The Phoenix Garden

Amongst local charities and voluntary sector organisations, Honicknowle Commnet Limited is in the fortunate and unusual position of owning the freehold on the building in which they operate – The Phoenix Centre. However, the building, a former GP surgery is just a little bit larger than a three-bedroomed detached house. It's perfect for small groups and one-to-one sessions, but places a constraint on how large a gathering can be considered when planning an event.

Developing the garden (approximately 17 metres by 36 metres) at the rear of the building would make a significant difference to our ability to hold events during the summer months, and to turn it into a community garden would be even better – so long as the space is accessible to every member of the community, which, at the moment, it isn't.

It's something we've been considering for several years, and the following videos demonstrate the development of our ideas. Our sincere thanks to Four Greens Community Trust and to the Honicknowle Gardens Committee for helping us to create a feasible plan.

One of the Commnet trustees rents space in a virtual world and decided to create a representation of the Phoenix Centre and garden there, so that each iteration of the plan could be illustrated in a short video.