Public engagement is rife in Deptford at the moment, where we are proving that we don't need expensive consultants or government quangos to encourage us to 'engage with local issues' and 'get involved' with improving our environment.
As well as the ongoing campaigning being carried out by Deptford is.. against plans for Convoy's Wharf, another group of local residents is holding a meeting next with the intention of establishing an organisation to set up and run a community garden on the land that Thames Water wants to use for a shaft for its Thames Tunnel project. The group has already been given a modest grant by the Evelyn Local Assembly to print publicity material, and is hoping the meeting will give more people the opportunity to get involved in the process of establishing and maintaining the garden.
Date: Tuesday 4th October
Place: St Paul's Church, Deptford High Street.
Time: 7.30pm
At the meeting they intend to consider the following:
THE ORGANISATION:
Establish a steering group to oversee the preparation of the garden in the short term.
Discuss the long term aims and ambitions of the garden and the kind of organisation that will support it into the future.
Briefly gather some ideas for the garden's name.
Consider the best use of the funding they have received and consider other ways of supporting the garden (eg Seeking further funding? Asking for plant and material donations? Looking for sponsorship?)
PLAN THE GARDEN:
Gather practical ideas about the form and function of the garden to put to 'Roundfield' (landscape architects) who will use this information to inform the initial garden design.
Consider how to organise volunteer labour for preparing and maintaining the garden - possibly finding mentors with some gardening experience to lead this.
Consider a timeline for beginning the garden before the next Thames Tunnel consultation on 15th November.
ENGAGING THE COMMUNITY:
Gather ideas for engaging the community - (website, contacting groups that might like to use the garden, gathering enough volunteers to the make the garden happen).
4 comments:
Hi Dame.
Do you know if the community garden is linked to the guerilla gardening you posted about in http://deptforddame.blogspot.com/2011/07/guerrilla-gardening-in-deptford.html ? I meant to ask you to pass my details along to your guerrilla gardening friend when you made that post; is that something separate that they're still interested in people getting involved in?
And/or, do you have any contact details to register interest for the community garden group, as I can't make the meeting tonight?
Thanks!
Eleanor
Hi eleanargh, this is a different project to the one I wrote about. If you email me your details on deptforddame at yahoo dot co dot uk I will pass them on to both parties.
Thanks, shall do.
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