REGENWM
Cavendish Gardens Co-op
This project demonstrates that simple changes like starting a gardening co-operative can have tremendous effects both on the local environment and on the attitudes of local residents.
Learning points:
- A regeneration project needs to be based around the needs of residents
- It should be something they can enjoy doing
In the 1990s the Beechdale Estate in Walsall had a bad reputation. It was run down, many areas of the site were derelict and it had a series of social problems. It was frequented by gangs of youths, drug-abusers and joy-riders. Burglars used the area to dump their unwanted goods. Many of the residents were elderly, some where disabled. They felt fearful of crime on the estate and as a consequence were socially isolated. In the late 1990s two things changed. First, in 1996, local residents got together to form a housing association to buy their properties. Until recently the Beechdale Community Housing Association (BCHA) was the largest tenant controlled Housing Association in England. Second residents set about making improvements to their environment.
In 1997/98 Graham Tuckley and his partner began to improve the gardens around their block. Others began to enjoy the space as it matured into a garden. They then applied to the local authority to take over some of the estate as a communal area. On this area they placed a bench and planted a tree. Local residents began to use the area and a sense of community was engendered.
Other residents unskilled in gardening helped by installing outdoor plumbing and building small pagodas. In 2002 residents formed a co-operative, which ended up taking over full responsibility for the grounds. The community began to meet once a month to discuss how they wanted to improve the area. For Graham including everybody in the developments was very important: “We try to include everybody – even those with low mobility, one of our disabled residents produces our newsletter and our website.”
Over the years a kitchen garden area has been developed, which grows a range of vegetables distributed freely to all the residents in Cavendish Gardens. The BCHA has supplied tools, a sit-on mower and storage space. Walsall Local Authority has paid for a perimeter fence.
The gardens have won numerous awards and funding to date, including:
- Walsall in Bloom - Winners in the community garden category 2002, 2003
- National Housing Federation Regional Regeneration award
- Chartered Institute for Housing Community Initiative
- BURA - British Urban Regeneration Association
The gardens are an entirely voluntary operation. BCHA provides the tools and operating costs, but the new planting and the garden furniture are funded by the residents themselves. They have created a high level of creative social interaction and co-operation where previously there was fear and environmental degradation. Graham says that the impetus for the project has come from the bottom-up and though they have had little funding it is amazing what can be achieved given a collective sense of enthusiasm.
RUNNER UP, MOST TRANSFERABLE PROJECT PRIZE, 2004
Contact:
Graham TuckleyTel: 01922 612955
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