Green Backyard could be saved in Local Plan rethink

1 day ago

Shariqua AhmedPeterborough

News image — The new mural painted in support of the Green Backyard has been called a "powerful image" by trustee Lewis Vernum

Shariqua Ahmed/BBC Mural of a girl holding up a hand to a yellow bulldozer- with a green background painted on a wall lined with trees — The new mural painted in support of the Green Backyard has been called a "powerful image" by trustee Lewis Vernum

Members of a community garden that was under threat due to housing development plans have welcomed a council's decision to potentially spare the site.

The Green Backyard in Peterborough forms part of a plot on London Road where 48 houses had been earmarked as part of Peterborough City Council's Draft Local Plan, for housing and economic growth.

On Tuesday, the local authority said recent workshops highlighted calls to remove the site from the plan due to limited development potential and public opposition.

Trustee Lewis Vernum, who also runs the educational organisation Project Abundance, said the charity felt relief at the council's announcement.

"It is a massive cloud off our shoulders," he said.

"It means that we're able to kind of plan for the longer term without the worry of having to disrupt everything."

The story was first reported in the Peterborough Telegraph.

Created in 2009, the charitable organisation transformed the derelict former allotment site into a community garden open to everyone.

It runs several projects, including the Men Shed, the community payback scheme and community gardening projects for adults and young people.

In May, more than 600 people attended a community day to campaign against the housing plan, calling for the garden to be saved.

City artist Nathan Murdoch, from Street Arts Hire, supported the event by painting a mural of a girl trying to stop a bulldozer.

Shariqua Ahmed/BBC Julie wearing a black cardigan and a blue and yellow patterned top standing on the left and Lewis wearing grey zipped hoodie standing on the right- in front of green trees — Julie Danby and Lewis Vernum from the Green Backyard acknowledged a need for housing in the city but said other locations should be considered

Vernum said: "There was such a broad range of people from artists through to ecologists through to families, offering a lot of support and a lot of comments on the importance of the place.

"At the moment I believe they're still negotiating on the length of the term or the renewal so once we've got that in place then I guess we can start making more strategic plans, but at the minute we have lots of workshops planned in spring and summer.

"I don't know all the details as of yet so but that's just good news in itself at the moment."

A spokesperson for the council said: "There is currently a consultation taking place for other sites and the final Local Plan will be published later in the year."

Follow Peterborough news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.