Following on from the initial survey on a potential Community Garden in Dollar in 2021, we are now holding a second consultation in 2023 to collect further views and support. There are several drawings in the survey which can be seen below. These are displayed in the Hive halls and on the outside of the Hive’s south doors. A full paper copy of the survey is available to all Dollar residents. This can also be accessed online following the link below and should take around 10 minutes to complete.
The closing date for the survey has been extended until Monday 23rd October. We hope you can take the time to complete this and show your support for the community project.
The following images provide an idea of how the different areas could look once established:
The ethos behind the garden idea is that it is for the Dollar community and is open to all, creating a positive legacy that benefits the whole community.
We envisage the main objectives of the garden being:
Social: To bring the community together and to spread the word of the importance of re-connecting with the environment around us.
Educational: To educate visitors on where our food comes from, as well as basic practical regenerative farming/gardening techniques and the health and environmental benefits associated with them.
Biodiversity: To create and enhance our local biodiversity.
Self-sustaining: making just enough money from its activities to ensure it can continue for many years.
Background to the Garden
The 2016 Dollar Futures 5-year Community Action Plan, which was based on extensive consultation, identified a community gardening scheme as desirable in Dollar.
There is an opportunity for us to realise this ambition; in their current application for planning permission Harviestoun Estate proposes to provide a field for an orchard and community use, this site is 6.2-hectare to the west of the railway embankment, south of Newfield.
We have received support from Harviestoun Estate to explore how this proposal might be progressed, and we have secured a grant from Green Action Trust to carry out a feasibility study. The Trust has already done some additional research, including several visits to other gardening schemes. We see the potential benefits of a community gardening space in Dollar as being:
A social space for people to meet and relax.
An opportunity to learn new gardening and maintenance skills.
An area for exploration and play.
An area where people can help improve their health and well-being through being involved in the activities within the garden.
An area where community social events can take place.
An opportunity for people to grow, sell, and purchase local produce.
An area that can attract visitors who will potentially spend time and money in Dollar, therefore supporting local businesses.
If we get sufficient community support to progress this idea, we envisage it being an ambitious five-year project to get it up and running. It is important to us to get it right, so the feasibility study is allowing us to produce a draft garden design, gather feedback from the community, and produce a detailed Business Plan to ensure we are confident the garden will be sustainable long-term.
The initial survey is part of the feasibility study and aims to assess the level of community support for the garden, the level of potential volunteer help, and to stimulate ideas that would help to produce a community garden we can all be proud of. Our aim is for the garden to be an enhancement to the community facilities in Dollar and would ensure that produce/plant sales would not impact existing Dollar businesses.
Tell us what you think!
We hope you like the initial plans for the garden, the community consultation has now closed, however if you have comments we would still love to hear them, so please contact us.
