Cherry Tree Lane community garden

The Crown Estate is looking to create a community garden at Cherry Tree Lane, Woodhall Farm, in partnership with Sunnyside Rural Trust, a local charity and social enterprise. 

View the location of the proposed site

The community garden will become a place for local residents to enjoy, boosting physical and mental wellbeing, providing new habitats for local wildlife and improving biodiversity.  Find out more on our proposed approach, benefits and suggested designs for the community garden

A planning application was recently submitted to SADC. The application reference number is 5/2024/1552 and can be viewed on SADC’s planning portal.

We held three events in July which local residents in Woodhall Farm were invited to attend. Following these events Sunnyside used the feedback we received to finalise the proposals for the garden. A planning application was recently submitted to SADC. 

Below is a summary of the questions raised and how the proposals respond: 

Questions included provision for parking of buses, ramped access, disabled/accessible seating, whether access to and from the Nickey Line will be accessible? 

The site is situated next to an existing bus stop, providing a direct public transport connection to the site. There will be ramped and gated access to the site from the north, with an accessible footpath extending to the perennial garden. Access from the Nickey Line will be stepped to retain the existing slope from the Nickey Line and avoid the need to undertake ‘cut and fill’ earthworks. 

Will there be parking within the site? (NB There was an expressed consensus that the proposal should minimise the use of cars)  

There is no parking provision within the site – the community garden is designed for a local walkable catchment as a ‘place to pause’ for those already using the local bus/pedestrian networks and Nickey Line. 

Will there be any lighting, and what impact will this have on wildlife?  

The proposal does not include any form of lighting in order to minimise the impact on wildlife and residential properties to the west. 

Can levelled / vehicular access be provided from the neighbouring development?  

Access points into the site from the west would require the alteration of public highway, loss of several mature trees/hedgerows, could adversely impact residential amenity and may risk drawing in car borne visitors. The principle of the site is to allow public access into an area of current agricultural land which has been enhanced through improved biodiversity value and informal recreation features, whilst retaining existing habitats/ hedgerows on its margins.