FAIRHAVEN Woodland and Water Garden's new envionmentally friendly visitor centre has been highly commended in the Council for the Protection of Rural England Norfolk Awards 2008.

FAIRHAVEN Woodland and Water Garden's new envionmentally friendly visitor centre has been highly commended in the Council for the Protection of Rural England Norfolk Awards 2008.

The visitor centre, which opened at the South Walsham garden in July was particularly commended for its environmental features like rainwater harvesting and the ground source heat pump, as well as the access provision for visitors with disabilities.

Louise Rout, Fairhaven Garden Manager said: “We are thrilled that the new visitor centre has been given an award by CPRE Norfolk. The project was a great team effort and has made a huge difference to the way we look after our visitors.”

The presentation of the award was made at Assembly House, Norwich on Thursday.

Fairhaven Woodland and Water Garden is organic, only garden leaf soil, farmyard manure and the product of the annual dyke clearance are used as fertilisers. There are 30 species of tree. More than 95 species of bird, 11 species of butterfly and six species of dragonfly have been recorded. The garden was created by the 2nd Lord Fairhaven from 1947 until his death in 1973. A charitable trust was then set up to care for the garden, and open it to visitors.