Popular Walsall community garden gets five-year lease extension

Caldmore Community Garden was established in 2011 on a piece of derelict land. Walsall Housing Group owns the land and leased it to the charity Caldmore Village Festival Group which has since created a popular venue.

Since 2016 the group has also run Caldmore Community House, which hosts cooking workshops, coffee mornings, sewing classes, arts and crafts sessions, wellbeing classes, regular volunteering meetings, a weekly youth club, a holiday play scheme for children and many other activities.

The previous lease deal finished in April and negotiations have been ongoing, however, this week a new five-year extension was signed.

Chair of Caldmore Village Festival Board, Mohammed Arif, said: "The CVF Board is delighted at the continuation of our strong partnership working with WHG who have been instrumental in helping us to shape and develop the Caldmore Community Garden.

"The garden space is a development piece of land which has been leased to us to bring the local diverse community together. We are delighted with the extension of this five years lease and I wish to extend our thanks to the WHG management board and in particular Gary Brookes, the director of housing who has been involved in this project from day one.

"Our volunteers have transformed this open space into an oasis in the middle of Caldmore and we are all proud of the garden which is open to everyone free of charge".

Gary Brookes, WHG director of housing, said: "WHG is proud to continue the partnership work and it's commitment to the community it serves by announcing the signing of another five-year extension to the lease of the land which has become known as Caldmore Community Garden, in Carless Street, Walsall.

"I and my colleagues have witnessed the diverse communities coming together to celebrate different festivals. We have seen young families using the open space more following the pandemic and we are pleased to continue our support for CVF."