Community garden saved from development

In a welcome piece of good news on the community gardening front, the Scottish Government has blocked plans for a housing development in Glasgow, saving North Kelvin Meadow for the community.

In 2008 a community group was formed to clean up and develop an area of green space formerly occupied by playing fields in Maryhill, and to campaign for it to be kept as a community green space. Today there are community raised beds, individual raised-bed allotments, a community orchard, composting facilities, a wild flower meadow – now one of the largest orchid sites in Glasgow – and a wood, with 10m (30ft) trees.

Despite overwhelming local support for the community garden (the most recent survey found 94% of local residents in favour) Glasgow City Council proposed to sell the land to a property developer – but in December the Scottish Government rejected its planning application and accepted the alternative community use plan.

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Douglas Peacock, spokesperson for North Kelvin Meadow, says, “Scottish Ministers have made the right decision, as it supports a healthier community for young and old alike; it also backs a community having its say on what happens within their area. There are some good well-worded planning policies out there; the problem’s been that when it comes to crunch time the decision often goes the way of the property developer and against green space that benefits communities. Not this time though!”

Find out more at https://northkelvinmeadow.com/

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Steve Ott

Steve Ott is editor of Kitchen Garden magazine and started his career as a professional grower, producing everything from cut flowers to vegetables. He has been growing fruit and veg all his life and spends most of his spare time in his garden in the East Midlands. He loves to experiment with crops and varieties he has never grown before and when he isn’t gardening is to be found out in the countryside bird watching and walking his dog Ted.