Community Allotments and Orchard for Polperro

Aim: Polperro Environmental Group (PEG) has secured a 50 year lease on a 5.5 acre piece of land in a project to create community allotments.

Who are we?

I am the Mayor of Polperro! Not a real Mayor, just honorary in an age-old Polperro tradition...but that's another story! For over a decade I have been a member of Polperro Environmental Group (PEG), working with the community to reduce waste, create areas of community land, support resilience and sustainability with the aim of reducing reliance on fossil fuels and reducing the impact of climate change.

This is Brackenside, a community forest garden we have created on land leased from the National Trust. 

And here are some fruits of our labours!

PEG is a registered CIO (Charitable Incorporated Organisation) and we work with many partners, including community organisations, our Community Council, local business groups, the National Trust and Cornwall County Council. 

What are we aiming to do, who for and why?

We have spent some years dreaming of securing land to make into accessible allotments for our local community, many of whom have supported our work over the years. We have just finished a lengthy transaction with Cornwall County Council and finally hold a 50 year lease on a 5.5 acre piece of land we call ‘Kellow Farm Allotments’. The land is wild and overgrown on a sweeping slope of hillside. We are aiming to clear the land, create terraces and make allotments available for members and families of our community as well as reclaiming and growing the old orchard a the far end of the plot. The production of local food has, for many years, been held as a positive, healthy, resilient and sustainable way to live and we now have the opportunity to offer these opportunities to our community.

This is how it looks from the entrance to Kellow Farm Allotments! We’ve got work to do!

What we plan to do with your donations

You will help us to achieve the first Phase of our project which includes:

• Environmental Impact Assessment (Nov 20)
• Initial groundworks to clear access way (Dec/Jan 21)
• Installation of a secure metal farm gate at the allotment entrance (Feb 21)
• Ongoing groundworks to landscape the hillside in order to terrace  allotment plots and provide inter-connected walkways (Feb - April 21)

With your help we aim to make allotments available to our community by the end of 2021, with the first exciting growing season taking place in 2022!

We would be so grateful for your help and support and would welcome you for a tour of the allotments if you visit this beautiful and historic village in the future! Of course, you may well have visited already!!