Guerilla gardeners at work!

Residents in the Breeze Lane and Lancaster Street area of north Liverpool took matters into their own hands concerning a piece of derelict land which had been left as a waste ground. The area was regularly fouled by dogs and had been left untended for many years. They are celebrating the completion of a clean space, a pathway and newly planted garden where once there was only detritus.

Tenants from Liverpool Housing Trust (LHT), part of Vicinity Group, decided to ask LHT if they could help them to improve this abandoned area. As LHT did not own the land, permission was sought from the Land Registry and after a team effort involving LHT tenants, local residents and staff from LHT's Jigsaw Environmental Services Team the area has been transformed.
Mrs Lawton from Breeze Lane who helped to plant shrubs in the garden said: "This is only a small area but it really makes a difference to the neighbourhood. Instead of a dog's toilet we have a space which is pleasing to the eye and which should develop into a garden which is really eye-catching."

Sally Muscart, LHT Neighbourhood Housing Officer said: "This project was initiated by local residents and it has been a real team effort. Local people are the motivating force - they took matters into their own hands and are now reaping the benefit of their efforts."

Terry Bouch from LHT's Jigsaw summed up: "Guerilla gardening has been defined as cultivation taken on by those who are interested in the war against neglect and ill-use of public space, gardeners who reclaim abandoned land and makes spaces functional and aesthetically pleasing. I would say that the local residents have adopted these tactics and made them work in their favour. They have made a valuable difference to the neighbourhood."