The Leiston Community Land Trust is celebrating after receiving a £2,000 grant from the Coast & Heaths Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) to help regenerate a redundant piece of land in the heart of Leiston.

The funding was awarded through the AONB’s Galloper Wind Farm Fund, which support projects that contribute to the appearance, setting, conservation, amenity, accessibility, and enjoyment of the area within a 5km radius of Sizewell, the location of the Galloper substation.

The Leiston Church Square Community Garden will provide a fit-for-purpose, multi-functional, public facility which ensures that community groups will have a place to meet and participate in various health, wellbeing, cultural and artistic activities.

The £2,000 grant awarded to support the project will help transform a neglected piece of land in the town into an accessible community garden and recreational amenity for everyone to enjoy. The project aims to ensure that visitors and the local community get to enjoy the highest level of benefits from the open space by ensuring that the facilities reach their full potential.

Upon receiving the grant, Russ Rainger, Chairman of the Leiston Community Land Trust which oversees the project, said:

“The Community Land Trust are grateful to the United Church and Coop for their encouragement and all the sponsors and donors for their contributions. The grant provided by the Coast & Heaths Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty’s Galloper Wind Farm Fund will provide a great boost for the project.

We’re confident Church Square community garden will set an example for the Market Square and Town Centre Regeneration and be greatly enjoyed by the people of Leiston.”

Town Councillor and Chairman of Leiston-cum Sizewell Town Council, John Last BEM, who is a member of the AONB Galloper Wind Farm Fund awards panel said:

“I’m pleased an award from the fund went towards regenerating an area of the town, that can now be used as a multifunctional area and open space to be enjoyed by all the community.

This will go some way to supporting health and wellbeing as well as offering an area for artistic activities. The Leiston Community Land Trust and their partners worked very hard to bring this project to fruition.”

The fund is administered by Coast & Heaths AONB on behalf of Galloper Wind Farm Ltd, which is operated by RWE renewables on behalf of the project partners and is held by Suffolk County Council. 

You can find out more about the Galloper Wind Farm Fund and all the AONB’s grants programmes by visiting www.suffolkcoastandheaths.org/managing.