UK: Shock As Council Tries To Hike Community Garden Rent By 5,000%
The Redcatch Community Garden group, in Knowle, currently pays the council £300 a year in rent, but were asked to increase this to £16,000 a year.
By Alex Seabrook,
Bristol 747
Mar 16, 2023
Excerpt:
“So here we have a not-for-profit organisation that has little in reserves, has created 16 jobs, provides an estimated £1 million per year in social value to the community, and is now being asked to increase its rents from £300 a year to £16,000.
“Our current licence runs out in December as the council failed to renew it last summer, which means that some funders will not consider us further. We have no draft lease and time is running out. 16 people could lose their jobs in the next few months because of the council’s greed and inability to respond timely to support such a valuable asset.”
Council chiefs have since halved their offer from £16,000 a year to £8,000 — but that’s still 26 times what the not-for-profit group is paying for rent now. The cabinet member said she regretted that the community group had to speak to several different council departments, and added that she hoped to reach an agreement on a new level of rent.
King said: “Both me and Marvin have visited the garden, I visited it last month, and I have had several conversations with the leader of that group since. It’s a conversation that’s open and I’ve asked [them] to come in and meet with us. They’ve had several different lines from several different officers, and that’s something that I regret and I’m keen to resolve.
