A Community Garden is a plot of land which is looked after by
the community - a group of people who like gardening and are eager
to put their free time and effort into the development and upkeep
of a garden for the wider public to enjoy. This need not be just
a flower garden; where there is room vegetables can be grown a
distributed locally, either by selling them or by donating them
to worthy recipients as well as the gardeners.
The size of a community garden is entirely dependent on the availability
of land, a small plot for a selection of flowering plants and some annuals,
right up to flower borders, vegetable patch and an orchard.
A
suitable piece of land has been found in Ingersley Vale!!
Ingersley Vale group
A number of those wishing to develop a community garden got together
to organise themselves and to find a suitable plot of land, and
everyone with a similar interest is invited to join the group. The first
meeting was held on 20th August 2008 with 11 people attending and a
further meeting was held on 17th September. If you are not yet known
to the group and would like to attend, please email Rob
Palmer for details. Introductory
document.
The organiser of the Community Gardens Group is Rob
Palmer.
KRIV Community Gardeners
This group has been established in March 2012 for the purpose of restoring
to good use the walled garden at Ingersley Hall. See
the page devoted to this project.
Allotments
Allotments are also popular and in very short supply in Bollington,
but demand is increasing rapidly as the rising price of food drives
folk to consider the merits of growing their own. In fact they
are in short supply in many places. Cheshire East Council (CEC)
have a problem borough wide with the recent sharp rise in demand
for allotments. Acquiring suitable land which meets requirements
is very difficult. Bollington Town Council (BTC) are pressing the
issue and have asked that an item for 'Allotments' appears on every
town council meeting agenda.
BTC have a list of up to 40 people waiting for allotments and
Cllr Shirley Sockett (BTC, MBC) and Andrea Paterson, Bollington
Town Hall Assistant, are working hard to find new land. Cllr Ken
Edwards (CCC) and Cllr Ted Clunn (BTC) are also very active.
There are presently three allotment areas in Bollington ...
- Bollington Cross. Situated behind the Leisure
Centre, this area is leased by BTC from MBC. BTC collect the
rents and manage the site. It is thought that one more plot can
be squeezed out of a strip of land at the very edge of the site
and this is likely to be offered to the first person on the waiting
list. The ground is in bad condition and will require a lot of
very hard work to bring it into production. This allotment area
has benefited from the installation of a water supply in 2005.
This was put in by United Utilities as part of their package
of thanks for the town's having to put up with their sewer excavations
throughout that year.
- Lowerhouse. There have been allotments at
Lowerhouse for almost 200 years when they were established by
Samuel Greg soon after he took Lowerhouse Mill in 1832. The area
under cultivation has decreased in the past few decades, due
to house building and expansion of the mill, and just one area
remains. This area is owned by the Heathcote family and they
manage and rent out the plots.
- Harrop Road. This piece of land was acquired
from Cheshire East Council by Bollington Town Council in 2011.
Please apply at Bollington town hall for details of available
plots. Harrop Road allotments are on the hill between Ingersley
Road and Church Street and can be accessed via Chapel Street
(off Church Street) and Harrop Road at the access to the TV transmitter.
The local authority, CEC, has a legal duty to provide space for
allotments and community gardens. However, it is not known to what
extent they are required to meet actual demand.
John Kershaw (BTC tree warden) would like to establish a community
orchard and is presently also searching for land. Clearly this
could be closely associated with a community garden or with allotments.
Links
Our
Google Group
Groundwork
- Community Spaces
Groundwork
- Community Spaces - Lottery Fund
Allotments-UK.com
Allotment
growing
BBC
Gardening - allotments
City Farms
and Community Gardens
Local
Food Grants
