Urban Growing: Edible Land in Swansea - Introductory Note: September 2014

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Urban Growing: Edible Land in Swansea - Introductory Note: September 2014
Introductory Note:

Urban Growing: Edible
     Land in Swansea
                                                 September 2014

 Introductory Note: Urban Growing: Edible Land in Swansea         1
Urban Growing: Edible Land in Swansea - Introductory Note: September 2014
About this document
This document has been prepared by the Planning Policy Team and the Community Grow-
ing Team.

      Who to Contact for Further Information?
Further information on Edible Land is available to view on the Council’s website:
www.swansea.gov.uk/growlocal
The Council's Community Food and Growing Team are available during normal office
hours to discuss any aspect of this document.
They can be contacted by letter/in person:
Community Food and Growing Team
Room 3.3.4
City & County of Swansea Council
Civic Centre
Oystermouth Road
Swansea
SA1 3SN
or via: Tel: 01792 635730 Email: foodandgrowing@swansea.gov.uk

The Council’s Planning Policy Team are available during normal office hours to discuss
any aspect of this document.
They can be contacted by letter/in person:
Planning Policy Team
Room 2.6.2
City and County of Swansea Council
Civic Centre
Oystermouth Road
Swansea
SA1 3SN
or via: Tel: 01792 635744 Email: ldp@swansea.gov.uk

Front cover photos 1, Grow Sheffield - Grow Sheffield. 2, Kilvay Hill over the Vetch
Swansea - CCS. 3, Queen red tailed bumblebee feeding on chives in Swansea herb garden -
Jo Mullett. 4, Toy on Vetch Veg Patch - Jo Mullett. 5, Growing Wellies - Feed Bristol (Avon
Wildlife Trust)
Contents page photos 1, Community Pizza at allotments- City and County of Swansea.
2, Clydach Primary School beans - Jo Mullett.3, Swansea Community Farm
Back cover photos 1, Gowerton Allotments 2, “Mochyn” Welsh Pigs - Jo Mullett. 3, Tot-
nes Chestnut Tree on the edge of playing field - Transition Town Totnes Nut and Fruit tree
project. 4, Coeden Fach. 5. Vetch Veg - Jo Mullet

   Introductory Note: Urban Growing: Edible Land in Swansea                              2
Urban Growing: Edible Land in Swansea - Introductory Note: September 2014
Introductory Note: Urban Farming: Edible Land in
     Swansea
Contents
An Introduction to Edible Land                                      4
Benefits of Urban Growing                                           5
Urban Growing and Planning                                          6
Practical Considerations                                            8
Edible Land Design Options                                          9
Community Growing Project Flow Chart                            10
Guidance for New Community Growing Projects                     11
Community Growing Approaches                                    14
Edible Land Case Studies                                        17
Resources and Further Information                               25
Allotments in Swansea                                           27

Thank you to the following for Edible Land Case Study permission:
Brighton Hove City Council
Bristol Food Network and the Bristol Get Growing Map
Capital Growth
Coed Fach
Gowerton Allotment Society
Grow Sheffield
Shifting Growth
Star Apple Edible + Fine Gardening
Sustain - Capital Growth
Swansea Community Farm
Transition Town Totnes Nut and Fruit Tree Project
Wilson Meany
Vetch Veg
   Introductory Note: Urban Growing: Edible Land in Swansea     3
Urban Growing: Edible Land in Swansea - Introductory Note: September 2014
1 An Introduction to Edible Land
Edible land is a simple and quick step to help   Although Urban Growing is not new as a
build communities, foster the principle of       concept there is very little formal guidance
sustainable development, encourage biodi-        on the topic, as it is not generally subject to
versity, learn a skill and gain enjoyment.       any regulation or control. This document
From something as simple as raised vegeta-       therefore highlights related guidance and
ble beds in your own garden to community         advice and draws attention to matters for
gardens, urban farms to roof top vegetable       consideration when embarking on a pro-
patches, there are many opportunities and        ject .
simple ways to grow your own food here in
Swansea.

The Council recognises the value of Edible
Land, and this document sets out the various
issues that need to be considered in promot-
ing further opportunities for ‘Urban Farming’
in Swansea. This document includes design
options that may be incorporated into new
residential schemes. It is also hoped that the
case studies presented may inspire members
of the community to take the initiative to
                                                             Vetch Veg, Swansea
start their own edible land schemes.

                                Edible Land Types

                  Edible Landscaping                  Container Growing

   Urban Farming                      Allotments                     Rooftop Gardens

                Vegetable Patches                   Community Farms

  Community Gardens              Vertical Growing                  ...and many more!

   Introductory Note: Urban Growing: Edible Land in Swansea                                  4
Urban Growing: Edible Land in Swansea - Introductory Note: September 2014
2 Benefits of Urban Growing
Urban Growing opportunities, such as allot-
ments, contribute to the well being of the
individual and the wider community. Gar-
dening provides the opportunity for a year-
round recreational interest which is active,
sociable, inclusive, and a hobby that reflects
the ideals of sustainability and promotes
wellbeing. Unlike other leisure activities, it
provides not only exercise, mental relaxation
and lifelong learning opportunities, but com-                   Photo courtesy of: CCS.

munities can be strengthened or formed and             Tea Pots at the Vetch, Swansea
fresh fruit and vegetables produced can con-
tribute to healthy living.                     According to the UK Government’s Food
Benefits wider than individuals and their      Strategy: Food 2030: “Growing food – at
social sphere:                                 home, in a community garden or allotment –
                                               can produce a number of other benefits in-
• Allotments are an important element of       cluding better mental and physical health,
    the greenspace infrastructure of urban     bringing people together and improved
    areas;                                     skills.”1 The Committee on Environment,
• They provide important spaces for            Transport & Regional Affairs produced a re-
    healthy living;                            port on allotments which detailed both their
• Biodiversity can flourish within these       physical and therapeutic benefits, these in-
    spaces.                                    cluded: “exercise, the supply of affordable
• They can also reduce food distribution       fresh vegetables, increased biodiversity,
    carbon emissions associated with supply, ‘green space’, and the potential for educa-
    as local produce is consumed locally as    tional and therapeutic benefits for some sec-
    opposed to consuming produce grown         tions of the community.” 2
    elsewhere - even overseas.
Urban Growing brings multi-use to green-
space, offering an alternative to conven-
tional residential landscapes. It can
strengthen communities by providing a place
to socialise as well as produce. Urban Grow-
ing also can be linked to other functional
green landscapes such as Sustainable Drain-
age Systems (SuDS).
                                                                   Photo courtesy of: CCS

                                                           Growing at Ty Dewi Sant

                                              1
                                                The Future for Allotments: Environment, Transport & Re-
                                              gional Affairs Committee Fifth Report (June 1998)
                                              2
                                                Food 2030: UK Government’s Food Strategy http://
                                              archive.defra.gov.uk/foodfarm/food/pdf/
                                              food2030strategy.pdf

   Introductory Note: Urban Growing: Edible Land in Swansea                                          5
Urban Growing: Edible Land in Swansea - Introductory Note: September 2014
3 Urban Growing and Planning
From a planning policy perspective, guidance       space function and contribute to sustain-
on edible land solely relates to allotments as     able development.
this is normally the only form of edible land
                                                Technical Advice Note 16: Sport, Rec-
use requiring planning control. However,
planning is supportive of the edible land con- reation and Open Space
                                                                               3

cept in principle, as it is strongly associated Key Policy Points:
with sustainable development, community • Allotments are identified important green
intergration, health and wellbeing all of          spaces and their cultivation can contrib-
which are themes strongly encouraged in            ute to sustainability, provide opportuni-
National, and local planning guidance.             ties for leisure, exercise and healthy food,
                                                   improve biodiversity and encourage in-
Welsh Government advice is that
                                                   teraction between different groups in the
“allotments should be an important part of
                                                   community.
building a sustainable society.”1, and as such
they are covered by both Planning Policy
Wales (PPW) and Technical Advice Note
(TAN) 16: Sport, Recreation and Open Space.
PPW recognises the importance of allot-
ments and their contribution to sustainable
development. TAN 16 further identifies the
positives allotment provision can provide.
Importantly, both note that allotments
should be retained, and if loss is necessary
mitigation against that loss should be en-
couraged.
                                                  http://wales.gov.uk/topics/planning/policy/tans
Relevant Policy Guidance Extracts
Planning Policy Wales2                          Unitary Development Plan
                                                The City and County of Swansea Unitary De-
                                                velopment Plan (UDP) adopted November
                                                2008 provides the current local policy con-
                                                text for determining planning applications.
                                                The UDP sets out a range of policies and pro-
                                                posals relating to future development, use
                                                and conservation of land and buildings
                                                within the City & County up to 2016.

                                                  The UDP implicitly recognises the impor-
                                                  tance of allotments in objectives which seek
                                                  to protect and enhance the greenspace sys-
                                                  tem, retain and improve community recrea-
  http://wales.gov.uk/topics/planning/policy/ppw/ tion land to maintain access to open spaces,
Key Policy Points:                                promote healthier lifestyles and tackle
 • Allotments should be retained, particu- health inequalities. Allotments fall within the
    larly where they have an important open definition of Community Recreation Land
    Introductory Note: Urban Growing: Edible Land in Swansea                                    6
Urban Growing: Edible Land in Swansea - Introductory Note: September 2014
protected by Policy HC23, which specifies:        The potential for identification of local stan-
“Community Recreation Land Policy HC23            dards of accessible open space including al-
Development proposals that involve the loss       lotments will form important background
of land for community recreation purposes,        evidence for the Plan. For more information
whether in public or private ownership, will      on the LDP please see www.swansea.gov.uk/
only be considered favourably where:              ldp

         www.swansea.gov.uk/udp

(i) Facilities can best be retained and en-
hanced through the development of a small
part of the site, or
                                                                Bee Hives at the Vetch
(ii) Alternative provision of equivalent com-
munity benefit is made available, or
(iii) There is an excess of provision in the
area, or                                          The production of this paper forms part of
(iv) A wider community benefit arises, or         the research and evidence base for emerg-
(v) The existing and potential recreational or    ing LDP policy on greenspace protection
amenity or natural heritage or historic envi-     and use of community recreation land in-
ronment value of the land is maintained....”      cluding edible land.
The UDP also regards allotments as pocket
sites, so they are further protected by Policy    For Planning Applications contact Swansea’s
EV24.                                             Development Control team on (01792)
Greenspace System Policy EV24                     635701 www.swansea.gov.uk/planning.
Within the greenspace system, consisting of
wildlife reservoirs, green corridors, pocket
sites and riparian corridors, the natural heri-
tage and historic environment will be con-        1
                                                    National Assembly for Wales Sustainability Committee
served and enhanced. Development propos-          Allotment Provision in Wales July 2010 Page 8. http://
als which would be likely to have a signifi-      www.assemblywales.org/cr-ld8152-e.pdf
                                                  2
                                                    Planning Policy Wales (PPW) Edition 5. Page 79 http://
cant adverse effect on the greenspace sys-        wales.gov.uk/topics/planning/policy/ppw/?lang=en
tem or which do not provide for appropriate       3
                                                    Technical Advice Note 16: Sport, Recreation and Open
compensatory or mitigation measures will          Space. Page 20 http://wales.gov.uk/topics/planning/policy/
                                                  tans/tan16e/?lang=en
not be permitted. 6                               4
                                                    City & County of Swansea Unitary Development Plan p.105
Local Development Plan                            http://www.swansea.gov.uk/index.cfm?articleid=20475
                                                  5
                                                    City & County of Swansea Unitary Development Plan
The Local Development Plan (LDP) is cur-
                                                  http://www.swansea.gov.uk/index.cfm?articleid=20475
rently in production and will supersede the       6
                                                    City & County of Swansea Unitary Development Plan
UDP upon completion.                              http://www.swansea.gov.uk/index.cfm?articleid=20475

    Introductory Note: Urban Growing: Edible Land in Swansea                                            7
Urban Growing: Edible Land in Swansea - Introductory Note: September 2014
4 Practical Considerations
Although there are many health and wellbe-        metres from busy roads...”1 Dr. Anne C. Bel-
ing benefits of encouraging edible land initia-   lows notes that “Polycyclicaromatic hydro-
tives, when considering the siting and devel-     carbons (PAHs), a known carcinogen, have
opment of Community Growing schemes               been found in urban soils…They may exist in
due regard must be given to the following:        gardens and other urban soils due to vehicle
Historical Use of the Land: Not all land          pollution from adjacent roads and railways,
may be suitable for food growing without          past wood or coal burning on or near the
prior remediation works. Brownfield sites         site.”2 DEFRA’s Food and Environment Re-
with a history of industry may have high lev-     search Agency also confirms concerns about
els of heavy metals, sulphates, phenols, as-      PAHs near roadside schemes. Numerous
bestos, etc. Alternatively, areas which were      academic studies have been conducted
previously agricultural may have experienced      which investigate pollutants in urban horti-
biological contamination. Pollutants may          culture, therefore caution is advised and
have potentially significant adverse effects      proper mitigation or remediation methods
both to human health and that of the sur-         are advised before embarking on a scheme.
rounding environment if disturbed. Based on       Sites of Importance for Nature Conser-
the historical use of the site, a soil survey     vation (SINC) and Wildlife Sites: Ensure
may be prudent to check for contamination         no protected or priority species or habitats
and/or soil tests would be useful to deter-       are on site by speaking to the Council’s Bio-
mine whether or not the land is suitable for      diversity Team.
growing food. Alternatively sites may have
rare and protected species. Contact the
Council’s Biodiversity Team to establish if
there are any protected species. (Contact:
nature.conservation@swansea.gov.uk)
Previous uses can be determined by check-
ing historical maps - County archives or the
Council’s Development Management and
Control Team may be able to assist with this.
Whilst visual clues on site, such as stains on
patches of soil, an oily sheen to puddles, ex-
istence of pipes or tanks, should raise alert
to the site’s possible contamination.
Uses Adjacent to the Site: Uses nearby
may not be complementary to the growing
of foods for consumption. A recent European
Commission Directorate General Environ-
ment News Alert highlighted the implications
of growing near to traffic pollution. The main          Raised beds at the Vetch, Swansea
findings concluded that “All vegetables con-
                                                  1
tained higher concentrations of lead if they        "Science for Environment Policy": European Commission
                                                  DG Environment News Alert Service, edited by SCU, The
were grown on sites with high levels of traf-     University of the West of England, Bristol.
fic... For lead, EU standards were exceeded       2
                                                    Health Benefits of Urban Agriculture Anne C. Bellows, PhD
by two thirds of the crops sampled from           Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey; Katherine
                                                  Brown, PhD Southside Community Land Trust; Jac Smit,
sites with high traffic burdens, less than 10     MCP The Urban Agriculture Network.
    Introductory Note: Urban Growing: Edible Land in Swansea                                              8
Urban Growing: Edible Land in Swansea - Introductory Note: September 2014
5 Edible Land Design Options
Space for edible land is all around us. Besides   Green Walls
dedicating a portion of a garden, a piece of      There are various types of Green Walls, from
greenspace or using an allotment, there are       freestanding installations to the greening of
some exciting opportunities to be taken           actual building walls, with the plants rooting
whilst designing or renovating the built envi-    on the wall itself (in an appropriate media or
ronment. Traditional provision, such as allot-    on ledges affixed to the wall), or with roots
ments or gardens can be challenging in high       at the foot of the structure.
density developments, however developers
can be creative in incorporating opportuni-
                                                  Roof Top Gardens
                                               A Roof Top Garden can be included at the
ties into master planning a development.
                                               design phase of development or can reclaim
Community Farming                              ‘lost’ space on an existing development.
An opportunity may exist in larger residential There are varying types of roof:
developments to set aside a piece of green
space which could be used for growing food. Green roofs are roofs wholly covered in
Such plots should be well visible for security vegetation. They do not have to grow edible
purposes, accessible by residents, flat and plants - they serve many functions including;
ideally be set up following consultation with absorption of rain water, promoting biodi-
local residents as to what they would like to versity by providing habitats, and as insula-
see planted in the set up of the space, with tion for the building below.
the land then handed over to a residents’ Container gardens are another example of
association for future care.                   roof top gardens, where plants are grown
Residential Gardens                            out of containers on the roof or balcony
Below are just a few examples of possibilities area. This may be a cheaper and more flexi-
within an residential garden:                  ble option than installing a green roof.
Herb Wheel. A formal garden utilising culi-
nary herbs to create a unique design.           Technical and Practical Considera-
Potager/Kitchen Garden. A functional ele-
ment to a regular residential (aesthetic) gar-
                                                tions
den that can provide herb and vegetable • Roof/Wall penetration - roots or farming
growing opportunities. Sections for edible        implements may breach waterproofing of
crops can be sectioned off from the regular       a roof or may damage the integrity of a
garden or elements mixed together.                roof/wall. Ensure protection of roof mem-
                                                  brane using root barriers.
                                                • Load bearing - ensure that the roof/wall
                                                  can take addition weight of planting.
                                                • Conditions - roofs can be more exposed,
                                                  windier and may not be as shaded as the
                                                  ground.
                                                • Health and safety concerns relating to ac-
                                                  cess and working at height.

                                                  1
                                                   Green Roofs - SuDS Wales
              Photo courtesy of: Jo Mullett.
                                                  http://www.sudswales.com/types/source-control/green-
 Herb wheel at Swansea Community Farm             roofs/

    Introductory Note: Urban Growing: Edible Land in Swansea                                         9
Urban Growing: Edible Land in Swansea - Introductory Note: September 2014
6 Growing Project Flow Chart

           Interested in starting a community growing project?

                                                         Are you an individual?

Are you part of a group (e.g. commu-                Any growing projects will need to
 nity project, residents association)?             show interest from a group of peo-
                                                   ple. The Council’s Community Food
                                                   and Growing Team can help you to
                                                    ask others if they want to join you
                                                           and to form a group.

                     Do you have a piece of land in mind?

                                                    Please contact the Council’s Com-
                    Yes                No           munity Food and Growing Team
                                                    for help and ideas.

                               Where is the land?

 Housing           Private land /                     Park                Other land
  estate           derelict land               Planting schemes in        The Council’s
  The Coun-       If you know who the        public parks are man-         Community
cil’s Commu-   landowner is (eg private     aged by Council garden-          Food and
  nity Food    housing association, uni-    ers but sometimes with       Growing Team
and Growing      versity, business), the         the support of a        can contact the
  Team can       Council’s Community           ‘Friends of’ group, a     relevant Coun-
 contact the   Food and Growing Team           group can help with       cil Department
   council’s    can support you to ask       planting if the Council     to request per-
   Housing        them for permission.       gives permission and           mission to
 team to re-     If you don’t know, we       the space is not being      plant on verges
  quest per-    can try to help you find    used for other activities.   and roadsides.
  mission to    out who owns the land         It may also be worth
   plant on    and ask their permission,     approaching the park
land around    but this may need to be      gardener or Community
 council-run   done via the Land Regis-     Parks Team about host-
    estates.     try which incurs a fee.      ing some containers.

  You can contact The Community Food and Growing Team via: foodandgrow-
    ing@swansea.gov.uk, www.swansea.gov.uk/growlocal or 01792 635730

  Introductory Note: Urban Growing: Edible Land in Swansea                            10
7 Guidance for New Community Growing Projects
This information has been developed to help The Our Growing Community guidance
communities in Swansea explore new places notes and resource pack (separate docu-
and more ways to grow their own food.         ment) provides more information about the
2
                                              different places where you could grow fruit
Use it to help you to:                        and vegetables. It highlights ‘things to con-
• Get inspired and spark ideas about com-
                                              sider’ and describe how to ‘make it happen’.
   munity growing with your group or peo-
                                              With real life examples and suggestions of
   ple in your area.
                                              ‘who can help’, the notes will help you find
• Map and audit your local spaces that
                                              the right support and assistance to start your
   could be used for growing food.
                                              own food growing community in Swansea.
• Explore the range of community growing
   options.
• Think about the practicalities of different
   growing approaches and find the ones
   that will work best for your community.
• Plan local action to develop your commu-
   nity growing projects and activities.

                                                       Swansea Community Farm

                                               Conducting a growing space audit
                                               Get a group of interested people together to
                                               explore ‘where could we grow?’
                                               • Create or draw your own local map and
                                                 plot potential growing spaces.
     Polytunnel at Swansea’s Vetch Veg.        • Conduct an ‘on foot’ growing space site
                                                 audit - explore the area to find possible
Why do this?                                     sites - take photographs and record infor-
More and more people in Swansea want to
                                                 mation about site condition and owner-
grow their own fruit and vegetables but land
                                                 ship.
availability is a big challenge.
                                               • Map and compile your findings as set of
The Council wants to increase the number of      potential ‘community growing scenarios’
growing spaces to encourage people to grow       – then use this toolkit to identify what
their own food. Community growing can also       community growing approaches could
strengthen communities, encourage self-          work in the different spaces.
sufficiency and provide healthy activity.

     Introductory Note: Urban Growing: Edible Land in Swansea                            11
Finding out who owns the land                 Reality checking your ideas
It’s a good idea to find out who owns the • Contact the ’Experts’ like the Council’s
identified land in the early stages of the de- Community Food and Growing Team or
veloping your ideas, so that you know who      CLAS Cymru – they can help you develop
to approach to find out if the land is avail-
                                               ideas.
able and suitable to grow food. Projects in
public spaces may be time-limited and tem- • Use their technical know-how and experi-
porary and you may need to sign an agree-      ence to help you work out the best way to
ment with the land owner. The Council’s        take your ideas forward.
Community Food and Growing Team and the
Land Registry can all help to determine own-
ership
Visualising a food growing community
Talk to the wider community about your
ideas:
• run a community planning event or hold
  workshops with different local groups -
  present the potential community growing
  scenarios for the area and get new ideas
                                                               Coeden Fach
  about them.
• use the feedback from the event to identify Delivering a food growing community
  the community growing approaches you • Set up a local community growing group
  want to explore further.                       to oversee the delivery of your ideas.
                                               • Produce an action plan for things to do in
Community Consultation                           the short and longer term.
At the beginning of any project talking to
                                               • Keep ‘experts’ on board – some might be
people in the immediate area who may be
affected by the proposal – or might want to      able to offer advice and help you deliver
get involved is important. You should talk to    your ideas, others might be able to help
local residents, local ward members and          with funding and resources.
community groups and schools to ask them
their thoughts, whether they have any Writing a proposal
strong objections, whether they have any- The land owner will want to see a proposal
thing to add and if they would like to get in- outlining what you want to do, who will be
volved. Speak to as many people as possible involved, what your space might will look
who have an interest in the space. Will a like, how you know the community is sup-
growing space conflict with ways that other portive of your ideas etc. Writing a project
people use it? It’s always helpful to be able proposal is really useful in helping plan your
to evidence local support for a project. A project and can help demonstrate that your
short questionnaire is a good way to docu- group has the capacity to develop and man-
ment people’s comments. You could gather age a growing space. Once complete, it can
a list of names and contact details of people also help convince others about the value of
you’ve talked to. Be sure to include your your idea and will be useful if you need to
findings and even some supportive quotes in apply for funding.
your proposal.

   Introductory Note: Urban Growing: Edible Land in Swansea                              12
Other things to think about when planning your project:
• Are there protected or priority species and habitats on site?
• Will security be an issue?
• What are the likely costs involved? How are you going to get funding?
• What tools, equipment and materials will you need? Will you need storage for them?
• How will you water the garden? Is there a source nearby? Or collection a possibility?
• How often will you need to be there to maintain the garden?
• Be realistic: gardens take a lot of work to maintain so you’ll need a committed core
team (as few as three or four people) to keep it going. Start small and keep it manageable.

Who can help?

Swansea Council’s Community Food Federation of City Farms and Commu-
and Growing Team is responsible for: nity Gardens FCFCG is delivering a three-
supporting the development and creation of       year programme in Wales called Tyfu Pobl
new growing spaces, administering Swansea        (Growing People) through a team of regional
Council’s ‘Grow Local’ small grant scheme,       development workers who support and ad-
and the management of Swansea Council’s          vise both existing and emerging community
Allotment provision                              growing projects, enabling the sharing and
Email: foodandgrowing@swansea.gov.uk             transfer of best practice information, knowl-
Website: www.swansea.gov.uk/                     edge and skills.
foodandgrowing Tel: 01792 635730                 Website: https://www.farmgarden.org.uk/
                                                 farms-gardens/your-region/wales
Community Land Advisory Service in               Email: wales@farmgarden.org.uk Tel: 02920
                                                 225942
Wales (CLAS Cymru) is a service managed
by the Federation of City Farms and Commu-
nity Gardens helps community groups, land-
owners and aims to make more land avail-
able community growing spaces. Support
available includes: assistance in identifying
potential sources of land, negotiating its use
on a temporary or long term basis, advice
and support on legal issues, land agree-
ments, land purchase etc, and navigating the
planning system.
Email: wales@communitylandadvice.org.uk
Tel: 02921 960 966 Website: http://
wl.communitylandadvice.org.uk/

CLAS Cymru and FCFCG are currently work-
ing in partnership with Swansea Council to
increase the number of growing spaces and
                                                                 Photo courtesy of: CCS
develop best practice around community
growing in Swansea.                                    SPARK Painted Vegetable Planter

    Introductory Note: Urban Growing: Edible Land in Swansea                               13
8 Community Growing Approaches
This section provides an overview of the different community approaches.
Abundance, foraging and scrumping involves collecting surplus produce (mainly fruit) and
putting it to good use. There are many fruit trees growing wild or in people’s gardens -
often a lot of this produce goes in the bin or is never harvested. Scrumping was an old
term for stealing apples but today it is used to describe finding fruit and other edibles
growing in public places such as road sides.
Allotments are probably the most familiar and traditional form of community growing.
Allotments are areas of land divided into plots which individuals or groups of people gar-
den. Plots are rented from allotment providers. There are 16 sites on Council land, six of
which are managed by the Council and ten are managed by Allotment Associations. There
is also one site on private land. All sites have waiting lists. To find out more visit
www.swansea.gov.uk/allotments

Beekeeping involves the maintenance of honey bee colonies, commonly in hives. Bees will
help with improving community growing productivity, the quality of the produce and will
produce honey. Virtually all fruit and seed crop production on a growing space will benefit
from honey bee pollination.
Community gardens are locally managed areas of land developed in response to the
needs of the communities in which they are based. They have a strong social focus and
function, often providing much needed greenspace in urban areas. Most of the gardening
is communal with groups and individuals contributing to the cultivation of the whole site.
Many community gardens include significant elements of fruit and vegetable growing as
well as community cooking and events within their activities.
Community market gardens are large areas of cultivated land, often with poly-tunnels
and other infrastructure. They have a commercial focus in terms of food production and
are usually under community or social ownership or management. Most operate on a so-
cial enterprise basis; aiming to provide produce at reasonable cost to the wider commu-
nity e.g. through organic box deliveries to the local area.
Community orchards are collections of fruit, and sometimes nut, trees and bushes. A
community orchard is open to local people, providing access to the produce grown. As
well as enjoying the orchard, local people can share the harvest or profit from its sale and
are often involved in taking responsibility for any work involved. A ‘virtual orchard’ in-
volves planting fruit trees and bushes in individual gardens, with agreement from the gar-
den owners to share the fruit and the harvest of it. In this way a community orchard can
still be created where the availability of land is an issue.
Community small holdings are areas of land, bigger than a garden and smaller than a
farm, which are used for productive agriculture or forestry. They can be comprised of
families, individuals or communities, where people pool resources to hold land together.
Community supported agriculture is defined as a partnership between farmers and con-
sumers where the responsibilities and rewards of farming are shared between them. They
can be farmer-led, where the community buys ‘shares’ and the return on these is pro-
duce; or community-led, where the community instigates and runs the scheme itself.
Some communities do the growing themselves, others employ a grower.
   Introductory Note: Urban Growing: Edible Land in Swansea                              14
Container growing - if there is not enough space for a vegetable plot then growing vege-
tables in containers is a good way to grow your own. A hanging basket, patio pot, old tyres,
barrels and builders bags are all containers that are commonly used for growing food.
Edible landscapes (including edible borders and hedges) involves growing food in places
which are less traditionally associated with community growing. In many cases this in-
volves using civic and ‘incidental’ spaces in towns and cities. For example, growing vegeta-
bles and herbs in and amongst, or instead of, formal landscaping in flower beds and civic
planting. This approach requires a rethink about the role and use of the public realm and
the landscaping and management of public areas.
Forest gardening involves growing a multi-storey arrangement of perennial and self-
seeding plants to provide food. They are designed to be sustainable, edible landscapes
which follow the pattern of young woodland systems. A forest garden could be described
as a relaxed, informal orchard with room for soft fruit and vegetables to grow.
Healing and therapeutic gardens are spaces that are specifically designed to meet the
physical, psychological and social needs of the people using the garden as well as their
care-givers, family members and friends. They can be found in a variety of health care re-
lated settings. They can be designed to include active uses such as raised planters for hor-
ticultural therapy, alongside programmes for passive uses.
Landshare is a process where people with gardens or other sites that they cannot manage
are matched with people who are keen to grow food but have no space in which to do it.
Garden or site owners often receive a proportion of the produce in return for donating
their space. Typically it involves a website where landowners can post details of sites they
would like to offer and where potential growers can register their interest in taking on.
Nectar boarders are areas of land in, next to or near community growing spaces which
are managed for wildflowers. The aim is to attract pollinating insects such as bees and
butterflies to support the pollination of fruit and seed crops.
Raised beds are enclosed areas of soil or compost which are higher than the surrounding
ground. Higher beds make it easier for those with physical disabilities to use. Beds can be
designed to fit the space and are a good solution for growing vegetables in areas of hard
landscaping or where space is limited.
Roof gardens are gardens created on the roofs of building. They can provide food growing
spaces, habitats for wildlife and community gardens. The practice of cultivating food on
the rooftops of building is sometimes referred to as rooftop farming and is usually done
using container, green roof or hydroponics, aeroponics or air-dynaponics systems.
Temporary growing is the creation of food growing areas on land that will only be avail-
able for a limited amount of time. This mainly includes stalled development or derelict
gap sites, for which a long term use has yet to be found. In the longer term these spaces
will be developed and/or built on, but increasingly these sorts of spaces are being used ‘in
the meantime’ for community uses, including food growing with the agreement that
when development starts the community will move elsewhere.
Vertical growing - urban gardens with small outdoor spaces can make the most of their
walls to plant everything from lavish flower displays to home-grown vegetables. The trend
is growing in popularity in city gardens, as well as a number of community gardening pro-
jects, because of its eco-friendly credentials and space-saving techniques.
   Introductory Note: Urban Growing: Edible Land in Swansea                              15
Community Growing Chart
A quick reference guide to which community growing approaches will work best where.

Top ten tips to encourage pollinators and wildlife into your garden
1. Plan your garden so there are plants in flower all year round to attract bees and butterflies.
2. Grow ornamental plants that provide berries and seeds to attract birds and small mammals.
3. Select plants that provide fragrance into the evening for both you and night-flying insects.
4. Leave seed heads of annuals and herbaceous perennials over winter to provide food and shelter
for insects, birds and small mammals.
5. Where space allows, stack sawn off tree and shrub branches into a log pile to provide shelter for
insects, amphibians and small mammals.
6. Install bird feeders, bird boxes, bee nests and bat boxes. Remember to keep food and water sup-
plies stocked all year.
7. Consider replacing fences with hedges. They can offer nesting sites as well as additional food
sources, and create a more effective windbreak than a solid barrier.
8. Alternatively, train ivy up sturdy walls or fences. Ivy is not only decorative all year, but provides
nectar, pollen and berries when there is little else about, and is a favourite with nesting birds.
9. Incorporate a water feature into your garden. Even something as small as a washing-up bowl can
provide water for birds and a home to pond insects that in turn attract birds and bats.
10 Recycle old plant material in a compost heap or leaf mould pile. Dig it into the garden as a soil
improver or use as mulch.

    Introductory Note: Urban Growing: Edible Land in Swansea                                         16
9 Edible Land Case Studies
There are numerous examples of exceptional       For ease of use, each case study is accompa-
and creative Urban Growing and edible land       nied by a series of symbols from the follow-
projects. From farms located underground in      ing list which indicate the nature of the pro-
a former bank vault under the streets of         ject.
Otemachi in Japan, to a top London restau-
                                                  Type                                           Symbol
rant that grows some of it’s ingredients on
the roof. This section highlights various edi-    Educational
ble land and community growing projects
both locally and from around the world. A
diverse range of schemes are highlighted;         Community
from large-scale city-wide projects to small-
scale community based schemes. These in-          Design
clude schemes that are led by communities
and those instigated by large scale residen-
                                                  Built Environment
tial developers. Some projects share infor-
mation on growing opportunities whilst oth-
ers highlight what is possible with funding       Wales
and urban farming training courses.
                                                  UK

                                                  International

        TOPIC raised beds Swansea

Rather than just using these ideas as a tem-
plate to copy, this Introductory Note seeks
to inspire interested individuals or commu-
nity groups to develop projects appropriate
for their local situation or Swansea as a
whole.

These case studies are included for illustra-                   Photo courtesy of: Jo Mullett.
tive purposes only as examples of how the         Ready to grow at Ysgol Gynradd Gymraeg
concept of edible land can be translated into        Bryniago, Pontarddulais, Swansea
a real world application. They are not neces-
sarily endorsed by the City & County of
Swansea Council.

   Introductory Note: Urban Growing: Edible Land in Swansea                                               17
Vetch Community Garden Swansea

Location       Swansea                           The intention was to transform a section of
                                                 the stadium into a temporary vegetable gar-
Established 2012
                                                 den leading to a Grand Finale of a “Flower
Key details Established to promote and encourage and Produce Show” in June 2012 when the
            a community spirit through gardening
                                                 Adain Avion plane “landed” in Swansea.
               and other social activities.

The Vetch Veg Community Garden is based
on the Vetch, the historic home of Swansea
City FC. The football stadium was known as
The Vetch because its previous owners, the
Swansea Gaslight Company (circa 1912),
used the area to grow animal forage.
                                                                       Photo courtesy of: CCS

                                                                    The Vetch Orchard
                                                       By June 2012, local people had created 110
                                                       raised beds, 20 communal beds, composting
                                                       bins, water harvesting, two poly tunnels, in-
                                                       stalled a bee hive, built a kitchen, created a
                                                       traditional cob oven and rescued an old sum-
                                                       merhouse from the Glynn Vivian Home for
                                                       the Blind (which was being demolished) and
                                                       repaired and erected it on the 2,500 mtr sq
                                                       site.
           Photo courtesy of: Vetch Community Garden
                                               In January 2013 the project became an inde-
               A View of the Vetch
                                               pendently constituted association and se-
The original Vetch Veg Project was commis- cured a 7-year lease from the City & County
sioned for the Cultural Olympiad 2012 as a of Swansea to continue the work of the
participatory artwork in association with Community Garden.
Adain Avion, Swansea Environmental Forum,
                                               The Community Garden has provided a focus
Taliesin Arts Centre, Glynn Vivian Gallery and
                                               for local people, community groups and
supported by the City & County of Swansea.
                                               schools to engage through a series of partici-
                                               patory stages planting, tending, harvesting
                                               and cooking their produce on site - cultures
                                               meeting over a shared meal.
                                                       The work of the Community Garden contin-
                                                       ues to raise awareness around environ-
                                                       mental and social issues, reusing, reshaping
                                                       and rethinking resources.
                                                       The work on Vetch Veg Community Garden
                                                       has resulted in the creation of a bank of ex-
                                                       perience that is happily shared others who
           Photo courtesy of: Vetch Community Garden
                                                       may wish to embark on a similar project.
                Beans at the Vetch
    Introductory Note: Urban Growing: Edible Land in Swansea                                      18
Swansea Community Farm

Location      Swansea                                   meals for Farm users and visitors.
Size          3.5 acre
Established   1992
Key details   Working urban farm (including live-
              stock) offering volunteer opportunities
              and educational visits.
Further info www.swanseacommunityfarm.org.uk
The Farm aims to help reconnect people of
all ages, backgrounds and abilities with their
food, their environment and each other at
the only city farm in Wales.                                    Swansea Community Farm
Farm animals – Swansea Community Farm                   Volunteer & Training programme – supports
operates as a small working farm, stocking a            adult volunteers of all ages, backgrounds and
range of rare and rare-Welsh breed farm ani-            abilities to participate in the day to day run-
mals which provide food for the plate as well           ning and longer term development of the
as promoting increased awareness of the                 Farm while equipping them with the knowl-
issues surrounding food production.                     edge, skills and confidence to move forward
                                                        in their own lives and contribute positively to
                                                        the Farm and wider communities.
                                                        Child & Youth programme - develops skills,
                                                        confidence and knowledge in mainly local
                                                        young people through hands-on practical
                                                        engagement in the day to day running and
                                                        development of Farm activities and through
                                                        free play opportunities within a safe, suppor-
                                                        tive and stimulating environment.
                                                Education programme - full and half day
                                                school visits and courses (2-12 weeks), with
          Swansea Community Farm                an outdoor based, practical and experiential
Grounds & Buildings –the maintenance and approach to learning around a variety of en-
development of the 3.5 acre, purpose de- vironmental and food related issues.
signed and fully accessible site to demon-
strate a range of sustainability, resource con- As a small independent charity the Farm is
servation and nature conservation manage- overseen by a dedicated group of volunteer
ment techniques. Food growing is promoted Trustees who, since 2005, when the Farm
through the community allotment, tradi- became fully operational, have seen the
tional orchard, raised beds, apiaries and edi- Farm’s services grow rapidly. Each year the
ble hedges.                                     Swansea Community Farm works with over
                                                200 adult volunteers, over 400 children and
Farm Café – built by volunteers and offering
                                                young people, over 1,200 school children as
a range of informal and accredited training
                                                part of more than 50 school visits schools
opportunities in cooking healthy and afford-
                                                and host around 10,000 visiting members of
able food as well as serving tasty treats and
                                                the public.
       Introductory Note: Urban Growing: Edible Land in Swansea                                     19
Coeden Fach - Swansea Community Tree Nursery

Location      Bishopston, Swansea
Size          1.6 acres
Established   2008
Key details   Provides training and practical experi-
              ence of tree and perennial plant grow-
              ing skills. Also supplies trees, shrubs and
              perennial plants.
Further info Email: Coeden.fach@yahoo.co.uk
Based in Bishopston, Coeden Fach is a com-
munity organisation initiated in February
2008 to promote sustainable land manage-                             Planting at Coeden Fach
ment, facilitating education for today and                  ery and offer training and practical aid in
tomorrow. The nursery field is 1.6 acres and                growing trees and perennial plants for both
is leased privately. It’s normally open on                  woodlands and food production. Coeden
Tuesday and Thursday mornings from 9.30 –                   Fach works with many local businesses, com-
1.30 for volunteers and visitors. Coeden                    munity groups, Community Councils ,schools
Fach are establishing a community tree nurs-                and the Local Council.

Gowerton Allotment Society

Location      Gowerton, Swansea                             increasing interest in ‘growing your own’.
                                                            There is currently a waiting list of people
Size          1.14 acres
                                                            wishing to obtain a plot.
Established   1929
                                               Recently, there has been a drive to improve
Key details   Allows and assist members of the local
                                               and develop the Station Road site, increasing
              community in and around Gowerton to
                                               the availability of plots. Following successful
              participate in the growing of fruits and
              vegetables.                      grant applications, an area of ground was
Further info                                   reclaimed and a mains supply of water has
Gowerton Allotment Society has been in ex- been developed.
istence since 1929, when a group of employ-
ees at the Baldwin’s factory in Gowerton,
entered into a rental agreement with the
Penllegaer Estate. There are currently 40 plot
holders, within a wide age range. Families
are encouraged and the Society is happy to
be involved with other aspects of life within
the community, be it local schools or other
organisations. The Society has a close rela-
tionship with and receives continued support
from Gowerton Community Council. Over
the last decade, Gowerton Allotment Society
has grown in member numbers due to an                      Gowerton Allotments

       Introductory Note: Urban Growing: Edible Land in Swansea                                     20
Capital Growth

Location      London                                     community food growing spaces across Lon-
                                                         don by the end of 2012. The project works
Established   2009
                                                         with local authorities, housing associations
Key details   Offers practical help, grants, training    and other landowners, making under-used
              and support to groups in establishing
              community food growing projects.
                                                         land available to growers and communities.
                                                         Capital Growth is a hub for Urban Farming
Further info http://www.capitalgrowth.org/
                                                         information, offering practical help, grants,
Capital Growth is a partnership initiative be-           training and support to groups wanting to
tween London Food Link, the Mayor of Lon-                establish community food growing projects
don, and the Big Lottery's Local Food Fund.              as well as advice to landowners. The project
Championed by the Chair of the London                    was piloted in 2009 and has since grown to
Food Board. It aimed to create 2012 new                  support over 2020 growing spaces.

Grow Sheffield

Location      Sheffield, England                         Soup event. The event brings allotment
Size          Active in community growing projects       holders, the community, performers and art-
              in 13 areas of the city, active Abun-      ists together to celebrate harvest on an al-
              dance hubs in 9 areas of the city, food    lotment site. Grow Sheffield works in part-
              sourcing, growing and consuming map-       nership to raise awareness of wider issues of
              ping, and volunteering projects, across
                                                         sustainability and has active links with local
              whole city.
                                                         Universities, Voluntary Action Sheffield,
Established   2007 by Anne-Marie Culhaine                Transition Sheffield, and Sheffield City Coun-
Key details   A not for profit organisation that cele-   cil. Grow Sheffield is engaged with local or-
              brates, inspires and raises awareness      ganisations including: schools, resident's as-
              of the benefits of growing, harvesting
                                                         sociations, homeless shelters, church
              and sharing food.
                                                         groups, community forums, local businesses
Further info www.growsheffield.com                       and artists through many diverse pro-
                                                         jects, which includes Encounter Abundance.
                                                         In 2008 Grow Sheffield collaborated
                                                         with Encounters Arts to create Encounter
                                                         Abundance, a shop with a difference, that
                                                         offered free fruit in exchange for stories,
                                                         recipes, swaps and ideas.
                                                          “GROW SHEFFIELD celebrates, inspires and raises
              Photo courtesy of: Grow Sheffield
                                                          awareness of the benefits of growing, harvesting
Grow Sheffield began as an active network                   and sharing food across our communities and
of individuals and groups promoting urban                  city. We are transforming our city into an urban
organic food which growing adopted a crea-                food-growing landscape, based on collaboration,
tive approach to establishing a cultural                  where anyone who wants to has the opportunity,
shift. It currently provides training, advice             space and support to grow and harvest chemical-
and practical skills to help people grow and               free fresh fruit and vegetables. We believe a vi-
harvest food in their community. It organises             brant, diverse food culture is a vital aspect of our
events, such as the annual Allotment                        healthy communities.” ~ Grow Sheffield Vision

       Introductory Note: Urban Growing: Edible Land in Swansea                                             21
Bay Meadows Community Garden

Location      San Mateo, south of San Francisco,          in planning the community. This includes the
              California , USA                            City Council and City Planning Department,
Size          The garden will be home to 99 unique        and staff of the City of San Mateo (where the
              garden plots that will eventually be        community is located), along with many local
              planted and maintained by local resi-       citizens and neighbours and community or-
              dents under the guidance of Star Ap-        ganizations. Nine architects/landscape archi-
              ple. The project is designed to be a
              sustained feature of the community
                                                          tects, and ARUP engineers were involved in
              for decades to come.                        the design of the Bay Meadows community.
                                                          The Community food garden was the initia-
Established   Concepts of the project evolved in
              conjunction with the programming of         tive of the developer with design and pro-
              other greenspaces in the develop-           gramming work undertaken by Star Apple
              ment over the past two years.               (edible garden specialists), CMG landscape
Key details   The developer wishes to create a            architects, and Merit Property Management
              community that embraces a sustain-          (Home Owners Association management
              able, urban lifestyle hoping that the       company). The consideration of a meaningful
              community garden will help future           community space that fosters neighbourly
              residents become vested and con-
              nected to their wider community             encounters, personal accomplishments and
              while celebrating concepts of sustain-      memorable experiences was a huge focus
              able living.                                during the planning stages of the project and
Further info http://baymeadows.com/community-             the concept of community food gardens sup-
             garden                                       port all of those objectives.
                                            The long term viability of the community gar-
Drawing on inspiration from a number of
                                            den has also been carefully considered and
projects including community urban farms in
                                            the cost of the garden construction is pri-
various US/Canadian cities (San Francisco,
                                            vately-funded by the developer. The initial
Oakland, LA, Seattle, Vancouver, Toronto) the
                                            operating costs will also be subsidised by the
developers sought to instill the principles of
                                            developer, but in the long run will be met by
sustainable living into their development
                                            subscription fees of the garden plot users
master plan for a new urban village.
                                            along with Home Owners Association dues
The overall Bay Meadows project (formerly a from the overall community.
horse race track) had stakeholders involved

                                          Plan courtesy of: Wilson Meany

   Introductory Note: Urban Growing: Edible Land in Swansea                                         22
Transition Town Totnes Fruit and Nut Tree Project
 Location      Totnes                                Associations, small local charities, as well as
 Size         Town wide
                                                     National Tree Council funding. Vandalism has
                                                     been an issue so the project has tried to find
 Established 2007
                                                     ways of engaging those living around the
 Key details Planting of Fruit and Nut Trees in Pub- planting sites to take interest in and act as
              lic spaces                             'guardians' of trees on their doorstep. Where
 Further info http://                                trees have been damaged or destroyed
              www.transitiontowntotnes.org/          young people have been involved in replant-
              groups/food-group/nut-tree-planting/
                                                     ing. The project hopes to continue expanding
The project involves planting and caring for and promoting public growing in Totnes.
trees in and around Totnes on public land, or
land open for public use. Initially this in-
volved nut trees and fruit trees. In the last
few years the project has linked with the
Transition Town Totnes Incredible Edible
Growing Project, which grew edible vegeta-
bles, herbs and flowers in public places. Both
forms of growing have now come together in
the planting of a Forest Garden in a public
arboretum during 2012/2013.
More than 300 trees have been planted in
and around Totnes since March 2007. At any
time there are about 50 volunteers involved
in the on-going care of the trees and other
edible growing in public places. Funding over Photo courtesy of: Transition Town Totnes Nut and Fruit tree project.
the years has come from many individual do- Chestnut tree on edge of playing field in
nors, Town and District Councils, Housing                                  Totnes

Brighton & Hove Food Growing and Development
Location       Brighton & Hove
Size           Extent of County
Established    2011

Key details    Planning guidance document on Food
               Growing.
Further info www.brighton-hove.gov.uk/

A Planning Advice Note document has been
produced which contains basic technical
considerations, as well as case studies, on
how food growing can be incorporated into
proposals for new developments.
                                                                       Planning Advice Note 6
    Introductory Note: Urban Growing: Edible Land in Swansea                                                   23
Bristol Food Network Get Growing Map

Location      Bristol                                   2010, over the next couple of years it gained
Size          City wide                                 momentum and funding as its steering group
                                                        focused on engaging local groups, raising
Established   2010
                                                        awareness and populated the map with de-
Key details   Map showing food projects.                tailed information on projects in Bristol. The
Further info http://www.bristolfoodnetwork.org/local-
                                                        map continues to grow and is up dated by the
              food-map/                                 Bristol Food Network.
This map is a resource for those who are in-
terested in local growing. The main aim of
the map is to pull together all the commu-
nity growing group information for Bristol
into one place. Allotment information is eas-
ily and clearly available via the Council web-
site, but finding out about other local edible
land initiatives was quite difficult - reliant
mostly on word-of-mouth and local knowl-                           Photo courtesy of: Avon Wildlife Trust.
edge. The map project sought to change
this. It started as an unfunded scheme in                                   Feed Bristol

Burke Mountain Community Garden

Location      British Columbia, Canada                  and Can You Dig It (an initiative tackles the
                                                        challenge of social isolation through garden-
Size          64 plots
                                                        ing). The garden is temporary, however all
Established   April 2013                                beds are mobile so can be moved to a new
Key details   Garden sponsored by developer to          site if necessary. There are 64 plots, 2 are
              provide amenities for new residents.      wheelchair accessible and 4 are “kid-
              The community garden is a temporary
                                                        friendly” height beds. The garden was at ca-
              use of the land, beds are completely
              mobile and may be relocated to an         pacity the day it opened. About 90% of the
              adjacent site. The project aims to cre-   gardeners are first-timers, the beds act as a
              ate a space whereby local residents       great learning introduction to growing food,
              can come together and grow food.          as well as building a community.
Further info www.thefoothillsatburke.com/about/
              burke-community-garden/
              www.shiftinggrowth.com www.cydi.ca

The garden creates a space for community
members to grow their own food within a
wider proposal for a large residential devel-
opment. It was sponsored by the developer
of the community to provide amenities for
new residents and delivered through a part-
nership between the site developer, Shifting
Growth (a charity who transforms vacant                              Photo courtesy of: Shifting Growth.
spaces into temporary community gardens)
                                                            Burke Mountain Community Garden

       Introductory Note: Urban Growing: Edible Land in Swansea                                              24
10 Resources and Further Information
City & County of Swansea
Development Management and Control
The City and County of Swansea’s Develop-
ment Management and Control Team deal
with the regulation of land through the plan-
ning process. They offer advice on whether
planning permission is required, and are the
team which planning applications are sub-
mitted to. (01792)635701.
www.swansea.gov.uk/planning

Planning Policy
The Planning Policy Team is responsible for           SPARK funky raised bed, Swansea
the preparation of the Council's Develop-        Allotments
ment Plan, and is also engaged on a range of     The City and County of Swansea provides
other strategic planning studies, area devel-    and promotes as a valuable resource that
opment briefs and other forward planning         should be maintained for future generations.
projects. The team provides guidance to de-      www.swansea.gov.uk/index.cfm?
velopers, their agents and other relevant in-    articleid=4974
dividuals/organisations on development po-
tential, and also advises on emerging legisla-   Swansea Community Directory
tion, statutory procedures and relevant plan-    The directory includes information on or-
ning policies at the national, regional and      ganisations and services serving the commu-
local level. www.swansea.gov.uk/devplan          nity in the Swansea area.
                                                 www.swanseacommunitydirectory.org.uk/
Grow Local
Swansea Council is encouraging our commu-        Swansea Green Map
nities to grow their own food by funding a       The interactive Swansea Green Map identi-
range of community-based growing projects        fies over 200 locations in and around the City
with the aim of improving access to fresh        and County that are helping to protect the
fruit and vegetables throughout the city.        environment. Places like Nature Reserves,
http://www.swansea.gov.uk/growlocal              recycling points, community projects and
                                                 shops that are working towards making
                                                 Swansea more sustainable.
                                                 http://www.sustainableswansea.net/green-
                                                 maps.html

                                                 The Environment Centre Swansea
                                                 The Environment Centre is an independent
                                                 charity whose focus is environmental infor-
                                                 mation, education and activity in South West
                                                 Wales.
                                                 www.environmentcentre.org.uk/

        Flags at the Vetch, Swansea

   Introductory Note: Urban Growing: Edible Land in Swansea                                 25
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