• THIS is a small social housing block of council homes set on two floors, (Anger at plan to lock up community garden for private use, July 18).

To the south of the block there is a communal garden, demised within the boundaries of the block, for the use of the council residents, which is owned by Housing.

A dispute was brought to my attention between the council residents and the wider gardening group.

I needed to find out conclusively if council residents of 6-60 Bassett Street supported the status quo of an external group running the management of this garden.

By this time the licence issued to the management group to run this space had expired and, from the council’s perspective it made sense to review the arrangement. Only two residents said they would support this.

A clear majority told us they either wanted to have exclusive use or share their communal garden with immediate residents also living in Bassett Street.

They were also clear in their desire of retaining control. A lesser number did not express a view either way.

This appears to confirm the claim that our original decision of opening this communal garden to the public did not have the support of its own residents living on this estate.

Clearly this is a complicated dispute between two groups of residents. I am clear in my mind that currently a majority of council residents living in 6-60 Bassett Street wish to retain control of this garden which is within the demise of their buildings.

Some of them have expressed a desire to work with their immediate neighbours in Bassett Street living in the odd numbered buildings.

As such I would be more than happy to facilitate a meeting between the two groups of residents to explore if a compromise can be reached between the two as a way of moving forward.

To clarify, we are not “closing down” the garden. I support the officers’ decision to hand the management of the garden back to the residents of 6-60 Bassett Street at around September this year, at the same time committing to find an alternative suitable location for the wider gardening group.

CLLR MERIC APAK
Cabinet Member for Better Homes