It all began in 1981 when this 1.2-acre site on Grays Inn Road came on the market for sale as a large office block. When we received the planning notice from Camden who owned the site we, as local residents, were very concerned. The last thing we wanted was another block of offices looming over our lives. We got together and formed petitions objecting to this proposal and wrote letters to the council. Together with other local groups we made a deputation to the Labour group at Camden Council. We pointed out that the sale of the site for offices was illegal as the District Plan (a legal document) had allocated the site for housing and open space. The brief for the sale of the site was amended to include some housing.

In the meantime, a couple of local community members were asked how they saw the site developing in the short term. London Planning Aid Unit (LPA) had experience in supporting communities in having their say in developing their projects. We invited Marc Dorfman from LPA to make a presentation to our community showing how these communities had been involved in making their own plans for development. This meeting was well attended, and the question asked at the end of the meeting was “Should we adopt these methods and make our own plans for site?”. The answer was a unanimous YES.

There followed regular meetings and the adoption of what was called Planning for Real. The initial informal group consisted of residents from Ampton Street and Frederick Street (Calthorpe Estate) and Wells Square and Fleet Square (New Calthorpe Estate), hence the name- the Calthorpe Project. We wanted to involve as many people as possible. With much publicity, the use of models and questionnaires, we consulted widely in schools, community centres and even in the Brunswick shopping centre to find out how people wanted to use the site. After what we termed as “planning parties” we produced half a dozen plans for the short-term use. These were combined into one plan which included a garden, children's adventure play, a kickabout area, under-fives play, a BMX track and a place to meet. By this time politicians had started to take notice and funding for a feasibility study was given from Camden Council.

On this basis, planning permission for short term community use was granted in 1983. At this juncture we could have passed the development onto Camden Council but we. as the community, had got so involved and attached to developing the site that we chose to keep control. This led to the adoption of a formal constitution and to becoming a registered charity and a company limited by guarantee. Funding from Camden was agreed as well as funding for a community development worker to support the community. With my background in architecture and community work as well as my passion for design with user participation and involvement I was lucky enough to get the job.

I was the community development manager for the first ten years until 1993 and as a local resident over the years I have participated on the management board. I love this garden.

Annika Miller Jones