Street Schemes & Public Plantings

Overview & Emerging Trend
Public plantings in streets and communal areas has a long tradition of making a neighbourhood a more pleasant place to live. Traditionally street greenery was made up primarily of flowers and shrubs, from municipal hanging baskets to flower borders, from shrubbery areas to trees.

Until recently, there were few if any initiatives to grow edible plants using street space, communal areas eg precincts and marginal areas bordering streets or roads. But several different ideas are now taking off which make use of these public areas for vegetable and fruit growing.

In some cases, a selection of flowerbeds, herbaceous borders and other public land are being turned over to cultivating food. Transition towns and Local Food Coalitions have been prominent in this area (see examples below).

In other urban areas, where there is high density housing, schemes have sprung up which add greenery, including edible plants, to alleyways between terraced houses. Not only does this give a sense of pride to their area for local residents, but also brings the community together and promotes healthy eating.

Some schemes, for example an alley-gating project being piloted in Salford in North West England, tie in the greening of alleyways with crime reduction, child safety and the development of community spirit.

Where public or communal land is particularly hard to find, some schemes are concentrating on providing tools, seeds, planters and advice to residents of a street so they can grow food communally, but using their own gardens, balconies or, in some cases, roof space.

There are also national initiatives springing up which encourage the better use of streets, with some of the activities being food related. For example the Big Lunch, where neighbours are encouraged to get together to share food together in their street.

Examples

From Floral Displays to Veg Patches

Incredible Edible Todmorden
This local food coalition in Yorkshire has been instrumental in transforming public flowerbeds into community herb gardens and vegetable patches. IET has also mobilised volunteers to plant fruit trees outside the town's health centre, make watercress beds in a local park and give free vegetable seeds to social housing tenants. As well as planting fruit and veg in public spaces, they are working with public bodies to negotiate the use of land– like the fire station and the railway station –and working with social landlord Pennine Housing.

Transition Clitheroe & Incredible Edible Rossendale
Following on from this initiative, the Transition Town groups in Clitheroe and the Incredible Edible group in Rossendale are experimenting with replacing traditional floral displays, including hanging baskets and herbaceous borders, to grow greens and beans.

Communal Growing on Residential Streets

Food Up Front
With the pressure on allotments so great, particularly in London, this innovative urban food scheme aims to support people through a network of Street Representatives to grow food in unused outdoor spaces such as front gardens, windowsills and balconies.

Food Up Front, which covers several boroughs in South London was set up in 2007 by neighbours who were fed up with waiting for an allotment. They decided to pool their resources and expertise so they could grow their own food.

For a contribution of £20 towards running costs, members of the scheme get a starter pack including growing containers, locally-produced organic compost, a selection of seeds and a basic planting and harvesting guide. Each member is also assigned a volunteer street rep to help them get started and give growing advice.

Alleyway Schemes

Salford Alleygating Scheme (Seedley & Langworth)
Alley gating is a crime reduction scheme which is being piloted in the Seedley and Langworthy area. Alley gating restricts access to the back of houses by allowing access only to residents in order to prevent crime and to create a communal area for those who live in terraced properties whilst creating a safe play area for their children. The scheme is funded by Salford City Council and administered by The Seedley and Langworthy Trust and The Manchester Methodist Housing Association.

Middlesbrough Environmental City
The idea to make alley ways greener as well as more secure was started in Middlesbrough some time ago, through a partnership including West Middlesbrough Neighbourhood Trust (WMNT) and the local authority. A pilot project on Longford Street saw the alleyway transformed with planters, evergreen vegetation and trellises which created a little green avenue in the heart of town. From here, the residents have progressed to growing their own vegetables in large planters and tubs.

National Schemes

The Big Lunch
Last year up to a million people around the UK took part in the first Big Lunch, where neighbours got together in the street to have lunch. A Big Lunch can be anything from getting together with your immediate neighbours – in a garden, on the street – through to closing the road for the day and organising a bigger street party.

At one location, Fighting Close in Coventry, a patch of front lawn was opened to all the children in the street to grow their own vegetables for The Big Lunch.

More Information
There is no central point for information on Street Schemes as many of them are local efforts in response to particular local needs. The best information is available via the examples given above.

Salford City Council have produced a policy document about its alleygating scheme, which is available to download via the Salford City Council website.

Several newspapers and websites have picked up on this emerging trend and the articles below provide a further insight.

The Independent - An article on the growth of so-called 'front garden gardeners'.

The Guardian - An article about the replacement of traditional flower displays on the streets of Clitheroe with vegetables