Andrew Dismore

The Grahame Park Community Gardening project will receive a total of £16,419 in funding to enhance green spaces and biodiversity in the borough. Local London Assembly Member, Andrew Dismore AM, has welcomed this investment through City Hall’s Grow Back Greener scheme and said that pandemic has “underscored the stark inequalities” that exist when it comes to accessing green space.

Barnet Environment Support Team, working in partnership with Friends of Heybourne Park, New Colindale Residents Association, London Borough of Barnet, Saracens High School, Notting Hill Genesis and Colindale Communities Trust, has been awarded £16,419 to create an urban permaculture community garden at Heybourne Park in Grahame Park.

The project will include creating a space for food growing and wildlife, and will include gardening activities and workshops for local residents, as well as a gardening market for plant exchanges. Figures published by the Office of National Statistics (ONS) during the first lockdown reveal that a fifth of London’s households have not had access to a shared or private garden during the pandemic. Those from Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) backgrounds are almost four times less likely to have access to an outdoor space.

The Mayor’s new London Plan contains measures to ensure London has over fifty per cent green cover. However, the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, Robert Jenrick, has refused to sign-off the latest version of the Plan – submitted to him a year ago.

Local London Assembly Member, Andrew Dismore AM, said:

“This funding will help to boost our local recovery from the pandemic, and is a step towards transforming pockets of the borough so they can be better enjoyed by the community and allow biodiversity to flourish.

“The pandemic has underscored the stark inequalities that exist in our capital when it comes to ready access to communal green space.

“It’s positive to see that City Hall have a plan to address to this through initiatives such as the Grow Back Greener scheme, but it is the Mayor’s New London Plan that will make the biggest difference. The Secretary of State needs to sign it off and stop blocking its publication, so that we can really improve London’s biodiversity.”

ENDS

Notes

• A breakdown of the funding allocations for each borough and project through City Hall’s Grow Back Greener scheme can be found here;

• The latest Good Parks for London report can be read here;

• Figures published by the Office of National Statistics (ONS), in May 2020, reveal that a fifth of London’s households do not have access to a shared or private garden during the pandemic. Those from Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) backgrounds are almost four times less likely to have access to an outdoor space.
• The latest ‘Intend to Publish’ version of the New London Plan can be read here;

• Andrew Dismore AM is the London Assembly Member for Barnet and Camden