Lambeth Walk Doorstep Green

We now look set to resolve two long-running issues for the Doorstep Green project by early May.

First one is what to do about Roots & Shoots' request to use more than half of the Community Garden as a building site for a year or more. We at last have a site meeting set for next week where we can finally discuss the detailed proposals (I hope, because there's not much chance of agreeing a-pig-in-a-poke) with the main contractor, Parks, FoLWOS and Roots' representatives and architects.

Second question is how to progress the community planting and engagement side of the DG project. We have already asked a local specialist horticultural charity, Trees for London - based a mile down the road in Kennington Park, to prepare a detailed proposal for us on how they would like to manage the process of planting, training and encouraging our locals to get involved with the DG (plus using their technical skills to sort out or improve our existing tree population and plant the new ones we propose). They have come back with a solid proposal which we hope to be able to ratify next week as well. They also propose to add another 50% or so in match-funding to the £25K we would pay them from the DG grant.

Meanwhile, Lambeth are inching closer to coughing up the necessary legal papers (Report on Title, Planning report etc) to allow the DG to get full steam up ahead asap. We've only been asking since July 2003, and now it looks as though some movement has been spotted in the undergrowth, and the papers agreed (if not yet delivered). . .

Details and/or results will be posted here as they come to hand . . .