We are so excited to announce that the lease has been signed by both the trustees and Surrey County Council - this means the land is officially ours!!
It has taken almost exactly 2 years since the council first came back to us in Jan 2021 to say that they would like to explore the idea of using their land for our garden, and there has been a lot of hard work behind the scenes but we have finally made it across the line!
So what does this mean?
The lease has a 15 year term, but we are determined for the garden to be such a success in that time that it is extended many years beyond this. The main implication of having the legal aspects covered is that we can now start to spend some of the grant money we have raised, knowing that the land is secure. Having the lease has also allowed us to get our planning application in for the structures that we need on the site (the fencing, composting toilet, tool container, polytunnel and ultimately our building. The application has been accepted and we have been told it will take about 8 weeks to process.
The work we can do in the meantime is to bring down some of the diseased ash trees that need to come down for safety purposes, and to get the water connection set up so that we can water the plants we will be growing.
We continue to have working parties every Saturday morning from 10-12am so join us if you can as we prepare the ground - you will be excited to see the layout we have made for the paths and the initial planting areas, as well as how clear some areas now look with cutting back the brambles. Join us if you can, and watch out for a week-day session starting in the next few weeks - more details to follow!
Congratulations!