Another beautiful day today. This afternoon I wandered over to the Lewes Road Community Garden, where a group of local horticulturalists have transformed a derelict petrol station site into a blossoming green space for the enjoyment of all.I know this site well, having spent two happy years living around the corner on Caledonian Road in my students days. Needless to say my housemates and I were frequent late-night shoppers at the old Esso garage, which closed several years ago.
Since then, the plot has remained undeveloped; so I was thrilled when I learnt that neighbouring residents had come together to beautify the land, and to create a community garden.
In a city hemmed-in by the sea and the South Downs, and where more than 50% of residents live in flats (as opposed to houses with gardens), I find my thoughts turn increasingly to common land and open space, and so I decided to check it out for myself.
Although the site is still fenced in, the gates were wide open this afternoon, and quite a few people were either working or relaxing in the garden.My sincere thanks go to Anoushka, who warmly welcomed me to the garden, and told me a little bit about its journey from Fossil Fuel Dereliction to Community Resource.
The site has been empty for five years, so I was unsurprised to hear that the managing agents acquiesced when residents made their initial approach to take on the land on an ad-hoc basis. While this is very positive, on the flip-side the gardeners have also had to defuse local criticism that they're "hippies" and/or (*ahem*) "gypsies" who want to "steal" the land (hmm).
Happily, many of the original objectors are now actively supporting the Lewes Road Community Garden, and even bringing cuttings and seedlings to the site - because, according to Anoushka, "we just went and spoke to them, and they realised we were alright".
As a former petrol station, the site is classed as contaminated land, so there are stringent regulations regarding its development; the longer it "lies fallow", the fewer the groundworks and excavation required in order to make the site conditions acceptable for new development.
So it's pretty much a win-win situation: the landlords can point to responsible community engagement and a cleaner site for prospective developers, and in the meantime, local residents can enjoy a beautiful garden, made by the community for the community.
From a Green point of view, there's a wonderful sense of natural justice in seeing a former fossil fuel site transformed into an urban oasis :)
Great stuff from the Lewes Road residents. Is this something we could adapt for the Anston House site?
