Largish Growing Space in South London (Lambeth)?

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Permalink Reply by Sue on January 19, 2010 at 7:20pm

Space is not abundant in Lambeth, but there are nooks and crannies. What is your group and are you looking to work with local people?
Sue

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Permalink Reply by Jack Astbury on January 20, 2010 at 9:56am

Hi Sue,

Thanks for the note. The charity I work for is Embrace Cooperation based in Norwood and to answer your question yes we would definitely be looking to work with local people and it would be an integral part of the project. Nooks and crannies could be ok and I would be keen to start having a look at potential spaces to get some ideas / designs together. I have been informed that Norwood Park itself has a few raise beds that are no longer in use as well as a strip of land on Gypsy hill (thanks Toni!) which I will definitely be investigating. Do you have any other areas in mind? Thanks again!

Best,

Jack

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Permalink Reply by Gavin Watts on February 12, 2010 at 1:20am

Hi,

I'm involved with the White Lion on Streatham High Road, and we'd like to set up a community roof garden there. If you'd like to have a look at the space, let me know, or just pop in and ask for Oz.

Cheers,
Gavin

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Permalink Reply by Jonathan Rooks on February 12, 2010 at 1:45pm

Jack,

I know of a site in south-east London where there are greenhouses (good condition) that might be available. It is quite a bit further out than Lambeth though.

Jonathan

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Permalink Reply by Jack Astbury on February 12, 2010 at 5:13pm

Hi Jonathan,

Thanks for the note. Sounds interesting. We have actually located a very promising potential space in Lambeth but I would certainly be interested in knowing more about the greenhouses. What borough is it in? Shall we meet up for a chat at some point?

Jack

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Permalink Reply by Jonathan Rooks on February 17, 2010 at 8:14pm

I ahve to keep exact location confidentail at the moment while we work through some plans; but I will let you know more detail and invite you to come and see the site as soon as wew can. Regards. Jonathan

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Permalink Reply by Jonathan Rooks on August 26, 2010 at 4:33pm

Dear Jack,

I apologise for the delay in sending you more detailed information about the greenhouses. It took us longer to sort out a couple of issues on site than we had first imagined.

You can see photos of the site and greenhouses in a file at http://www.box.net/shared/kg1mfls6ka.

You can read about Hall Place at our website, http://www.hallplace.com/.

The site is located close to the A2 on the edge of London and has good road communications. The house and gardens are visited by tens of thousands of people a year and are very popular locally. Here is a map: http://www.streetmap.co.uk/newmap.srf?x=550224&y=174325&z=0...

Hall Place is managed by Bexley Heritage Trust on behalf of Bexley Council. The site is just off the A2 at the Black Prince interchange. We have had the site for 10 years and have recently been reconsidering which facilities we currently need in view of changing economic circumstances.

We have decided that we do not need to use all of our greenhouses. This is because we are focusing more on the award winning gardens, particularly as the garden area has expanded following a major redevelopment. We have also decided to no longer grow the majority of our own bedding plants. We have also decided that we wish to save carbon emissions and money by not operating exhibition greenhouses as we have in the past.

We are currently investigating renting the whole greenhouse site and yard facilities to a commercial operator. But, if this is not successful, we would be very interested in discussing renting some or all of the greenhouses to individuals or organisations who would like to use the space.

We have office space in the greenhouse, parking and hard standing and other external space that might be available. We currently operate a small retail operation from the greenhouses which we could share or licence to someone else. We are keen to keep some element of the greenhouses as an exhibit. We would be particularly interested in uses that would enhance our other activities at the site.

If you are interested in finding out more I would suggest that you visit the site to get a feel for what we have. If you would like to pursue it further after that then we will arrange for an informal discussion on the site.

Regards

Jonathan Rooks

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Permalink Reply by Jonathan Rooks on August 31, 2010 at 3:32pm

A bit more information now available at http://www.box.net/shared/n698y8kj1l

Regards

Jonathan

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Permalink Reply by Jack Astbury on August 31, 2010 at 8:57pm

Thanks for the info Jonathan. We are not going to be available to do anything until next year now but I would be interested in knowing more about the rent you envisage, the space available and the type of activities that we could use the space for. One idea would be to hire some space to grow vegetables for sale (possibly to visitors or an onsite cafe?) and also use it to hold veg growing workshops and training. Would that be the sort of thing that you could envisage? Also, are the greenhouses heated? Would there be any bed space available inside or outside for growing?

Jack

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Permalink Reply by Jonathan Rooks 1 day ago

Rent is the one thing I can't tell you about at the moment! We are exploring renting the greenhouses to a commercial firm, in which case the rent would be significant. If we are renting parts of the greenhouses out to smaller concerns, it is more about keeping them used and some interest for visitors. Some external space would be available. We currently have model allotments so your interest specifically in vegetable growing links in nicely. Selling veg would certainly be possible and we do have an onsite cafe who could be one of your customers. There are also green veg box schemes locally. We are cutting back on the heating of the greenhouses substantially because of the carbon and cost. We could certainly talk about any need for heating you might have.

I'd suggest you come and take a look and get a feel for the site. We could then meet up for a more detailed chat when you've had time to reflect.

Regard

Jonathan

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Permalink Reply by corina on August 28, 2010 at 12:01pm

Hi Jack

Brockwell Park Community Greenhouse's (BPCG) is a potential and so is Brockwell Park Wall Garden (mostly managed by the park) depending on what you would like to do. I volunteer at BPCG. Do drop me a line.

Regards
Corina
CLeong144@yahoo.co.uk

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