The future of a new community gardening initiative in Clerkenwell has been thrown into disarray at its first meeting.
Organisers revealed the plot allocated to them was not suitable for their needs and that a new location for the garden will need to be found.
Clerkenwell Community Garden aimed to transform a patch of land sandwiched between Finsbury Library, Patrick Coman House and St John Street into a garden for local residents to grow their own food.
They were granted permission to use the plot by the council last year, but recent examinations have revealed that there is a number of issues with it that make it unsuitable for such a conversion.
In addition to issues with shade and irrigating the site, the plot of land has been found to be much more biodiverse than the organisers originally believed.
In particular, a number of wildflowers were found to be growing there – plants which are generally threatened throughout the UK.
As a result, the leaders of the project were seeking opinions from the seven members of the public who attended the first meeting for where a new garden should be located, with a number of options currently under consideration.
Tiffany Landamore, a professional gardener who is leading the project’s development, said: “Now that spring has sprung, and the diversity of the plot has been revealed, it seems silly to grow our food in an existing green space. Instead, we’re looking to create a new green area.”
Clerkenwell Community Garden began as a result of the The Peel Institute’s Connecting Clerkenwell Initiative, which asked members of the local community to suggest ideas for projects that would “connect and invigorate the area.”
After working on a number of promising ideas, the residents were asked to apply for grants to fund their project, with the Clerkenwell Community Garden emerging as one of the successful candidates.
Landamore discussed the current ideas for the garden at the meeting. These included a kitchen garden-style plot, supplemented by other plots for herbs and edible flowers, as well as water butts and a small greenhouse for seed propagation.
The garden is also intended to be accessible, with raised beds and wide paths in order to allow wheelchair access.
Local resident Damaris, who came up with the initial idea for a community garden, spoke of her hopes for the project. She said: “The vision is that we all learn something from each other. I hope we can all learn new skills, grow food we can all share, and enjoy working together.”
A representative of the Peel Centre said that with the project, they hope to build a community amongst individuals in the local area.
The charity hopes to run training sessions at the site on gardening skills such as seed propagation and composting, as well as hosting seasonal festivals such as May Day.
Interested members of the local community should contact sara@thesocialchangeagency.org for more information on how to get involved.
