Brent Council

Any issues you find in Brent such as littering, grafitti, or overgrown vegetation can be reported directly using Brent Council’s reporting page at https://report.brent.gov.uk/

The nature and location of the issue can be reported, and the issue will be automatically passed through to the correct group to rectify it.

Alternatively, if you wish to contact Continental Landscapes directly about any issues, please use our Get In Touch page.

We wanted to deliver something a little different for the community in Brent. We already knew that there is a positive “family” ethic in the borough, with people from all walks of life and ethnic backgrounds, coming together and helping each other to enhance the wonderful green spaces that the London Borough of Brent has to offer. With this in mind, we wanted the farm to be as diverse, teaching new skills to young and old alike.

Inspired by other international projects, we decided the best way to achieve this would be to introduce a food growing scheme that was more than an allotment. We wanted to create volunteering opportunities for all sections of the community, whilst also reusing materials that would otherwise go to land fill. The project would allow us to encourage wildlife, and attract pollinators whilst also supporting the local community, by way of goods and new skills. But above all, this would be a safe space where everyone is welcome and all actions, however small would make a difference. That was when the Brent Pocket Farm project was born.

The first step would be to find a suitable site.

The ideal space would be secure, have power and water, buildings, and be close to the Park’s other amenities. What we needed to find was a site that maybe had fallen into disrepair and/or needed some TLC. This seemed a huge challenge initially, the perfect location was discovered – the old bowling green at Roundwood Park which had not been used for a number of years.

The site is secure, has power and water, buildings, is located in an existing green facility adjacent to Roundwood Lodge Café and The Friends of Roundwood Park and their community garden. It couldn’t be better.

Our vision came to life, and our ideas for developing the farm were submitted to the Authority as part of our wider CSR Plan. Our aim is to:

• Provide opportunities to support community education
• Change behaviours around recycling and encourage people to make sustainable choices
• Provide a hands-on facility that enables people to see where food comes from. Helping them to understand the importance of nature in providing food, and how making sustainable choices helps to support vital eco-systems
• To showcase recycling initiatives and demonstrate the process. Rather than placing something in a bin and not knowing what will happen to it afterwards, the Farm provides an opportunity to see and understand the full cycle
• Demonstrate green waste recycling, educating people on how green waste is composted, benefits biodiversity, and how the resulting product can be used as a soil improver where crops are being grown
• Work with local allotment holders to share information, best practice, and support new allotment holders with educational sessions. Unused compost will be available to all allotment holders to collect for free
• Generate further opportunities at the Farm for education regarding reuse will focus on the conservation of natural resources, particularly water. There will be water harvesting devices showing people how much water is wasted and how it can be captured to water plants and support wildlife and wildlife
• Reuse materials to create wildlife habitats in the Farm will provide opportunities to show how recycling can improve biodiversity. Engaging with local people to undertake wildlife surveys regularly will show how the site is helping to boost certain species and improving the variety of species people may see, for example creation of bug hotels using discarded pallets, branches etc.

To further support and encourage a sustainable ethos, areas of wildflower meadow will be installed to attract pollinating insects into the farm. This will encourage people to think about how sustainable planting can benefit local ecology and encourage planting at home, for example in window boxes or pots where people have limited space.

Within the farm there will be opportunities for local people to learn more about sustainability and the importance of recycling through volunteering and educational events. Our teams will provide support and instruction demonstrating the various contract operations required to maintain a healthy farm. These will include planting, harvesting, creating habitats and recycling.
“Cook what we grow” in partnership with local community kitchen projects will support nutritional education for local people and we will share the fruits of our labours using the “From Brent to The Bowl” cook book as our blueprint for recipes.

Following the contract award, we performed an initial site visit to initiate the plan. We began by clearing the perimeter and buildings. There was a lot to do before exciting “stuff” can happen!
The old green area has been mown using specialist equipment and pathways have begun to be cleared.

Cuttings were chipped and removed to be re used, pathways and the surrounds continued to be cleared ready for development. Extra care always taken to ensure no wildlife was disturbed during the operations.

As we moved deeper into winter attention was turned towards removing items from the buildings and salvaging as much as possible. Items such as metal lockers would be stored and used as planters, old metal frames kept to form the structure for cold frames or mini poly tunnels, and wood kept to help with the construction of compost bays and raised accessible planters. We plan to re-use as many items as possible.

During the coming months you will see lots of changes across the site, these include:

• Continued preparation of the old playing surface for growing
• Filling the old bowling green gullies with a suitable medium to aid with drainage
• Completing the clearance of the storage sheds and refurb as required
• Creating the planting areas across the old green and build accessible planters
• Building and utilise compost bays
• Increasing biodiversity by installing bird boxes to provide safe nesting opportunities
• Installing Log piles for Insects / invertebrates habitats (Bug Hotels)
• Creating wild flower pockets and a new hive in partnership with local bee-keepers to aid with pollination
• Creating small planting structures (using recycled items like pallets, plastic containers, tyres and old lockers) to start the process of growing crops such as tomatoes and lettuce
• Engaging with local groups and residents to increase the number of volunteers and volume of donated materials.

We need volunteers, people with specialist skills such as carpentry, and donations of Items that you would usually take to the local tip, for example old tyres, unwanted pallets and planter’s pallets and planters.

You do not need to be a specialist to support this project ALL ARE WELCOME. Please call our local offices on 07407702599 or contact us for further information. Help us to give something back.