Group needs to raise £45,000 to save orchard in Irvine Road

Just one of six ancient orchards left in Essex, the Irvine Road community orchard has been in existence for 90 years.

But a legal agreement has meant that although the Irvine Road community orchard group has secured a 50 year lease on the land free of charge, it will have to raise £45,000 in five years if it is to preserve the long-term future of the site as a green lung in the south west of Colchester.

Parts of the orchard land have already been built on.

Jonathan Frank, who owns the land alongside the building company Lexden Restoration and Development, reached an agreement with Irvine Road Community Orchard group that only half the land would be built in so long as it went unchallenged.

Now the group must secure a 999-year lease in order to preserve the remaining half of the orchard.

This effort is being spearheaded by the Irvine Road Residents’ Association.

Chairman Shaun Thomas, 58, of Irvine Road, said: “We are determined we try and secure the legacy for posterity so that it’s something future generations have got right in the middle of Colchester.

“It’s a fantastic urban oasis. It’s got the ancient fruit trees which are quite unusual in Essex. You really don’t tend to see these things in urban environments, so it’s a great asset for the community.”

Perhaps a little unusually, the relationship between the community group and the developer – which in most cases tends to be frosty at best – is, in fact, an amicable one.

“Lexden Restorations and Development have been really good in this,” said Mr Thomas.

“They want to develop and make money, and the residents want to save the orchard – so we agreed that allowing 50 per cent was better than it being built on completely.

“We’ve since taken on the lease and established a charity to run the orchard.

“Of course, we never wanted to see half of the land developed but given the fact that a developer had bought it, I cannot imagine a developer behaving any better.”

Raising £45,000 in five years, however, is a tall order, but the group has already got the ball rolling

With £2,000 being raised at the Irvine Road area street sale last month, the early steps are being taken to raise on average £9,000 each year through until 2026.

When asked about the remaining £43,000, Mr Thomas said: “It’s still early days. There is no way we’re going to make £45,000 in donations from people turning up the events.

“Our belief would be that if we can raise £10,000 over the next five years from local donations, from community events… we think we can easily get to £10,000.

“Then, if there could be either corporate sponsorship or grants from the lottery and landfill trusts, we could then reach £45,000.”

Other parts of the community have chipped in for the cause too.

The solicitors Fisher Jones Greenwood has previously given the Irvine Road Community Orchard group pro bono work which set up the lease and the legal agreement.

Above all else, it’s Mr Thomas’s dedication to the orchard which shines through.

“When we had our first open day in 2019, there were people who had lived here for 30 years who had never been round the orchard before,” Mr Thomas said.

“The community is just waking up to this that it has on its doorstep. We’re having to grow the involvement and enthusiasm because it really is a hidden gem.”