Ever since our days with the Independent Working Class Association back in the 2000s, we've supported resident led initiatives to make their neighbourhoods better places to live in. This carried on in the 2010s with our working with Basildon & Southend Housing Action on a number of resident led community cleans up in the town. Also, we were heavily involved with the resident run Hardie Park when we used to live in Thurrock. Now we've relocated to Keynsham near Bristol, we're doing what we can to promote these autonomous grassroots initiatives.
So, when we heard about the small community garden at Juniper Court in Eastville which is in the north east of Bristol, naturally we were pleased to see residents taking matters into their own hands to make where they live a pleasanter place. However, there's a cloud hanging over this pocket garden in the form of Bristol City Council wanting to use the location for a rubbish bin storage area instead. This is how this proposal has been covered in the local media: Council plan to rip up community garden for a communal bin instead - Tristan Cork | Bristol Post | 19.1.24. As things currently stand, the plan to remove the community garden and replace it with the rubbish bin storage has been put on hold in the face of stiff opposition from the residents.
There's quite a lot to unpack with this. Firstly, Bristol City Council don't seem to be able to grasp the simple fact that the creation of the community garden was about a lot more that just making the area look better. The collective act of creating and maintaining it is something that generates a sense of community by bringing people together. It also shows a sense of pride in where they live. Things which any council who cares about their residents should be encouraging rather than threatening to destroy.
Secondly, there's the claim that the residents should have sought permission from Bristol City Council to use the patch of land for a community garden. Technically, the council do own the land. However, a legal definition of ownership is a long way from a moral definition of ownership. The land currently used for the community garden is outside of people's homes. It's something they see and use every day. It's a physical part of their community. As such, while they may have no legal right of ownership, as they've transformed the land to turn it into a community asset, it can be argued that they have a moral right of collective ownership.
Thirdly, there's the heavy handed bureaucratic way Bristol City Council have dealt with the residents of Juniper Court. On the basis of a claim that the creators of the garden should have asked for permission first, the council seem to think they have the right to remove the garden. While the council paid some lip service to the residents who wanted to make their area a pleasanter place to live in, they still think they can boss them around. From our experience, the last thing councils want is residents with agency who want to be proactive in improving their neighbourhoods. They see that as a threat to their power.
As mentioned previously, it looks as though the plans to remove the garden and replace it with the rubbish bin storage have been put on hold. This is a result of stiff opposition from residents as well as the Bristol Post making an issue of it. We'd like to think that in the face of this, the council will negotiate with the residents to find a solution to the rubbish storage issues in the area while keeping the community garden intact. Now this is firmly in the spotlight, the council would be foolish in the extreme to eventually end up ignoring the concerns of residents and destroying the garden.
You'd think the Council would be excited about any community initiatives that were going to improve the chances of reaching Net Zero. Living soil should be their friend, and not concrete bin stations. What a surprise that it is actually more about power.
The wisdom of city councils, or not. Thurrock...what an inventive name.