What Does Your Community Do With Unused Land?

[AB Editor]

Afternoon,

What does your community do with unused land?

Anyone have any schemes like this near to them?

[237SJ]

Any unused land around here would be sold off sharpish to build flats which would sell for about £300,000.

[chrisgel]

The only unused land round here is my back garden. I really must get round to doing something with it ...........soon.........maybe.

[AB Editor]

"Any unused land around here would be sold off sharpish to build flats which would sell for about £300,000."

So there aren't any scrappy bits which just won't get used?

I did think this might be an indulgence for those in the North :)

"The only unused land round here is my back garden. I really must get round to doing something with it ...........soon.........maybe."

I think everyone can sympathise :)

[237SJ]

No, there are no scrappy bits. Traditionally, this area was nurseryland but the little gaps of land that were left from those days were sold of and used for property about 20 years ago. We do have some nice parks though - thanks to Henry VIII

[ludwig]

We use them for growing weeds and as communal gathering places for drunkards and ruffians.

[balliali]

allotment or community garden. Small area got turned into all weather sports court and play area, only fantastic, but a lot of fundraising to add to grant aid.

[daffy654]

We have a decent sized bit of alleyway behind our house that I would love to do something with if I had the energy and knowhow, it measures around 8ft x 12ft so could be used as a veggie patch or just a nice flower bed, it is just full of weeds and meadowgrass at the moment.

[atalanta]

Big problem near my house is a patch of abandoned land which used to have a number of owners, but most of them cannot be traced. Years have passed since the buildings on that land fell down; the place is now strewn with rubble and rubbish from nearby dwellings. I wish some enterprising builder would get someone ( private detective or some other kind of agency ??) to trace the owners, buy up the land, and replace the dangerous eyesore with a couple of decent houses. But I can't get any developer or the local authorities to show the slightest interest. And you can't even try for squatters' rights nowadays.
Any ideas ?

[tamborine]

Our parks and public commons are for car parks. Wild spaces earmarked for development are boarded up (for years) till community succumb to councils wishes.

The only free open land/park is owned by the Queen that is available here

[modeller]

I would say misused land is of equal importance. We have an area of 5 acres,within the green belt, of rusting , broken corrugated iron fencing and buildings that have been an eyesore for 30 years but the owner/s refuse to do anything about it . No doubt they are waiting for the time planning regulations are relaxed enough for them to sell to developers.

[snags]

''So there aren't any scrappy bits which just won't get used? ''

Any 'scrappy bits' round here is not unused for long: people who
are of the 'traveller community' turn up, stay for a while, create loads of sh!t then bu88er off, leaving it an even worse state than it was originally.

[brandyrose]

AB - have a look at Sparrow Park in Leeds (on facebook) a triangle of unclaimed land, they call it SPAG ... or SPAGBOL! aswell.