We are a Tenants and Residents Association (TARA) who would like to create a shared garden space on the derelict land we have taken into our ownership through a Community Asset Transfer last year. This would let us have a great outdoor space to improve mental health and grow food that we can use as residents.
Description
Burns Estate TARA was formed 10 years ago to give the people living in the estate a way to come together and make sure that our voices were heard. We have achieved a lot since then, and now run a range of activities and events for our members and their families, including monthly visits from Citizens Advice and Money Matters, parent and toddler groups and parties and themed events throughout the year. Last year we finally completed our biggest project to date, a Community Asset Transfer on some derelict land just behind the estate, which we have big plans for.
As many of us live in flats or 4 in a block houses with limited outdoor space, one of the most common requests at our monthly member meetings has been some kind of outdoor space for families to use, particularly during the school holidays when children are at home. Many of the people living on the Burns Estate are on low incomes and can't afford to go away on big trips over the holidays, so having a nice place to take their children or go and enjoy themselves in the good weather will really improve mental health and wellbeing. We would like to create seating with nice planting around it and a picnic area, as well as a small play area on a permeable surface so that children have somewhere safe to go that's clean, tidy and surrounded by greenery.
We've also been talking with our local community larder about working in partnership to create some raised beds for growing staple food items like potatoes, carrots and onions, which will be available for us to use ourselves and then any surplus donated to them for their members, many of whom live on the estate. This will also be a great way for us to show people where their food comes from and hopefully encourage people to try some different things once the raised beds are up and running. We have discussed forming a sub-group of the TARA committee to manage the garden and make sure it's being looked after, and we would like to include some youth members on this group to give young people ownership of it and hopefully reduce the likelihood of vandalism. The garden will also really improve the look of the area, as the current site is a real eyesore and full of weeds, so we will also be improving nature locally by getting a garden in place.
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