NURTURING GROWTH

What a year! I started on a placement last summer, working on the Unexpected Garden. Things snowballed and I’m now leading the project. As a consequence, I became involved with and ended up as Chair of the Town Team, working with locals people right across the community to shape a Place Plan for Stranraer.

I come from Paisley - another town that’s busy reinventing itself. I moved here 9 years ago. It’s home and I’m passionate about the place. The Unexpected Garden was a great opportunity to use my horticulture training and experience. The garden is one of 12 national Dandelion cultural projects, supported locally by The Stove and Stranraer Development Trust.

The garden’s five aims, tackling food poverty, mental health, nutrition, sustainability, climate change, map directly to the issues identified by locals during our Place Plan consultation. The Unexpected Garden models how together, we can transform the world around us. We can learn through volunteering. We can grow skills for work. We can build community and fire passions… like a team of little Greta Guerillas. We can be inclusive. All the things we want for our Place Plan too.

Growing takes a longer term view - as does the 10 year vision of this Place Plan. It’s exactly what Stranraer needs: planting, tending and nurturing growth is a long game.

At the risk of taking the gardening metaphors too far, our Place Planning approach started with the grassroots - listening to local people. These micro-growers planted the seeds of ideas. Partners and locals helped to dig over the ground. The Place Plan is now a flourishing allotment … mixed beds of ideas and solutions we can grow together. It feels like the time is NOW for Stranraer. It’s ripe for the picking. There’s a fresh impetus in the air… a sense of opportunity, an unprecedented level of connection, collaboration, knowledge and skill-sharing going on. I’m confident that together we can deliver a shared vision. I’m excited for the town and look forward to a Harvest Festival 10 years on.