Supporting the Serpentine Project
Mike Monaghan BCA Director hands over a cheque for £250 to Transition Buxton Committee
Mike Monaghan Director of Buxton Civic Association, presented a cheque for £250 to the Transition Buxton committee for The Serpentine Project, to help them continue their work in transforming the Serpentine Gardens site from a derelict space, to a community-based project to grow food and help people learn about growing and making food themselves.
Mike Monaghan commented “This is a wonderful opportunity for the Civic Association to give tangible support to a community project which will bring real benefits to Buxton and is attracting so many volunteers.”
The site has been derelict for some years but when the council announced plans to sell it for housing, Transition Buxton came up with an alternative use and persuaded High Peak Borough Council to let them transform the site into a food producing space, and eventually to have a café selling the produce grown on site, a restored greenhouse, raised beds and a food growing demonstration area to enable people to learn how to grow food for themselves.
They have made a lot of progress since July, when the council granted them a licence to clear the land. Janine Morris of Transition Buxton commented “thanks to the efforts of our amazing volunteers we have managed to clear much of the scrub and remove hundreds of old pots, so that the land is ready for the next stage. “
At the moment the licence with High Peak Borough Council only allows them to work on the land. The next stage is to get permission to renovate the greenhouse.
“The greenhouse is important as it will enable us to grow a wider variety of food. We have had it surveyed and it really only needs the glazing removed and replaced. We believe the cost will be £1,000, so the Buxton Civic Association donation and their continuing support for this project is a great start to raising this amount.”
The work is done entirely by volunteers by holding regular volunteer days. Next year is going to be very busy, as the plans include raised beds and poly tunnels. Volunteers are always welcome so if you are interested in being involved contact Janine Morris on 07752 368 358 or through the Transition Buxton website at www.transitionbuxton.co.uk.