A South Kilburn campaign group are holding an open day to advocate for the protection of their community garden.
Granville Community Kitchen (GCK), a sustainable community food organisation which has been campaigning since 2023, are hosting an event on Saturday 18 April in resistance to the redevelopment of Granville Rec.
Taking place on the National Day of Action for nature, the event will offer activities which highlight the garden’s importance and promote GCK’s campaign to protect an established inner-city green space.
GCK co-founder Leslie Barson said: “This is just the start of a summer of campaigning.
“We want to raise our profile, tell people about the campaign, and show them how wonderful the Rec is and all the things they can do there.”
The Rec is an active, functioning community garden, dedicated to local food production, horticultural learning, and outdoor recreation for children and adults.
Events taking place on Saturday include discussions about the campaign and the future of the garden, banner-making for the ‘Save the Rec’ campaign, distribution of garden-grown vegetables, hands-on gardening activities, plus a bug hunt and biodiversity exploration.
Barson said: “We want the pressure to build on the council and developers.
“We’re not going to let this go – this is a very important community asset.”
The group also aim to highlight with the event the larger problem of green space threat across the country as part of the National Parks campaign.
Barson added: “What a lot of these campaigns are fighting for is to save the spaces that are already there and have been developing over many years – an ecosystem that cannot be replaced.”
Brent Council were approached for comment.
Feature image: Granville Community Kitchen/Leslie Barson
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