A GROUP which has transformed an area of wasteland is a finalist in this years Green Guardian Awards.

The Stanstead Gardeners are nominated for the green project or group award.

Members have transformed the Stanstead Strip near their homes on Stanstead Road, Forest Hill.

Rebecca Leathlean of Stanstead Road and five neighbours set up the group because they were fed up with the view from their houses which was a brick wall and an area regularly fly-tipped.

They contacted Forest Hill Society, local councillors and businesses to try and get the area changed.

It is now a garden of shrub and herb planting with a winding path through the centre embedded with mosaics.

Garden designer, Sue Amos, worked with pupils from Holy Trinity CoE Primary School, Dartmouth Road, Forest Hill, to make the mosaics.

Builders’ merchants Travis Perkins, who own the land, now contribute an annual sum of money to help the group maintain the 80ft by 12ft the site.

They have also donated tools and continue to offer materials at cost price.

The group now consists of 50 residents who continue to hold community planting days and have set up a volunteer rota of care and maintenance which keeps the street garden looking tidy.

Ms Leathlean said: “We are delighted to have been nominated for the Green Guardian Award.

“The garden has given local people a lot of pleasure, and to be recognised in the award would give the Stanstead Gardeners a real boost as we make our plans for 2010."

Awards for All, a lottery grant scheme, provided the group with £9,800 to go towards the cost of transforming the area.

The awards ceremony is being held at the Wyndham Grand Hotel in Chelsea Harbour on February 26.

This year’s Green Guardian Awards will be a joint affair, combining the environmental efforts of people across south east and south west London.