A local community group in England approached me to create a plan for a community orchard that they wished to create on a brownfield and scrub site adjacent to their existing car park and community building.
Community Hub and Community Orchard Design
The creation of the concept plan involved collaboration with several local societies and clubs, whose disparate interests and preferences all needed to be represented on site. A key goal is also to expand the use of the site for groups in the local area currently not well represented in current community efforts.
The community group also asked me to integrate this new area with a new planned extension to the community building which will house a new community kitchen and dining space. There were also some donated items and materials, and local artwork projects to integrate into the plans.
In what may ultimately seem like a rather simple plan, therefore, the key was to synthesise all the different elements to create a cohesive design that could please all interested parties.
If you have a community group and would like some help to bring your own plan together, please don’t hesitate to reach out.
More Than Just a Permaculture Concept Plan
In addition to creating the concept plan shown above, I also worked with the community group in order to determine an implementation plan that would allow for the preparation and enrichment of the soil on the site prior to planting.
Primarily, preparatory work included some scrub clearance, removal of a dead tree (and use of its wood) and sheet mulching in key areas with plenty of organic matter sourced locally and from the site itself.
I have also worked with individuals from the community group to itemise the uses of individual plants within the layered food forest or forest garden design. I helped them to work out how fruits and other yields can be used within the community kitchen and restaurant area, and potentially become a potential revenue stream for the group’s fundraising efforts.
We explored how the current community building and planned extension will be able to serve the community’s need in a range of different ways, and how an entrepreneurial spirit can be encouraged through the incubation of new forest garden businesses.
A Global Community of Permaculture Communities
This project is in its early days at the moment but I can see that it is just at the very beginning of creating immense positive change in an area challenged with a diverse population and a number of social challenges.
I am excited to have been a small part in helping an amazing group of local people bring their plans to fruition and look forward to continuing to provide consultancy moving forwards.
This is just one of many permaculture-inspired community groups I have worked with around the world. There are many acting locally here in the UK and around the world, and it is great, sometimes, to think beyond the immediate locality and to embrace the sense that all of these groups are part of a bigger movement.
Permaculture is a movement that joins us in hope that, in spite of the serious challenges we face, we can all work in small but mighty ways to make our world a better place.
EWSP Consultancy 