be substantially different to the estimated time given to the entrant, ATC will make all reasonable attempts to inform the entrant by telephone call on the day.
  4. The entrant may request to be visited by the judges at a specific time on the judging day, and ATC will make all reasonable attempts to accommodate requests. However, ATC can issue no guarantees that the requested time can be given.
  5. ATC reserves the right to change the date of judging as necessary and will make all reasonable attempts to provide adequate warning to the entrant if this is due to take place.
  6. On judging day, the judging party will consist of two judges and at least one ATC staff member.
  7. Photos will be taken of each garden on the day by the ATC staff member. These will be used on the Council’s website and the Council’s social media platforms and in the quarterly parish magazine and for future publicity. By entering, the entrant agrees that the photos taken of their garden can be used by ATC for publicity purposes.

3.   COVID-19 Safety

  1. To ensure everyone’s safety we will be adhering to government guidance and rules in place on the dates of judging and the presentation evenings.
  2. Judges and ATC staff will be wearing face masks if this is still a requirement in July and August and will be carrying hand sanitiser with them at all times.
  3. If you have any concerns regarding access to your garden, as it may not have an external access point, please do give us a call so we can discuss options with you. 

 4.   Presentation Evening and Prizes

  1. Winners of the school category will be announced in July. Whilst we are hoping to have a presentation evening for the schools on Thursday 8 July 2021, this will be confirmed nearer the time and depends on COVID-19 guidance from the government. Should we be unable to hold the presentation evening we will liaise with each school to bring in the prizes and inform the winners.
  2. Winners in the residents and in the organisations/business category will be announced at the presentation evening on 16 September 2021. The date, times and venue of the presentation evening will be confirmed to each entrant in August. If any winning entrants are not able to come to the presentation evening, they will be sent a letter informing them of their winnings within the week after the presentation evening. Pending COVID-19 government guidelines we may have to hold the event as a virtual one in 2021.
  3. In all categories entries are assessed and marks allocated as per criteria. Awards will then be allocated as per the below, by reference to the overall marks achieved and as follows.

    Gold 85 – 100 marks

    Silver-Gilt: 70 – 84 marks

    Silver: 55 – 69 marks

    Bronze: 39 – 54 marks

    Certificate: 0 – 38 marks

  4. Other prizes may be made available to the winners and any person wishing to sponsor prizes should contact ATC.
  5. The “Rose Bowl” award will be given to the Best Overall Garden winner in the Residents class. The “Mayor’s Cup” will be given to the overall winner of the Best Communal Garden winner in the Organisations & Businesses class. The “Spade” will be given to the Overall Winner in the School class.
  6. The Rose Bowl, Mayor’s Cup and Spade cannot be won by the same person, organisation, business or school during two consecutive years.
  7. The winners will be announced to the local press and photos from the presentation evening will be used by ATC for future publicity.

5.   Privacy Notice

Aylesbury Town Council is the “controller” of the personal data you provide to us, our address is Town Hall, 5 Church Street, Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire HP20 2QP, telephone 01296 425 678. The Data Protection Officer is Anthony Motyka, the contact details are the same as above.

We need your name, phone number, email and address to administrate the competition, notify you of the judging dates and times, to invite you to the awards presentation and to participate in future Aylesbury in Bloom Garden competitions.

You may withdraw this consent at any time by contacting us on the details above. The completed application form will be held on record until October 2021.

Your personal data will be processed by Aylesbury Town Council employees only for the purposes above. We will not share your personal data with a third party unless we are legally obliged to do so. You have the right to access your personal data held by us, the right to rectification of inaccurate personal data, the right to request erasure of your personal data, the right to request restriction of processing, the right to receive or have your personal data sent to another controller in a portable format, and the right to object to us processing your personal data.

You have the right to lodge a complaint with the Information Commissioner’s Office by calling 0303 123 1113 or via their website ico.org.uk

April 2021