ORGANISERS of a community garden in Mary Tavy are hoping that Devon County Council has not 'lost the plot' a little when it comes to giving them the go-ahead for their community project.

In February the Mary Tavy Jubilee Trust was granted permission by Devon County Council to rent a piece of land at the end of Warren Road in the village for a peppercorn sum to site its community garden. The land is owned by the county council and is earmarked, long term, to build a new school there.

However, legal agreements, necessary for the go-ahead, are yet to be completed by the council and the trust say it is stalling the project.

The aim of the community garden is to grow fruits and vegetables along with other decorative plants. Participants would share the work and the resulting produce and their efforts will also create a social space for all of the village to use.

The project has drawn inspiration for the ground-breaking initiative by 'Incredible Edible', a planting project in Todmorden, West Yorkshire, which has been a great success, revitalising the town and rallying the community.

The village project will involve villagers of all ages, with a special link to the Mary Tavy and Brentor School, where staff are interested in the children taking part in the project with other members of the community.

Apart from growing produce, other possible ideas are craft projects such as earth ovens, places to sit, and perhaps a yurt!

Lynne Roper, chairman of Mary Tavy Jubilee Trust, told the Times: 'Unfortunately we have been waiting since the early spring for the legal agreements to be forthcoming. I've chased this up and discovered that we are at the bottom of the list with the council's legal department because its priority is other work it is undertaking.

'Obviously this is extremely disappointing since the land has been unused for many years. We are currently attempting to use our "people power" to hurry the project along.'

'People have already started to tip rubbish on the land so the quicker we get going the better.'

The jubilee group receives no funding through the parish precept and is supported mostly by donations from local people and by grants which are being sought for specific projects.

It has already enjoyed successes such as the installation of the Jubilee Walk, a public footpath between Coronation Hall and the Mary Tavy Inn.

A spokesman for Devon County Council told the Times: 'It is still certainly our intention to rent the land to the trust; that is without question. It does require a legal agreement, yet to be finalised, and we will get that completed as soon as we are able to.'

Lynne has issued an appeal to anyone with any other suitable land they have available in Mary Tavy to let her know by calling 01822 810686 or email [email protected]">[email protected]