Plans for a community-owned inner city farm in Leeds have received a boost as it closes in on its £20,000 fundraising target.
Kirkstall Valley Farm has raised £14,000 of its £20,000 target, set for the end of January.
Kirkstall Valley Development Trust has been granted a lease on a 16-acre community farm in Leeds, which will supply fresh veg to local residents, host community and education projects and be a social focus for the whole of Kirkstall Valley.
There are also a set of allotments where organic growers are welcome.
The project needs around £20,000 for a tractor, equipment, polytunnels, green manure seed, toilets, a collection hut and social area and making the site secure. The aim is to be gearing up for full production by the end of 2020.
Every pound given to the crowdfunding will be matched by a local benefactor.
The site has been farmed commercially since the ’50s, but the tenant (by then in his 80s), died in 2017. Kirkstall Valley Development Trust created a business plan for the site and was granted a five-year lease by Leeds City Council, beginning in April 2020, with the understanding that this will become a long lease if the project is successful.
