Community garden at Westwood Park is being unveiled

People from across the community - including volunteers at Friends of Westwood Park and members of the Neighbourhood Watch team - decided to make the case for a new community garden. 

Little by little, the vision came to life with Bradford Council giving the go-ahead and the NHS even clearing the land to lay the foundations.

Some of the team behind the new community garden (Image: Newsquest) Now, just over a year later, Councillor Luke Majkowski (Conservative and Queensbury Independent Group, Queensbury) described the garden as a “tranquil” place that can be used by all generations and groups of people.

From wheelchair-friendly paths and plant beds to a wood cabin for young people, it has been transformed with £25,000 worth of funding from sponsors, organisations and charities.

As phase one of the project comes to an end, the garden contains 51 plant beds, two greenhouses, and 14 fruit trees containing plums, pears, and apples. 

“It’s humbling because the difference is unbelievable, what we’ve achieved in 14 months,” said Cllr Majkowski.

Accessible plant beds for wheelchair users in the community garden (Image: Newsquest) It will be used for social prescribing - a non-medical approach used to boost people’s wellbeing and health, such as helping people facing loneliness or mental health struggles.

Meanwhile, the wood cabin will set the backdrop to forestry school-style sessions for young people.

“The aim of this is inclusivity, that nobody loses out,” said Cllr Majkowski.

“It’s designed to be a relaxation area. 

Watering plants at the community garden (Image: Newsquest) “It’s about the feel good factor, the fact you can switch off from the rest of the world. 

“It’s somewhere to bring people together as well. 

“There’s so many different events we can expand on this.”

The garden can be found on Swift Drive, nestled in between Westwood Park Community Hospital and Cooper Lane Care Home.

The community garden (Image: Newsquest) Speaking about what volunteers have had to learn, he said: “It’s not really as much as the gardening side we’ve had to learn. It’s the first time I’ve had to put concrete on the floor, it’s how to manage the spend budgets, it’s how to plant the laurel bushes that go round the perimeter.

“We’ve got the earth, the soil, but we need a water supply. We’ve got a solution where it collects rain water, we’ve got big industrial tanks.”

The garden is being unveiled from 10.30am on Saturday, April 5, with a visit from some Bradford Bulls players and a raffle to raise funds towards the next phase.