This project built on our existing work in Wales through Resilient Green Spaces (2021-23) by continuing to lay the groundwork for supporting more small-scale agroecological growers to thrive in the region. Our role in the project was as a member of its Steering Group, offering advice on the project’s activities given our existing work on council farms and on supporting access to land in Wales, as well as contributing to the planning guidance and dissemination to ensure these outputs are accessible to landseekers.

With funding provided by the Backing Local Firms Fund, this project, coordinated by Social Farms & Gardens, brought together a range of partners, including ​​Landworkers’ Alliance, Powys County Council, Our Food 1200, Black Mountains College, and local Sustainable Food Partnerships. We contributed to updated planning guidance to support small-scale horticultural enterprises in the preparation of a planning application for a Rural Enterprise Dwelling (permanent or temporary), and developed a 'How to Guide' (available in English and Welsh - forthcoming) aimed at growers to help them understand the updated guidance. We also helped run a webinar to introduce the new planning guidance developed in Powys to local authorities across Wales who may want to adopt it.

The project as a whole submitted a successful planning application to put three temporary dwellings on a Powys County Council farm holding, and work is ongoing to split this site into three horticultural enterprises and build the necessary infrastructure for the growers recruited to come onsite in time for the 2025 growing season. We will continue to disseminate best practice and learning from this work widely at the end so that other local authority areas can benefit from it.

You can see more information about the project here.