In Looking for environmental projects to inspire her students, Mary Holligan, Eco School coordinator at Grove Academy, was struck by the idea of guerrilla gardening the site with senior pupils. In 2009, with the school’s support, the Queen Street Car Park RHS It’s Your Neighbourhood group was established and plans were drawn up for transforming the area into a wildflower meadow.
Being a teacher, Mary had to be careful with what form of direct action she chose to inspire in her teenage pupils, so she first tried to find out who owned the land. “It’s situated between a railway line, which is presumably owned by Railtrack, and a car park owned by the council,” she says. “But no one laid claim to it, so we went ahead with the plans. The idea of guerrilla gardening made it an attractive proposition for the students.”
Work was split into two stages: the first, which took part in daylight, involved clearing the vast majority of the rubbish and brambles. “For the second session, we adopted the guerrilla gardening approach and went down at night when it was dark, which the pupils loved. Some even dressed for the occasion in balaclavas!” says Mary. A couple of other eco teachers and 20 students from the school, all aged 17 to 18 years old took part in each session.
Three years on and pupils continue to improve the site, removing rubbish, putting up bird boxes and ‘bee homes’ and planting up new areas of the vacant land. In 2012 they were awarded a ‘Level 4 - Thriving’ It’s Your Neighbourhood award. Next year they’re hoping to create a new herb garden and have plans to establish a Facebook page to get more people involved.
“It’s become a focal point in the town,” says Mary. “And for the teenagers involved, it’s been excellent. It’s not often that they have the chance to make a splash of colour on their local environment.”
One of those involved was Matthew Pandrich, who worked in torrential rain alongside other pupils to spread wheelbarrows of compost over the area. He hopes the work done will be continued by future generations of pupils. “The hope is that it will ultimately create something that is as vibrant as it is ecologically beneficial,” he says.