Elmington Community Gardens

The children's playground was installed in 2022, to the delight of the residents of Elmington Estate.  However, an access road through the estate travels alongside it and children are currently able to run directly into the road.  The idea of the hedging came about primarily as a safety precaution for this.

We have decided to plant a mixed variety of blackthorn; hawthorn; dog rose; field maple; hazel and bird cherry.  This type of hedging will not only look more attractive to the hundreds of residents whose properties overlook the playground, but will increase biodiversity.  Hedges provide great shelter to birds, with these varieties attracting butterflies; ladybirds and bees.  Hedging is also a great way of offsetting carbon emissions, providing children cleaner air while they play.  

Planting will commence in early March, with the whole community invited to take part in planting including children from Brunswick Park Primary School as part of their community gardening sessions. 

As tenants and residents of Elmington Estate, we have a daily lived experience of what life is like on Elmington Estate. As part of our future, we are proposing for a green space on our estate that has been closed off for many years to be reopened. This area was originally created to provide gardens to the upper level maisonettes of Langland House.  However, for reasons unknown to us, they never materialised and eventually led to mass flytipping and antisocial behaviour.  Southwark Council closed off the area to the public and it was subsequently left to overgrow and fall into disrepair. Many Elmington Estate residents have no access to a personal garden so all green space on the estate is appreciated. We'd like to reinstate this area as 'Elmington Woods', a secret garden-esque area which will provide a calm, relaxing space for residents to have direct access to nature whilst protecting, preserving and nurturing the wildlife in a peaceful coexistence.

Elmington Woods will be a key biodiversity stepping stone in the North Camberwell Wildlife Corridor.  Elmington Estate is in a flood risk zone, opening the woods would increase the permeable land on our estate and therefore assist in decreasing potential damage.  Adding another location of tranquillity on the estate will boost our efforts of improving resident mental health, offering more space to escape from the noise and stresses of urban city life.  We will provide education on the environment with the use of information signs and activity days that will allow for nature watching and learning about existing species.  Opening up the woodlands will help to solve some of our final issues of fly tipping. Currently the entrance space directly outside the woods is consistently a target.

The woods will be open during daylight only. We aim to allow public access twice per week, one weekday from 9am - 5pm and one weekend day from 9am - 4pm. It will be closed on U.K. bank holidays.

We recently installed a new entrance gate and are seeking a waste management company to assist in the extremely large task of clearing the area to ensure it is safe for our volunteers to begin.