About

Grow Nairn is a community-led voluntary organisation working to establish a community market garden for Nairnshire. Our aim is to grow fresh, local food while creating opportunities for employment, learning, and community involvement.

Grow Nairn is seeking a lease to use 4 hectares of Sandown Common Good Land to develop a community market garden. We are currently in discussions with the Highland Council about the potential to lease this land, the lease has not yet been agreed. The site would be used for: • Growing fruit and vegetables • Tree planting and orchard development • Polytunnels for food production • Pathways within the site • Small-scale infrastructure to support growing crop shares

Grow Nairn is a community organisation operating as a social enterprise. Income generated from produce sales supports: • Jobs • Training opportunities • Site maintenance • Community activities Any surplus is reinvested into the project.

The project is designed to benefit the Nairnshire community, including: 🥕 Local households (fresh food access) 💼 Local workers (jobs created) 👩‍🌾 Volunteers (skills & wellbeing) 🏫 Schools & groups (learning opportunities) 🌍 The wider environment

Yes. The land would remain Common Good Land. Grow Nairn is seeking a lease to manage the land for community benefit.

✔ Puts land into productive use for the community ✔ Supports local resilience ✔ Aligns with Highland Council strategies ✔ Reflects priorities in the Local Place Plan The Sandown Development Brief also identifies this field as suitable for mixed use and community-aligned activity.

The site is primarily a working growing space, but the project will: • Include internal pathways • Provide volunteering opportunities • Support educational visits and events Access arrangements will be designed to balance public benefit and safe food production.

No. The project is designed to complement the allotments, not replace or compete with them. Both initiatives support: • Local food growing • Community wellbeing • Sustainable land use

The development will be funded through a combination of: • Grant funding • Fundraising • Social enterprise development funding • Produce sales No ongoing public subsidy is required for core food production once the project is established.

Grow Nairn has engaged with local producers and retailers. Feedback indicates: • High demand for local produce • Existing waiting lists for veg boxes • Capacity for additional supply The market garden is intended to add to local food provision, not displace existing businesses.

Initially: • Three new local jobs (two full-time equivalent roles) Longer term: • Additional seasonal opportunities • Volunteer and training placements

The project will follow sustainable growing methods, including: 🌱 Organic production 🚫 No pesticides ♻ Composting 🌳 Tree planting 🌾 Soil improvement

The project contributes to priorities including: ✔ Sustainability and resilience ✔ Jobs and skills ✔ Green space and wellbeing ✔ Local economic vitality A full summary is available on our Local Place Plan Alignment page.

Yes! Right now you can: 🌱 Become a member 💬 Attend events or open days And once our project is up and running you will be able to:  🤝 Volunteer  🥕 Subscribe to a veg box

We would love to send you updates and news on our community market garden project, you can sign up to our mailing list to be the first to hear our annoucements - check out the bottom of this page!