Watermans Park - Community Garden
Consultation has concluded
Overview
This survey has concluded.
Hounslow Council considered a request from The Friends of Watermans Park (External link)(FoWP) for the establishment of a community garden.
Resident views, comments and feedback were requested regarding this consideration to help determine the final design of the community garden, and demonstrate community support so the FoWP can apply for grant funding.
The FoWP's vision is to create a beautiful space in the park that promotes health, wellbeing, sustainability, and community friendships.
Outcome
With a total response rate of 36 people, we would like to thank everyone who took part in or helped to promote this survey.
The local community expressed a strong preference for supporting a community garden, recognising that it would enhance the park. London Borough of Hounslow will support the Friends of Watermans Park in creating a community garden subject to funding.
All the responses are available in the survey response report which can be found here.
Please contact consult@hounslow.gov.uk for more information.
You can also email parks@hounslow.gov.uk for any comments, questions, or repair requests regarding the site.
The FoWP's vision is to create a beautiful space in the park that promotes health, wellbeing, sustainability, and community friendships.
The aim of the garden is to:
- Help social integration through interaction and inclusion
- Develop partnerships and networks with local schools, organisations, businesses and the Council
- Increase environmental awareness through gardening and growing skills
- Offer enjoyable green, open spaces in a sustainable, accessible and adaptable area
- Focus on sustainability of programmes and initiatives over the longer term
Some benefits of community gardening include:
- Providing important habitats for wildlife
- Creating opportunities for community growing to support local charities
- Workshops for school children and adults to promote greater understanding, new skills and inclusion all-year round
- Increased social interactions and community cohesion
- Improving residents’ and visitors’ physical and mental health
- Enhancing the park’s status as a destination space
The community garden could include:
- An open area; not fenced and/or gated
- Accessibility for all
- An outdoor planting area boasting raised beds and tubs for planting
- Encouraging vertical planting, use of pergolas, and flower beds
- Informal seating for everyone visiting to enjoy the garden
- Space for artworks, or heritage assets from the river to be displayed
- A potential mosaic / artwork to be incorporated into the pavement
- Compost, wormery, insect hotels, water storage, tools storage
Summary of results
The local community expressed a strong preference for supporting a community garden, recognising that it would enhance the park. London Borough of Hounslow will support the Friends of Watermans Park in creating a community garden subject to funding.
- Out of the 36 respondents, 34 expressed they would support creating a community garden in Watermans Park and 35 agreed with the preliminary (draft) vision.
- In the survey, respondents were asked to rank potential features in terms of preference. Notably, space for artwork and heritage features emerged as the favourite, receiving 30 votes. The second choice was for raised beds and vertical planting. The majority of respondents had a preference for the community garden to be fenced for protection.
- 44% of those who responded would like to be involved in establishing a community garden in the park.
Alongside the online survey pupils from The Green Dragon Primary School were asked to share their ideas and submitted some wonderful drawings of what they would like to see in the garden.
Next Steps – Message from the Friends of Watermans Park
'We are really pleased with the overwhelming support for the creation of a community garden in the park from those who completed the survey. We also have strong support from children at Green Dragon Primary School who shared their wonderful designs full of ideas of how to creative a beautiful garden with us which will also be an important additional resource for the school. We will now be able to gather a group of people together who are interested in getting involved and apply for grant funding with the help of Cultivate London to make the garden a reality.
We have also taken note of the comments in the survey about what people like about the park and how it could be improved.
We will maintain a mailing list of those who expressed an interest in being involved with the community garden. This data will only be used for the purpose of contacting you regarding the community garden as a result of this survey.'
Paper copies of all consultations and surveys are available. To request one, please email consult@hounslow.gov.uk or call 020 8583 2000.
