‘Humbled’: Nursery up for sale as owners seek to honour locals who came to its rescue during floods

A long-running Mid-North Coast nursery is up for sale with the family owners saying they want to honour the community that rallied to bring it back from the brink of closure after the floods.

A much-loved Mid-North Coast nursery is up for sale with the family who have run it for 54 years and three generations wanting to keep it open to honour the locals who came to the rescue when it was flooded.

Manager Chris Sawyer said the decision to sell Wingham Nursery and Florist and its property, which includes two houses on its 4,934sqm, in cental Wingham was about finding a way for the business to continue as his dad Ralph Sawyer had intended.

“If we sold the stock off and sold this block of land we would make more money but it is not Dad’s wish to do that,” he said.

“That’s the reason we are selling it as a nursery because of the people, the people that supported it and have supported us for the last 54 years.”

Ralph, who along with wife Rhonda owned the business started by family members out of a car shed in 1972, suffered a fatal heart attack last October at the age of 84.

Chris said Ralph had been still working in the nursery up to his death, but planned to put the business up for sale this autumn so he could retire.

“When he passed we decided to follow through on that,” Chris said.

“I am nearly 60 and there is no one behind me coming on. I can’t keep doing what I am doing.

“That’s the issue, there is no one just to give me a bit of a break. It’s a seven-day-a-week business. Our staff are all working mums and they don’t want to take on more responsibility.”

Last year’s May deluge caused a blocked stormwater drain to send around a half metre of water through the nursery closing it for a week.

Chris said he got a phone call that morning from his Dad telling him they had “lost everything”.

“Dad was ready to shut it down,” Chris said.

“He said ‘I’ve had enough’.”

However, he said the response of the locals was overwhelming.

“We were very humbled by the way we were treated when the floods hit,” Chris said.

“We were turning people away who wanted to help. Honestly, we had an 82-year-old down the back shuffling gravel.”

“That sort of heartfelt response hit me and hit Dad. We said ‘righto, let’s keep the business going’.”

“That’s the reason we are selling it as a nursery because of the people, the people that supported it and have supported us for the last 52 years.”

Chris said the business was still viable but like many others in Wingham had suffered since the Bite Bridge was washed away in May with no firm replacement approved to connect with the Tinonee region.

“Just about every business owner I talk to is down this respect,” he said.

“It wouldn’t be bad if I knew we were getting another bridge but they keep talking about it.”

Chris, who along with his wife Tanya have managed the nursery since 2022, said he and the other staff would be happy to keep working in the business but that was up to the new owner.

“We do hope it goes to someone who is passionate about the industry, the plants and the people,” he said.

“The people of Wingham are very resilient and are amazing people. A great little community.”