Starting a community garden

05-04-2021 10:21pm #1

Hi, living in Dublin in a small estate about 150 plus houses. We have a green space which is rarely used and I’m thinking of starting a community / biodiversity space in a small section of it. I’m planning on surveying residents first via leaflets containing info and a link to two survey questions. I would prefer not to call into houses and put people on the spot ! If I get a majority of agreement to starting the garden then I’ll contact Dublin City Council and take it from there. I’d like this thread to be a record of the journey and hopefully help others thinking of doing similar. Any advice also greatly appreciated. Thanks.

14-04-2021 9:56pm

Canvassing the neighbours !

I done up a small leaflet and dropped it into all houses with a link to Survey Monkey asking if residents are in favour of a community garden. Kept it very simple with an email address at the bottom for those seeking more info. Survey is open for 1 month. I’ll review the results and post back here if the majority are in favour of the garden. I didn’t call door to door due to Covid.

14-04-2021 10:07pm

I think its a fantastic idea. I hope lots of people get on board, and the council make things easy for you.

Would be a great community project.

Best of luck with it.

Idioteque · 15-04-2021 9:36am

Do you know if there's a residents assoc. for the estate? Could be another way to garner support

looksee · 15-04-2021 9:49am

If there is a RA I'd say make it your first stop, avoids treading on toes and gets support rather than aggravation

15-04-2021 10:43am

Some good resources here: http://cgireland.org/community-garden-resources/

hirondelle · 15-04-2021 11:20am

looksee wrote: »

If there is a RA I'd say make it your first stop, avoids treading on toes and gets support rather than aggravation

This 100% I am inolved in helping some groups try to achieve similar goals and it is absolutely vital to get the RA on board. If the estate hasnt been taken in charge that can be a bit complicated too.
OP- the RA should also let the parks section of your council know- this shouldn't create any problems and you might even get buy in from them.

15-04-2021 5:14pm

hirondelle wrote: »

This 100% I am inolved in helping some groups try to achieve similar goals and it is absolutely vital to get the RA on board. If the estate hasnt been taken in charge that can be a bit complicated too.
OP- the RA should also let the parks section of your council know- this shouldn't create any problems and you might even get buy in from them.

Thanks guys. No RA in the estate. There was one years ago but seems to be gone. I have an email address on the flyer I sent out so if there is one then hopefully they get in touch !

hirondelle · 15-04-2021 6:55pm

Belparkgarden wrote: »

Thanks guys. No RA in the estate. There was one years ago but seems to be gone. I have an email address on the flyer I sent out so if there is one then hopefully they get in touch !

Happy days so! You might need to form an informal group to draw down council funding if that is the direction you want to go in. Best of luck with it and looking forward to seeing the progress.

17-05-2021 9:14pm

My survey of the residents has just finished. Majority are in favour of the garden. I’m now going to approach Dublin City Council and I’ll post back here when that stage begins. The journey continues !

Jim_Hodge · 17-05-2021 10:04pm

Is it a private estate? Just curious as to the Council's involvement.

17-05-2021 10:17pm

Jim_Hodge wrote: »

Is it a private estate? Just curious as to the Council's involvement.

Hi, it’s not a private estate. Its DCC’s territory, no management company. I’m not sure the role they will play so once I get a response from them I’ll post it here.

Thanks

29-08-2021 10:17pm

4 months later and the council are finally looking to set up a site visit. I’ll post the results back here once they come out but delighted the ball is moving along now.

30-08-2021 7:35am

@Belparkgarden The growery in Birr is worth a visit. It’s a great example of a well run community garden. Also Ballinfoile Mor Community Garden in Galway is great. They are on council land too so they’d have good advice for you I’m sure if you paid them a visit. They meet on Wednesday and Saturday mornings. Good luck with the garden.

maestroamado · 30-08-2021 7:41am

Who looks after this green (cut grass etc) space at the moment as if you sell the idea as a way of enhancing the area you on the right track...

I would do a leaflet to make sure everyone included...

30-08-2021 7:59am

@maestroamado I have already circulated leaflets, see first few posts. The council are ok with it but they may not allow allotments. Depends on a number of factors. I’ll post here again after the meeting.

@gleanntrasna sounds amazing. I’m in Dublin so it’s a bit of a trek to go down there. I’ve been looking at a few here including Bayside and Baldoyle which are very impressive.

Starting a community garden

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