History of the Garden.
The idea of a Community Garden was put forward by Countryside plc in the Outline Planning permission for the Clay Farm Allotments and Community Gardens, drawn up by David Jarvis Associates in 2010. The Allotments were to be provided after the occupation of 500th dwelling and the Community Garden when the 1000th dwelling was occupied. This timetable slipped somewhat!
It was seen as most important that the garden should be created by the community for the community. With this aim in mind, a Steering Group was formally established in 2017, comprising of the City Council, Countryside and the Clay Farm Garden Group.
The Public Art Steering Group considered the projects for the whole Clay Farm development site and appointed Jeanne van Heeswijk to look at the Southern Approach. She pursued various themes, including the allotments and the community garden, through the “Habitorials “ project. Lisanne Doran was appointed as an artist in residence to continue the “Habitorials” project to develop community engagement in the garden in readiness for handover to a management group made up of residents.
When in 2021 the Steering Group were considering Public Art for the garden, reference was made to the makeshift table used for a feast in 2015 and it was agreed that a feasting table would be a great addition to the garden.
The feast took place on Sunday 4th October 2015. Residents new and old from all over Trumpington came together to design, cook, and serve a meal made from local produce and supermarket surplus.
After a parade starting at what was known as the “Public House”, where residents used to meet to discuss ideas for bringing the community together, over a pint of locally brewed beer, around 100 men, women and children planted an apple tree and celebrated on the then wasteland that was to become what is now, after much hard work by volunteers, our flourishing Community Garden on Hobson Avenue.
This is a video about the feast and the beginnings of the Community Garden.