The following proposal was received from a Friend for consideration during the AGM. The writer was brought up on the edge of the Forster Country, where his parents still live. Since graduating from Peace Studies with Development Studies in 1995, he has pursued a vocation in community-based sustainable horticulture, first in Bradford, and, since 2001, in East London where he has been involved in establishing a number of local food schemes under the umbrella of OrganicLea (www.organiclea.org) and is employed as the grower at Growing Communities' urban market gardens in Hackney (www.growingcommunities.org)

Friends of the Forster Country Land Trust: Outline Proposal:

1. That FoFC forms a Land Trust, for the purpose of buying the 'open green space in the north of Stevenage' as an effective strategy for 'preserving it for all time'

2. That the land is put to use as a community market garden. This would:

a) maintain and enhance the integrity of the Forster Country, whilst simultaneously maintaining and enhancing its historical role of growing food, for local people.

b) enable FoFC supporters home and abroad to invest in, and leave a legacy to, the Forster Country. As well as those with a local and literary interest, such a project would appeal to a wider audience of 'ethical investors'.

c) provide a sustainable alternative to the constant threat of building development, as a community market garden would boast cultural, recreational, historical, environmental, educational and economic status.

d) ('only) connect' the Forster Country with the social and environmental challenges ahead by contributing to a 'green Stevenage' by a green lung and reduced 'footprint' (through production of local organic food). All this in keeping with Forster's concerns regarding social justice, the environment and the excesses of motor transportation!

Notes

For a recent example of a successful Land Trust, see Fordhall Farm (www.fordhallfarm.com) an historic organic farm which survived a threat to its existence by raising £500,000 from sales of shares and donations, plus £300,000 from loans, in the space of two years, to buy their land. FoFC could possibly look to heritage grants also.

There are a variety of models of community market gardens. They are gardens managed principally for food production, whilst ensuring the wider community has access/ input/ ownership, for educational, recreational and therapeutic purposes.