SERPENTINE COMMUNITY GARDEN SOCIETY (Charitable Incorporated Organisation)
BUSINESS PLAN - Draft February 2020
Executive Summary
Serpentine Community Garden is a community growing project and charitable incorporated organisation (CIO) first established in 2015, based in a heritage plant nursery within the wall of Grade II* listed Serpentine Walks in Buxton, High Peak. It is a fertile space for growing plants and growing people.
The plant nursery operated for a century, producing plants for display in parks and streets across Buxton and the High Peak. Its closure in 1990 caused great civic regret. Its reinvention as a space for growing once more has been supported and welcomed across the community.
Our Future in Buxton
Serpentine Community Garden is perfectly positioned as a community asset for social benefit and sustainable development. For five years the project survived and thrived with modest income and low expenditure, benefiting from a peppercorn licence but limited by that insecure tenancy. A new long-term lease agreed with High Peak Borough Council (HPBC) affords security of tenure and freedom to plan for greater development.
The project has demonstrated great resilience over a sometimes testing five years. The base line of planning for the next five years is to maintain gradual development with low income and low expenditure sustaining increased volunteer engagement and satisfaction. Opportunities for more ambitious, or speedier, development are afforded by the new lease. We need to plan for a spectrum of outcomes, preparing to respond flexibly to changing circumstances.
Serpentine Community Garden is a productive and vibrant green space. The site will be a resource for residents and visitors to Buxton and the High Peak for years to come, open and accessible to all with a varied programme of engagement.
Enterprise
Serpentine Community Garden has clear potential to generate income to sustain our charitable activities over time, and this plan sets out those intentions. All income to the charity must by law be spent on achieving our charitable aims within an identified area (High Peak in our case), and will therefore be directly invested in the welfare of the local area.
Security
Serpentine Community Garden has existed up until now without long-term security of tenure, which has significantly reduced its ability to develop infrastructure, seek grant funding or plan for the future. The new lease will enable the project to expand and realise the potential that has been created by years of hard work, bringing investment, character and soul to the area.
Finance
Ambitious but attainable income targets have been set for the next five years that will allow the charity to build a robust business. It is our intention to seek initial grant funding to cover costs of a site manager role to support increased opening times and build capacity, reducing reliance on grant income over the period so that by 2025 any paid roles can be funded through earned income.
Consultation
Between June 2017 and July 2018 the project was engaged in continuous community consultation as horticultural development continued against a background of a campaign against the threat of eviction because of plans for residential development of the site. Following a reprieve, three sessions to gather views on future options were held on site. The outcomes have informed our planning process and will continue to do so.
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Please get in touch, using the contact page, if you would like a copy of the full draft Business Plan.
BUSINESS PLAN - Draft February 2020
Executive Summary
Serpentine Community Garden is a community growing project and charitable incorporated organisation (CIO) first established in 2015, based in a heritage plant nursery within the wall of Grade II* listed Serpentine Walks in Buxton, High Peak. It is a fertile space for growing plants and growing people.
The plant nursery operated for a century, producing plants for display in parks and streets across Buxton and the High Peak. Its closure in 1990 caused great civic regret. Its reinvention as a space for growing once more has been supported and welcomed across the community.
Our Future in Buxton
Serpentine Community Garden is perfectly positioned as a community asset for social benefit and sustainable development. For five years the project survived and thrived with modest income and low expenditure, benefiting from a peppercorn licence but limited by that insecure tenancy. A new long-term lease agreed with High Peak Borough Council (HPBC) affords security of tenure and freedom to plan for greater development.
The project has demonstrated great resilience over a sometimes testing five years. The base line of planning for the next five years is to maintain gradual development with low income and low expenditure sustaining increased volunteer engagement and satisfaction. Opportunities for more ambitious, or speedier, development are afforded by the new lease. We need to plan for a spectrum of outcomes, preparing to respond flexibly to changing circumstances.
Serpentine Community Garden is a productive and vibrant green space. The site will be a resource for residents and visitors to Buxton and the High Peak for years to come, open and accessible to all with a varied programme of engagement.
Enterprise
Serpentine Community Garden has clear potential to generate income to sustain our charitable activities over time, and this plan sets out those intentions. All income to the charity must by law be spent on achieving our charitable aims within an identified area (High Peak in our case), and will therefore be directly invested in the welfare of the local area.
Security
Serpentine Community Garden has existed up until now without long-term security of tenure, which has significantly reduced its ability to develop infrastructure, seek grant funding or plan for the future. The new lease will enable the project to expand and realise the potential that has been created by years of hard work, bringing investment, character and soul to the area.
Finance
Ambitious but attainable income targets have been set for the next five years that will allow the charity to build a robust business. It is our intention to seek initial grant funding to cover costs of a site manager role to support increased opening times and build capacity, reducing reliance on grant income over the period so that by 2025 any paid roles can be funded through earned income.
Consultation
Between June 2017 and July 2018 the project was engaged in continuous community consultation as horticultural development continued against a background of a campaign against the threat of eviction because of plans for residential development of the site. Following a reprieve, three sessions to gather views on future options were held on site. The outcomes have informed our planning process and will continue to do so.
* * * * *
Please get in touch, using the contact page, if you would like a copy of the full draft Business Plan.
