Hi all. Myself and another forummer, the giraffe, are about to take on the task of starting a communal garden in Gleadless.
We have been given the green light from the council and are waiting to see which patch of land they will give to us.
At present we are looking at fund raising ideas and ways of getting other tenants involved.
I was really wanting to know if any of you had any experience, advice, hints and tips or any other words of wisdom for us for getting started.

We basically want to cheer up Callow flats and restore some of the community spirit that has seemed to crumble over the last couple of years.

Thank you in advance for sharing any of your experiences, good or bad and helping us to prepare for the task ahead. :)

I don't have any experience of communal gardens but I do have the odd tree or shrub going spare if you want to PM me.
Best of luck with your efforts.

Here are lots of useful links from the Council.
http://www.sheffield.gov.uk/out--about/parks-woodlands--countryside/getting-involved/useful-links

Do you want to start up an official 'Friends Of..' or Community Group? I have a good resource somewhere to give you some info if I can remember what it is called!

If you are looking for funding then the BBC's Breathing Places is a good place to start...
Also Sheffield Homes are often supportive of these kind of things if it is their land...

This is it...
http://www.wildlifetrusts.org/urban-greenspace

The 'toolkits' on the right should be available to download - if not then PM me and I should be able to get you a copy.
Good luck - the funding is out there and we are lucky in Sheffield to have organisations like J G Graves and Sheffield Town Trust as well as other Foundations like Freshgate who are willing to accept applications from community organisations.
Let us know how you get on!

I'm afraid I have no information, but really good luck with it!

Thanks all, it's early days yet but we really want this to be something special.

whereabouts on gleadless are you doing this

whereabouts on gleadless are you doing this

Callow Drive, the tower blocks near Newfield Green shops. Nobody on there has a garden and half of the flats on our block don't get any sun to the balcony at all, so an outside area that's pleasant and welcoming is really needed.

Can't offer any advice, but I think it's a brilliant idea and wish you luck. If you want any triffid-like jasmine (smells gorgeous), let me know and I'll do you a couple of cuttings.

good luck with that. I would suggest metal fencing with barb wire round the top. that way it might not get trashed by the kids hanging around

good luck with that. I would suggest metal fencing with barb wire round the top. that way it might not get trashed by the kids hanging around

At least she's trying!

There is a chance that not all the kids in Gleadless want to trash everything.

I think its a great idea, and really hope that they do well with it.

good luck with that. I would suggest metal fencing with barb wire round the top. that way it might not get trashed by the kids hanging around

The existing flower beds don't get trashed around here and as they are single bedroom flats there are no kids actually living here which is what makes it so ideal. I'm under no illusion that there won't be any vandalism but I'm willing to try and make my area a better place to live.

Best of luck with your project! And well done for having some of the much lauded, but oft well hidden (at least on Sheffield Forum) community spirit which is so needed!
The Gleadless Valley Area Panel may be able to help you out with funding and support, contact their Area Action Office (i think you can get contacts on sheffield council's website). There is also Gleadless Valley Community Forum, their development officer may be able to help you out. If you need practical help with insurance and tools, BTCV can help- they are on 2901251.
Sheffield Wildlife Trust may also be able to support you, they do have a voluntary stewards project in Gleadless, so have local contacts who may be interested in working with you, their number is 2634335.
Best of luck- if you have any other queries, PM me!

Am sooooo excited - can't wait to get started!

Before I found my current flat I bidded every week for a flat on the Callow estate, so I could have been on there. (glad I didn't get one now, because I got somewhere right next to work:)).

*sidetracking*

But, how big is the area you have to work with, and what is it now?

Before I found my current flat I bidded every week for a flat on the Callow estate, so I could have been on there. (glad I didn't get one now, because I got somewhere right next to work:)).

*sidetracking*

But, how big is the area you have to work with, and what is it now?

We arn't sure yet how much land we've got to play with put from the possibilities we've discussed with the council it will be a fair size. It covers a stretch of grass between two tower blocks. When it's not raining I'll take a pic and post it.
So at present it's a largish patch of grass with three young trees on it, we will be incorporating the trees into the garden if we get the go ahead to use that patch.

How big is the site? I'd love to see a photo of the area before and after. If it's a large site you'd be better off going for shrubs as they are relatively low maintenance.
Have you set out a maintenance plan? How many hours per week are you prepared to tend the garden?
My front garden, which is only approximately 15 feet by 6 feet, takes about 1 to 2 hours maintenance per week depending on the time of year as all the plants are in pots and need watering regularly during summer. Take a look.


http://s215.photobucket.com/albums/cc104/sixxsix/Summer%20in%20my%20front%20garden/?action=view&current=030-1.jpg

http://s215.photobucket.com/albums/cc104/sixxsix/Summer%20in%20my%20front%20garden/?action=view&current=034.jpg

http://s215.photobucket.com/albums/cc104/sixxsix/Summer%20in%20my%20front%20garden/?action=view&current=008.jpg

http://s215.photobucket.com/albums/cc104/sixxsix/Autumn%20in%20my%20front%20garden/?action=view&current=053.jpg

http://s215.photobucket.com/albums/cc104/sixxsix/Autumn%20in%20my%20front%20garden/?action=view&current=015-1.jpg

there's a lovely communal garden in Freedom Rd, Walkley S6

http://www.freedomroad.org.uk/streettwinning/frd.php

Hi thanks again for your responses and the lovely pic's. We will find out hopefully on Wednesday which piece of land we've been allocated (fingers crossed it's the one we want) I will put a before pic up as soon as we know.
As for maintenance I can put in a lot of time and I used to be a keen gardener at my old house where I turned a patch of weedy grass and a motorbike shed into a beautiful lawn with borders and a seating area surrounded by a massive herb garden.
I would be willing to go the extra mile with this garden but unfortunately it has to be something reasonably low maintenance so the council can take over it if we move away and nobody is willing to take over.
Our next step is to look for volunteers from the Callow area and to try and generate interest in the project.
Once we know who is on board we can start to get a more structured plan in place, if it is just the pair of us then we will still go ahead as we both miss our old gardens dearly.

Thank you again for your support and the contacts you have given us and please keep any thoughts and ideas coming.

Well it would appear that we will no longer be having a community garden.

One of the residents has complained to the council that it will increase crime rates and bring the area down so the councillor in question have done a risk assessment with the police and have decided that the risk is too high.

It never occurred to me that Lupins would attract drug dealers and hoodies, after all it can't be the seating area as that already exists so obviously flower beds attract criminals.

They have said we can go ahead with it as long as we run Neighbourhood Watch along side it......................not a chance in hell.

I know for a fact the garden might attract some vandalism for a while, but as we already have an existing problem with drug dealers on the block I'm not prepared to risk myself or my property to the kind of abuse that I would undoubtedly receive by running it.

So to cut a long story short, yet again the general public can't have something good because someone is scared that something bad MIGHT happen.


There's no wonder this country has gone to the dogs.

Before I get slated for pots, kettles and the colour black, I know the same could be said for my not taking on Neighbourhood watch, but I'm a single woman in a first floor flat which makes me an easy target. My risk assessment seems quite valid.

Rant over.

what absolute rubbish! I would take this issue up with local councillors- how can improving a flower bed encourage drug users? its proven to have an opposite effect to this- if you improve an area to make it more used by local residents then it far less likely to be attractive to people taking or dealing drugs due to high numbers of witnesses. I have seen this happen time and time again- the most important thing is that the local residents who live nearby give some time and effort to keep an eye on things- this helps to build up community relations and give some empowerment back to local people instead of all the power being the hands of the criminals.....

this makes me very angry......if you want some help with councillors pm me as we live in same voting ward.

what absolute rubbish! I would take this issue up with local councillors- how can improving a flower bed encourage drug users? its proven to have an opposite effect to this- if you improve an area to make it more used by local residents then it far less likely to be attractive to people taking or dealing drugs due to high numbers of witnesses. I have seen this happen time and time again- the most important thing is that the local residents who live nearby give some time and effort to keep an eye on things- this helps to build up community relations and give some empowerment back to local people instead of all the power being the hands of the criminals.....

this makes me very angry......if you want some help with councillors pm me as we live in same voting ward.

I agree with all your points here. I know Mojo well, have seen where she lives, and have heard all about the progression of her plans. The council have treated her goodwill and commitment really shabbily, and I feel very angry that her plans have been seen as somehow making things worse. It's a bloody flower bed!

I've been involved in various community projects. I've helped to transform areas. You can't eradicate the possibility that your efforts will be damaged to some degree. Yet on the whole when you encourage the decent locals to feel welcome and drawn to an area that has been done up, the problems tend to abate rather than escalate.

I am devastated for Mojo, she's put so much heart into this. :(

That's such a shame- if anything is designed to improve folks' outlook on life it's having something pleasant to look on.

Thanks guys, any help will be greatly apreciated and I will be in touch once I've seen the reports.
May I just add that The Giraffe has put as much into this as I have and so we're both really...................well put out is the forum friendly term.

Thanks guys, any help will be greatly apreciated and I will be in touch once I've seen the reports.
May I just add that The Giraffe has put as much into this as I have and so we're both really...................well put out is the forum friendly term.

Yes, I apologize, I should have included Ms Wheeeeeeeeeeeee in how I worded my post. I wasn't thinking. :)

Yes, I apologize, I should have included Ms Wheeeeeeeeeeeee in how I worded my post. I wasn't thinking. :)

I'm sure she'll forgive you once she's come down from the top of the building and put the gun away.:hihi:

I'm sure she'll forgive you once she's come down from the top of the building and put the gun away.:hihi:




The Giraffe raises a neck and blinks................... it was just a stick - honest guvna :hihi:

I'm appalled that a venture like this has been turned down. I used to work with tenant groups, and anything that gets people improving and taking pride in their local area usually has a positive knock on effect rather than a negative one. :confused: The council use 'greener' when referring to the way they want the city to be. Have a look at this website, near the bottom there are links to organisations who support community gardens in Sheffield, perhaps you could get them on side? Good luck.

http://www.everyactioncounts.org.uk/en/fe/page.asp?n1=230&n2=6&n3=83

There's always one moaning minnie who ruins it for everyone!

Can you not appeal against the Councils decision?

What is needed are communal gardens on the London model. These are private keyed gardens run for the benefit of the tenants of a street or more often a square. These Victorian gardens continue to the present day and are a great London institution.

There's no reason why similar schemes couldn't be implemented in Sheffield now.

http://www.mooseyscountrygarden.com/london-garden-squares/london-squares.html