• RHYL Primary School and our families were asked to take part in a community-wide survey last autumn regarding the future governance of Bassett Street garden, which was looking at who would be best to run the space.

This was because we are founder members of the garden and our children have been using it since 2009 as an integral part of our outside learning curriculum.

Additionally many of our families are members of the garden and have their own plots which they tend and grow. These families all live in local social housing and do not have access to gardens or outside space; hence this is a valuable and much-appreciated community asset.

Unfortunately we never received the results of the survey, so I was extremely surprised to read in the New Journal that Cllr Meric Apak and Camden Council have decided to turn the Bassett Street Community Garden into a private gated garden for a few residents, (Anger at plan to lock up community garden for private use, July 18).

Providing this land and making it available to our school and community, strongly supports the Healthy Schools Curriculum, which is a Camden priority.

Rhyl holds a gold award for our work in this area with our families. The garden supports and promotes more active lifestyles and better diets.

Most importantly, community food growing has helped to improve social integration and community cohesion and contributes to positive mental and physical health and wellbeing, in an area with high levels of deprivation.

The garden is an essential resource which provides outside space for many of our children and their families which they would otherwise not be able to access.

We appeal to Cllr Apak to take these factors into account and review this decision.

HELEN CONNOR
Head Teacher
Rhyl Primary School
Rhyl Street, NW5