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Farms, gardens, and growing spaces led by and for the community offer a powerful response. When communities take control of and manage spaces together, they can nurture health and well-being, strengthen social ties, connect with nature, build pride in place and increase local resilience.
Communities growing food and reaching their potential, addresses contemporary challenges felt across different government departments - health, food, environment and economic development. SF&G is advocating for greater policy coherence in community-led land use, so that community solutions can go some way to meeting these challenges.
SF&G are experts in sharing inspiration and ambitious ideas to push boundaries. We find creative ways to build a better, more connected world that is rooted in community.
Communities growing food is not just about using land for allotments. Community food growing projects and enterprises take many forms and all play a role in addressing the challenges outlined above. From orchards to community kitchen gardens and forest gardens to community supported agriculture farms. They all play a role that have high value.
Wales Community Food Strategy
“Across Wales, there is an extensive and diverse landscape of local food initiatives, delivered by a broad range of organisations. These demonstrate the commitment within communities to respond to pressing social, economic and environmental issues and, in parts of Wales, a thriving local market.”
The launch of the Strategy in 2025, saw a Welsh Government commitment to deliver representative, diverse and active local food networks working to increase the number of collaborative community food projects. Their commitment is long term and whole system. There is now a national realisation that infrastructure change is needed and that joined up thinking and policy support is the core foundation to that.
“Transforming a place’s food culture and system requires a joined-up strategic approach and long-term collaboration between individuals and organisations across all sectors and levels — from community groups and third-sector organisations to businesses and public bodies.”
. We can ask developers to provide space for food growing (it can take many forms), after all, it is not a capital intensive ask. Green spaces provided as part of housing schemes can easily reserve a proportionately sized space for incoming (ripe) communities to come together to grow. The spaces do not need to be allotments or farms if that that is not proportionate to the level of development. What is quite often needed is a small communal area that has no building waste buried underneath, no grass and some topsoil. No need for tall fences or costly infrastructure- maybe just a small sign advising ‘communal space to grow food’. The community need to ‘own’ the space and grow what they like on it in order for it to be used and thrive.
Section 12 on enabling healthy food choices needs refinement. We would prefer to see much more reference to the array of food growing spaces that can be included alongside new development. spaces of differing types can be provided at little cost according to the size of the development. reference to allotments is fine but we need to get developers to move away from thinking that their site is too small for a community food growing space. there are so many possibilities in terms of typology, size, layout, location. it is important for communities to be given the opportunity to buy in to the space and design it the way they want. We have seen many examples of capital intensive infrastructure being brought into sites where communities have not been involved in the layout design. these spaces, too often, fail. providing healthy environments is about providing potential spaces for communities to come together outdoors. perhaps with a proportionality sized growing space with a small shelter adjacent so volunteers can shelter from the elements, eat drink and socialise while growing food.
We would also like to see recognition of part 6a of the Schedule 2 Part 6 of the GDPO which allows for communities to build essential structures on community growing spaces. perhaps some supportive text for other essential structures could go along side this.
Note -
Social Farms & Gardens
Social Farms & Gardens is the UK-wide network of community farms, gardens and growing spaces. Our vision is to see people and communities reaching their full potential through food growing and nature-based activities as a part of everyday life. Our mission is to improve the health and wellbeing of individuals, communities and the environment through food growing and nature-based activities.
Together, we empower people to take on land and transform it into spaces that boost health and well-being, social connection, improve equitable access to nature and build resilience.
We believe every community deserves an outdoor space and activities that connect people with place and nature. Together, we can improve our well-being, build equity, foster climate resilience, and tackle the many interconnected challenges we all face. Food growing is a conduit for all these positive outcomes.
Social Farms & Gardens (SF&G) currently manages 15 projects across Wales. Having operated in Wales since 2008, we have supported thousands of community food growing projects and farmers to come together to grow, improve nature, enhance physical and mental wellbeing, reduce food poverty and to move away from our reliance on fragile long supply chains.
This response is provided by The Community Land Advisory Service Cymru which is a programme managed by SF&G. It has been funded in Wales since 2013 (and by Welsh Government since 2018) to provide land and planning advice to community led green space projects and farms.
This being a busy time of year for us, we have struggled for time to respond to this consultation in detail. We would greatly appreciate the opportunity for further engagement via Lucie Taylor the Coordinator of our Community Land Advisory Service in Wales. She is a planner and is currently working with Public Health Wales colleagues and the sustainable food places officer for the Vale on this area of work. lucie@farmgarden.org.uk Many thanks.
