Abbeydale Communities Together (ACT) and the Abundance Project will be creating an Inner city Forest Garden on Abbeydale road.

The site will be cleared and planted by local volunteers on Sunday 13^th of December between 10 and 4pm as part of the Nether Edge Community Forestry Project. The site is located on Abbeydale road between Marden rd and Edgedale road next to Lowes Paint shop.

Belinda Drummond from ACT says “’We are so excited about the opportunity for local residents to get involved in this ’green’ community project. It is going to be a great space for the local people who live in and around the Lowe’s garden area to have a green area to enjoy! It would be great for all the local area to get behind this project and to see what is possible when we all work together.”

Stephen Watts, co-founder of the Abundance Project, said “I am excited that locals will get involved with the planting and ongoing maintenance of the site, coming back to pick the fruit when it starts cropping. This is a great opportunity for people to not only get some fresh local food, but also learn something about the process of growing edible plants.”

Forest Gardens consist of perennial shrubs and trees planted to mimic the canopy layers of a natural woodland, but all the planting is edible or useful in some way. Forest gardens are being trialled as the most efficient way to grow food in temperate climates as they use a number of canopy layers resulting in many different crops in very little space.

The Project will help regenerate an unused and untidy pocket of woodland and help develop a community garden that will provide food for local people for years to come.

The Forest Garden Project has been made possible with funding coming from the South Community Assembly and forms part of the Nether Edge Community Forestry Project. This project will comprise a number of tree planting events and educational activities that will take place over the next few months.  For more information about all these activities contact Angus Hunter on 07855225172 or email angus.hunter@sheffield.co.uk

When: 10am-4pm, Sunday 13 December

Where: the land next to Lowes on Abbeydale Road

Who: you!

ACT has helped to organise the development of a community garden on the piece of land next to Lowes on Abbeydale Road. We are working on this with Angus Hunter, the local Community Forestry Officer. But we need your help. Can you come to help clear the land anytime between 10am-4pm on Sunday 13 December? No special skills needed. Equipment provided. Just come with work clothes.

When: every Tuesday starting the 8th of September 2009

At: Abbeydale Snooker Hall inside Abbeydale Picture House, 387 Abbeydale Road,  Sheffield, S7 1FS

Time: 7:00pm to 9:00 pm

Please help spread the word.

For more information click here.

Help us to plan what  we do next.  We want fewer priorities which will see more results. Here are main issues people have identified:

• Young people
• Saving St Peter’s building and green space
• The identity and appearance of the Abbeydale area
• Local transport and road safety
• Supporting local shops and encouraging people to shop locally

Leave a comment below to let us know what you think we should focus on.

ACT is run by volunteers. If you’d like to work to make a difference then please get in touch or come to one of our monthly meetings at St Peter’s at 6pm on the first Monday of each  month.

At the Broadfield Bonanza last August we asked people what local issues ACT should be addressing.  The following were identified as priorities for 2008/09:

• Appearance of the area
• Local transport/road safety
• Local shopping

WE ACTED …

Our Shop Local work has included 2 meetings for Abbeydale Road businesses and support for trade through spending locally.

We now have a website www.act4action.org.uk or www.act4action.org.

To see through the improvements to Broadfield Park we have worked closely with Sheffield City Council and South Yorkshire Police.

We have promoted Abbeydale people and projects in Sharrow Today and The Edge newsletters.  We have taken the ACT stall to the Sharrow Festival, Common Ground BBQ and the Community Assembly event at the Medina Centre.

A number of the ACT group completed the How Your Neighbourhood Works course, designed to build knowledge of structures, services and decision making in the local area.

In January we organised a “walkabout” of Abbeydale Road and invited along Central and Nether Edge councillors.  This was to highlight areas of concern, but also opportunities.

Along with Nether Edge Neighbourhood Group we conducted a traffic survey of the Abbeydale Road/Bedale Road junction, which we aim to repeat later in the year.  This will be to measure the potential impact the Tesco supermarket has on traffic in the area.

A member of ACT has attended community safety meetings to contribute to discussions regarding the Abbeydale neighbourhood.

We have met with the Central Community Assembly team to discuss how Abbeydale will be represented.

A representative of ACT has joined the management committee of Sharrow Community Forum of which ACT are a sub-group.

We are developing plans with the Community Foresters to create a community garden on Abbeydale Road.  Nearby schools and residents will be invited to get involved.

We are working with Common Ground, who manage and develop the St Peters space, to support their work in keeping St Peters open for the local community.

We have been successful in fundraising, securing grants from South Yorkshire Community Foundation (£700) and Shine on Sharrow (£500).  This money is to spend on running costs, publicity and events.

There is a perception that these problems have improved in recent months. But if you see any offenses then please report these to the local Police Community Support Officer, Sarah Hague. She has told us that is a pattern emerges then it may be possible to organize some targetted enforcement activities. Contact Sarah Hague on sarah.hague@southyorks.pnn.police.uk.

We can also report that the council are running a project involving both changes to the road layouts and signs and public education to improve safety on Abbeydale Road,  London Road and  Wolesey Road. We hope this will bring improvements.

Click here for more details.

1. The green space next to Lowes on the Abbeydale Road

The council parks department manage this space and are apparently open to community involvement. We are hoping we can bring together Grow Sheffield, student volunteers and perhaps local local schools to do something with the neglected space.

2. The junction of Carterknowle Road and Abbeydale Road

The highways engineer  appreciated the problem and has investigated our concerns. Unfortunately he thinks narrowing the junction does not appear feasible without removing the central island at this location. We had suggested narrowing the kurb to make it easier for pedestrians to cross and to slow down traffic turning left from Abbeydale Road. But narrowing the kurb would mean larger vehicles would be unable to make the left turn into Carterknowle Road unless the island was removed, but removing the island would make it more difficult for pedestrians than at present even with a tightened kerb.

3. Speeding on Abbeydale Road (especially along the stretch from the Catholic church to the Picture House)

There will be a major council-led information and engineering programme starting very soon on this stretch of road. The aim is to slow down traffic and make the area safer for children.

4. Fly-tripping by Broadfield Park

The parks officers have agreed to clear this rubbish before the park re-opens.

5. The junction of Abbeydale Road and Bedale Road

The dangers to pedestrians crossing Bedale Road and the build up of traffic at this junction look likely to increase with the arrival of Tesco. The council have identified this as a priority issues for the highweays department. So something should be done soon. One to watch!

The meeting was due to follow-up last weekend’s successful ‘walkabout’ with local councillors and shop local meeting.

If you are on our email list then we will keep you informed of future plans or you can keep up to date via the website.