Ms Maeve Foreman:

How long should a licence last? In the case of Mud Island Community Garden, an 11-month licence is granted, which can be renewed every year. I believe this is quite common with gardens in Dublin City Council's area. Under the licence, the site must be vacated for the month of January. I believe this provision allows the council to look after its legal entitlement to the land. From a gardens point of view, the longer licences last, the better. A duration of a minimum of two years would allow one to benefit from the vegetables one has grown in any one year. Dublin City Council have it worked out in such a way that most of the land it gives to gardens is given on temporary licences because the land is zoned for social housing. The site Mud Island occupies is also so zoned but we have been in existence for more than ten years now. Bridgefoot Street Community Garden, of which some members may be aware, is the first purpose-built community garden in the Dublin area. The garden has been tied in with a park. Some rural councils have allocated parts of public parks for community garden allotments. This allows for a sense of permanency and ownership as the park belongs to the local community. That is quite a good model.

On the question of how much it costs, how long is a piece of string? In the case of Mud Island Community Garden, we spent an average of €5,000 to €10,000 a year in the first few years. We raised some of these funds ourselves while some were provided under Local Agenda 21, some came from the local council and some from Croke Park's community fund. Because we built the garden on a derelict site where there was a lot of rubble, we had to build raised beds and buy soil and plants. As little as €500 would be enough to get some community gardens going. We are talking about small grants of between €500 and €5,000 to establish gardens and to get things growing.