The Proposal
Agnew Lane Ltd (ALL) proposes to develop Agnew Lane sustainably as an educational experience, and build an environment for fostering the physical and mental wellbeing of community members through building, gardening, and sharing. This will encourage a sense of mutual ownership over and respect for the land that is Agnew Lane. It will protect and enhance urban biodiversity, whilst offering educational and upskilling opportunities for anyone interested in learning. This proposal includes a phased plan that is outlined below:
Phase One - Remediation:
It is believed Agnew Lane could be contaminated from previous industry (Bakery building onsite from 1890’s - 2008, which was used as material storage and office space for building contractors for a few decades prior to demolition). We will obtain soil analysis and establish a remediation plan. We plan to collaborate with researchers in order to use organic detoxification methods, such as bioremediation and mycoremediation. This will allow us to eventually direct-sow into the ground-soil, and will ensure the environment is a healthy one for wildlife.
As part of our remediation plan, ALL has been in contact with Glasgow University’s GALLANT project to establish a working relationship with their researchers to approach organic remediation of the land. GALLANT have funding available for studies within community projects like Agnew Lane Community Garden.
Phase Two - Establish/Reactivate Infrastructure:
Installation/Reopening of mains electricity and water in line with The Scottish Land Commission guidance.
Phase Three - Repair of Existing Structures, Building of New Low-Impact Structures, Installation of Renewable Energy:
The community will repair derelict structures at the southwestern corner of Agnew Lane and build new low impact structures collectively. All building will be done by the community with support from local architects and contractors. This will allow for up-skilling opportunities and foster a sense of ownership over the land. These structures will act as sites for the community to gather, stay dry, access facilities, and supply resources from which to build the gardens. The buildings will house a community kitchen, a youth arts studio, and a wood workshop.
In addition to building low impact structures, ALL intends to seek funding from Local Energy Scotland to install renewable technologies such as solar panels and heat pumps, which should allow ALL to achieve net zero emissions. With this, ALL will also endeavour to implement the Smart Export Guarantee in order to be paid for every unit of electricity fed back into the grid.
As an aside to its organic remediation support, GALLANT has also indicated interest in helping ALL with the installation of renewable energy systems.
Phase Four - Construct the gardens:
The gardens will occupy the majority of the land at Agnew. Construction will include installing vegetable and native flower beds, composting bays, building a greenhouse, establishing ponds for wildlife, encouraging a wooded area and wild growth areas.
Agnew Lane is an ideal location to grow. It is sheltered from high winds by the surrounding buildings and trees, with a good amount of light throughout the year. It is already home to many insects, birds, amphibians, and other animals. ALL hopes to build with those creatures in mind, encouraging and thereby increasing biodiversity while engaging the commmunity in a conversation around the importance of this within an urban environment and ecosystem.
Phase Five - Operations:
Once constructed the gardens will be maintained by ALL staff, and the community as educational opportunities. Maintenance of Agnew Lane will be funded by the proceeds from workshop rental, compost sales, paid-for workshops, studio rental, kitchen rental, grants, and fundraising events.
ALL is partnered with Plant Grow Share Ltd, an organisation set up to support urban growers to donate their surpluses to food banks and food points local to their growing sites. Through this relationship, all fruit and vegetables produced at Agnew Lane will either be donated to local food banks and food points, or given away from the garden itself. With the help of Plant Grow Share, ALL hopes to make the Agnew Lane a food point in and of itself, where people from the area can come and harvest food for themselves, build relationships with the gardeners, learn, and get involved.
ALL has relationships with many builders, labourers, and makers across the South Central area of Glasgow. These people will be responsible for the physical development of the Agnew Lane and any upskilling activities that take place along the way for the community. The wood workshop will be the locus from which the buildings and gardens will be built. It will then remain onsite as an environment for learning. When not being used for educational purposes, it will be a rentable studio. All income from the workshop rental will feed back into the maintenance of Agnew Lane.
The composting bays that will be constructed in Phase Four will be large enough for the surrounding area to supply its food waste. With neighbours and local businesses encouraged to bring their food waste to Agnew Lane, ALL will produce organic and locally sourced compost for growers outside the Agnew Lane to develop or expand their own growing sites. Compost prices will reflect the current rate for similar products in Scotland.
ALL facilitators will offer both paid-for and free workshops to the community. Workshops will be designed around the following outcomes; gardening for food, gardening for pollinators, horticulture, botany, building and woodworking, cooking, and art. Workshops will not be limited to this list. ALL hopes to utilise the wealth of practitioners and varied cultural identities in the Govanhill area, thereby broadening its employment to include individuals outside the ALL community body who could benefit from the experience of teaching.
ALL is partnered with Rumpus Room Ltd, which has a longstanding relationship to the neighbourhood’s youth and young people. The youth arts studio will operate via independently secured arts funding along with various forms of fundraising activities such as art markets and paid for workshops. Rumpus Room will pay to occupy the youth arts studio. The rental of that space will feed back into the maintenance of the Agnew Lane.
ALL is partnered with the social enterprise Milk Cafe, which has been empowering and supporting women from refugee and migrant backgrounds since 2015. It will be through this partnership that ALL will build and operate its community kitchen. The kitchen will be used regularly for workshops and events. Food grown at Agnew Lane will be prepared for larger social gatherings, which will not only provide some income for the maintenance of Agnew Lane, but also encourage an atmosphere of sharing and learning about the multiple food cultures present in the neighbourhood. Inevitably there will be a great deal of crossover between the types of foods grown at the lane and the kitchen itself.