Thanks to everyone who participated in our consultation. Overall, we had 50 responses which is great as the answers have provided us with real insight into the community’s views on the Westray Garden Project. The information gathered by this survey will allow us to forward plan and hopefully bring about the changes to the garden that the residents of Westray want to see.
As well as the “adult” consultation, we had 40 pupils from Westray Primary School complete a “kids-friendly” survey. A huge thanks to Mrs Harcus and all the pupils for their hard work in sharing their views with regards to the garden.
The results from both consultations can be found below.
Consultation Results
Over 70% said that the affordability of the produce was of extreme importance – however when it came to the garden ‘washing its face’ the results were split. 23 people were not so worried about the garden paying its own way when 27 said that it was of importance.
There was strong support from respondents for the garden to increase its scale of production and create employment opportunities in Westray. Alongside this, using the garden to provide fresh fruit & veg over an extended growing season was a hot topic, there was a sound consensus that having local fresh fruit & veg and promoting local food supply was important to Westray and the garden.
There was also strong appetite for the garden project to support the pupils at Westray school, and the wider community, with outdoor learning and workshop-style events.
When asked what you would like the garden to do in the next few years – the theme of responses were similar to the previous question.
Increasing both the scale and variety of fruit & veg produced had been selected by 75% of respondents. There was not much support for selling additional crops to Orkney mainland, but a lot of support for setting up a community larder in order to reduce food waste in Westray. Once again, the desire for the garden to support the school and wider community with events and outdoor learning was shown by those who responded.
Westray Primary School Consultation
From the 40 pupils who had completed a survey we had some interesting answers!
When asked what was important about the community garden to the pupils:
75% of pupils said the freshness and the nutrition from the garden’s fruit & veg was important to them. Helping fight climate change was also high on the agenda of Westray’s primary pupils. They also wanted to see the garden be used to help others in Westray to grow fruit & veg. Just over 50% of pupils said they wanted fruit & veg from the community garden in the school.
Every pupil said they would like there to be somewhere where they can sit and enjoy the garden, and nearly everyone said they would like some paths through the garden. There was a lot of support for a gardening club and most pupils liked the idea of an outdoor classroom they can use.
Any other comments?
We had some very interesting comments and we even had some artwork to go along with some of the pupils responses. Below are just some of the terrific drawings which we received!
Thanks to all Westray primary school for your efforts – much appreciated!