The new team running Hartcliffe farm have said they hope to open to the public in the spring after signing a lease this month.
Last May, the chair of the Hartcliffe Community Farm said all its remaining animals had been sold on an "incredibly sad day" for the community. This marked the final chapter of a long-running saga involving a group of volunteers who ran the farm for many years and Bristol City Council, which owns the site.
In early 2020 council chiefs made it clear they would not be renewing the lease to the board of volunteers and staff who ran the farm, and questioned their competency. That prompted fears in the community that the farm was being primed to be sold off for development, or for other projects, which would mean it would be lost as a free-to-access community resource.
Read more: Hartcliffe Community Farm sells last remaining animals on 'incredibly sad day'
Last March, it was announced a community group and another city farm had stepped in to take it on after the council put the lease out to tender, inviting bids from a wide range of organisations.
The council has previously said the site will "maintain its roots as a farm", working with two south Bristol organisations, Windmill Hill City Farm and Heart of BS13, as well as local citizens, to "drive its regeneration to create local jobs, training and enterprise opportunities.’’
Georgina Perry, CEO of Heart of BS13, and Steve Sayers, chief executive of Windmill Hill City Farm, have now written a post on the Mayor's blog.
Describing it as a "little step forward" in their plans to revitalise the farm, they said they had now signed an interim lease for the main site - which comprises of 6.5 acres.
They wrote: "The site is brimming with potential to be a thriving hub of community activity that will transform the neighbourhood and become a player in the whole city’s life.
"In the long term, it will become a multi-faceted place that brings together the local community with training, education, cultural events, gardens, and, of course, farm animals.
"All [this is] framed within the context of a sustainable enterprise that is serious about addressing the threats of climate change.
"The redevelopment of the site has started with a partnership between Heart of BS13 and Windmill Hill City Farm.
"That spirit of partnership will continue through the growth of the activities in the space and, most importantly, as a partnership with the local community."
They wrote that clear priorities for the site were access for all, engaging with animals and nature, as well as providing education and employment.
They said more than 1,000 local people have been engaged in the process and that more than 50 people have volunteered their time, describing this as a "small step towards a bigger change".
They continued: "Having been fallow for some time, the site has needed considerable attention. Beds have been cleared and re-laid to form the basis of a horticulture enterprise: it will grow food and cut flowers.
"The buildings on site have been surveyed, and work to make them safe and useful is underway. Education spaces are being put together to enable school and early years group visits..
"In the spring we hope to open the gates to more general visits from the public. What they’ll find will be a work in progress – a place taking many ‘tiny steps’ towards a transformed future."
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