The Green Space Seminar, jointly hosted by PPAG and PEDAL on Saturday 26 April 2008, supported by local councillors, and attended by around 40 people over the course of the day, was a celebration of green spaces and looked at how we can enhance and make better use of them.

Tom Forsyth

The chair of the Friends of Figgate Park group, Tom Forsyth, spoke about why he set it up and gave us a fascinating insight into the wildlife, especially birds, that he has observed in the park over the last few decades.

Grieg Robertson

Greig Robertson of Re-solution explained his project of transforming derelict back greens into attractive places where people can spend time outdoors, working and socialising with their neighbours. His next project, Home Farm, will explore how people, in these days of rocketing food prices, can identify unused land to grow more food closer to home.
ECBI Leaflet
Home Farm Leaflet

To round off the day, Eva Schonveld of PEDAL outlined a Lottery bid for funding to establish a community orchard where fruit can be grown and the community can come together to learn about food and celebrate events.

We concluded that green space offers many benefits, from physical and mental health to maintaining biodiversity and mitigating the effects of pollution and climate change. We agreed that green space is sacrosanct, we should make better use of it and fight to protect it.