Council says land will be used for construction access as volunteers contest notice
A long-standing volunteer group that transformed a former bowling green into a community park in Durham has been told to vacate the site with immediate effect after receiving a formal notice from solicitors acting on behalf of Durham County Council.
The Hemp Garden Community Association (HGCA) said it has cared for the Elvet Green site since 2017, investing thousands of volunteer hours to turn what it described as a space previously associated with anti-social behaviour into a community asset. The group's executive director, Simpa Carter, said the green had become "a place that brings the community together and has become a source of local pride".
"None of us ever imagined that caring for a public park would lead to the threat of legal action,"
said Mr Carter in response to the solicitor's notice, which the group says warned that failure to comply could lead to injunction proceedings.
The council, described in correspondence as a Reform-led authority, said it had received a number of complaints about the unauthorised use of council-owned land by the group, including the hosting of public events. It also told the volunteers the site will be required to provide construction access for works to replace the nearby Baths Bridge and to allow for the wider regeneration of the riverside area.
According to the council, it wrote to the group in July last year and again in October to advise that it did not have permission to use the land. HGCA maintains it had been carrying out community work on the former bowling green since 2017, providing ongoing care and stewardship.
| Year | Event |
|---|---|
| 2017 | HGCA began caring for the former bowling green at Elvet Green |
| July (last year) | Council wrote to HGCA advising it did not have permission to use the land |
| October (last year) | Council wrote again advising no permission to use the land |
| August (this year) | HGCA received formal notice from solicitors instructing immediate cessation of works and removal of equipment |
Community reaction and questions over future of green space
The notice has prompted concern among volunteers and local residents who say the group had improved the appearance and safety of the site. HGCA volunteers say the space now serves as a community park and point to the hours of unpaid labour that went into the transformation.
For residents who use the riverside, the removal of a group that has looked after the green raises questions about who will manage the site during the council's planned works and how community access and the benefits that volunteers provided will be preserved during regeneration.
The council has framed its instruction as a necessary step to enable essential works to proceed, stressing the need to deliver the Baths Bridge replacement and the wider riverside regeneration. It said vacating the land will allow construction access and help facilitate those projects.
- HGCA says it has managed the site since 2017 and turned it into a valued community space.
- Council says it issued warnings in July and October last year that the group did not have permission to use the land.
- Immediate impact will be removal of volunteer equipment and cessation of the group's activities on the site to allow construction access.
The dispute underlines a familiar tension in Durham and other towns between community stewardship of public spaces and local authorities' plans for regeneration and infrastructure. Volunteers often step in to maintain neglected sites, yet those efforts can come into conflict with formal land ownership, planning permission and large-scale construction programmes.
At present, the council's position is that eviction is necessary to facilitate the bridge works and riverside improvements. HGCA has signalled its distress at the prospect of losing the green and the work put in by local people; the group described the legal notice as an unexpected escalation after years of stewardship.
Further questions remain over what mitigations, if any, the council will put in place for the community uses that HGCA provided while the regeneration takes place, and whether the volunteer group will be able to return to the site once the construction phase is finished. For many in Durham, the outcome will be a test of how the city balances professional regeneration schemes with grassroots community-led caring for public spaces.
Local residents and HGCA volunteers are awaiting further detail from the council on the timetable for works to Baths Bridge and on arrangements for the green during the construction period.
