Glasgow City Council has issued Chard Holding Group CIC, trading under the name Locavore, a Notice of Removal to vacate its urban farm at Bellahouston Nursery by the 31st of July.
The site is the hub for the majority of the local food social enterprise’s activities and forcing this eviction would result in the closure of Locavore in its entirety with the loss of 80 jobs, its two shops, and an extensive range of social and environmental benefits that the not-for-profit provides in Glasgow and beyond.
Ebany Dohle, Urban Agriculture Coordinator at the Glasgow Community Food Network said, “Locavore is the most successful example of what an alternative food system in Glasgow could look like, offering practical solutions and opportunities for a healthier, local, more environmentally friendly food system. The work of Locavore meets the aims set out in the Glasgow City Food Plan as well as the National Good Food Nation Plan, Glasgow needs to be able to grow and produce its own food, and for this to be integrated into the local economy. We need Locavore.”
Locavore Bellahouston currently hosts 120 community growing plots and is home to Locavore’s veg box service which supports local and organic farms and supplies almost 2000 households with veg boxes across Glasgow and central Scotland.
The site is the City’s only organic farm, with tonnes of tomatoes, cucumbers, beans and kale due to be harvested in the coming months. Other groups call the site their home, including beekeepers, a flower grower, and other community organisations. The organisation has ambitious plans for future projects on site.
Reuben Chesters, founder of Locavore and Chard Holding Group CIC, said, “We are deeply disappointed and frustrated by the lack of transparency regarding the decision-making process, and the unwillingness of the Council to explore solutions with us in spite of awareness of the existential threat this position poses to our social enterprise. The current position has been reached through a catalogue of delays and errors by various Council departments since October 2023.”
Ambition vs delivery
The story of Locavore and Glasgow City Council presents a clash between policy ambition and practical delivery.
Glasgow City Council has been working hard to establish itself as a beacon of excellence for community food, but the pathway to success can be strewn with difficulties, meaning that growth doesn’t always follow the trajectory anticipated by written strategies.
The Glasgow City Food Plan describes itself as “a holistic 10-year plan aiming for Glasgow to be recognised for its good food and as a city where tasty, healthy, affordable food is accessible to everyone.” It says, “We want Glasgow to be a city where […] local food enterprises are supported and celebrated.” It says, “We will work towards an inclusive, sustainable, resilient and fair economy for our whole community.”
In its (2023-2026) Priorities for the Food Plan, Glasgow City Council promises to, “Promote and advocate for local food businesses including producers, suppliers and retailers to the general public and our networks and through our communications and campaigns. The Urban Agriculture Working Group aims to, “Increase training opportunities and economic support for local food growing”, while the Food Economy Working Group aims to “Increase the provision for easily accessible farmers and neighbourhood markets/shops/pantries in all areas of the city prioritising socially and environmentally conscious (local/organic) producers.”
The Food Plan says that, “The Covid-19 pandemic has highlighted the importance of resilient food systems and made people more aware of the links between food, health, poverty, consumption, supply chains and purchasing patterns.”
Sadly, the ambitious rhetoric has not been followed with practical action and the promised economic support.
Reuben Chesters said, “We’re exactly the type of organisation that is required to deliver local and national visions for a sustainable food future and we ought to be supported and celebrated by Glasgow City Council. It’s incredibly disappointing that we are not being treated as a valuable partner that can help realise their policies, plans and strategies.”
Communication problems
Chesters told 8.9ha that communications with City Council representatives had always been patchy and difficult. Negotiations on the Bellahouston site had commenced in 2016 and Locavore moved onto the site in 2019 having been given verbal authority to do so. However, it took a further two years for Locavore to receive a formal lease.
Locavore then attempted to expand during the pandemic when demand for local food was high, but was hit by the subsequent cost of living crisis when demand fell.
Locavore applied for an 80 per cent reduction in business-rate relief (for which it was eligible as a social enterprise), but was refused, and refused again at appeal. (This was been approved by the City of Edinburgh Council for Locavore’s operations in East Scotland at the time.)
Locavore also applied to Glasgow City Council for Hardship Relief, available for major incidents that can have a significant impact on businesses and their ability to pay rates, and were told that this was not available to them.
Having decided that the company had bitten off more than it could chew, Locavore was unable to manage its debts and went into administration in January this year.
Its directors then took out new loans and set up a replacement company, Chard Holding Group Community Interest Company. Chard Holding Group continues to trade as ‘Locavore’.
Chard had more modest ambitions, based on two Glasgow shops, with a veg box delivery scheme supported by production at Ballahouston Nursery and links with several farmers located in the countryside around Glasgow.
However, a spokesperson for Glasgow City Council said, “During 2023, Locavore sought to reassign its lease at Bellahouston to Chard CIC. Glasgow City Council advised the business this would not be possible.
“In January 2024, Locavore CIC sold its assets to Chard CIC before filing for voluntary administration. Administrators wrote to the council confirming that the business had no interest in the Bellahouston property and would not adopt the lease or any other contractual arrangements.
“As a result of the administration, Locavore’s outstanding debt to the city taxpayer stands well into six figures, including more than £100,000 in unpaid Non-Domestic Rates.
“The site at Bellahouston has not been developed as the council had hoped and it is unclear why Chard CIC thinks it should now be able to take on Locavore’s lease.
“We are committed to food growing and will work proactively with other organisations to ensure that the site at Bellahouston continues to contribute to the city’s food growing agenda.”
Although it is true that Locavore CIC had fallen behind on its business rates commitments, this was partly because Glasgow City Council refused to grant a social enterprise reduction in the first place.
The debt has also now legally disappeared due to the administration process. The new CIC, Chard Holding Group, is fully up to date with its business rates payments.
Warm actions rather than words needed to City’s Food Plan
Bellahouston Nursery is a key pillar in Chard’s business plan, and the Chard team believed they had assurances from Glasgow City Council officers last October that the lease (which secured Bellahouston Nursery as a sustainable food hub till 2062) would be transferred from Locavore to Chard Holding Group CIC.
The company was even encouraged to apply for, and awarded, £49,999 in Council funding by another department for projects at the Bellahouston site. This grant offer was subsequently rescinded.
This was despite Glasgow City Council’s commitment to the Glasgow City Food Plan, which promises to “support local food enterprises”, to “provide economic support for local food growing”, and to “increase the provision for easily accessible farmers and neighbourhood markets/shops/pantries in all areas of the city prioritising socially and environmentally conscious (local/organic) producers.”
Since Chard Holding Group’s decision to go public (in an effort to safeguard livelihoods and secure the valuable work it does in Glasgow and beyond) Glasgow City Council has started to take more of an active interest in the company.
There is now a suggestion that Locavore will be able to remain on site for the remainder of the growing season, and it could still be possible that a new lease is agreed with Chard as originally requested. However, as yet nothing has been formally agreed.
Dorothea Warlich, Director of Locavore, said, “As citizens of Glasgow, we need action, not warm words on sustainability from the Council. That means supporting organisations that are trying to do good work, rather than shutting them down.”
Locavore’s work at Bellahouston provides Glasgow with a nationally recognised example of a social enterprise that is at the forefront of building sustainable food networks – through increasing local food production, green employment, routes to market, provision of growing spaces, and the availability of local, sustainable food in and for Glasgow.