Environmental group's community building approved

There's a wooden arch over the entrance to a field where fruit and vegetables are being grown. The word Grow is on the arch with the letter o represented as an apple
Grow Jersey has been helping people learn more about the environment for three years [BBC]

Plans for a new building to help a Jersey environmental organisation expand have been approved.

Grow Jersey helps people learn how to plant and grow food as part of community and therapeutic work.

Planning has given the go-ahead for the group to build a community building in the field it uses near Surville cemetery.

The building will be 24m (78.7ft) long, 8.8m (28.9ft) wide and 5.2m (17.1ft) tall and includes a production kitchen, a community space and a garage to store equipment.

Sheena smiles at the camera as people work and dig in a field beind her
Sheena Brockie from Grow Jersey says the charitable organisation has come a long way since it started [BBC]

The building is due to be built from Structural Insulated Panels, which are designed to be energy efficiency.

The site will be used to help community groups and to teach people how to cook the food grown in the field.

Sheena Brockie helped found Grow Jersey three years ago and has overseen its development.

She said the approval was "massive" for the charitable organisation and it boosted "what we can achieve in terms of a community".

Ms Brockie added: "It's kind of overwhelming because I think we punch way above our weight and we've just got so much going on."

The group is now looking for funding for the community building and Ms Brockie also said once that had been secured "there's going to be so many opportunities for the community to get involved".

A sign saying an area of flowers is a pollinator patch lies at an angle with drawings of flowers and bees on it.
Jersey Grow works with other community projects around the island like the Pollinator Project [BBC]

Follow BBC Jersey on X (formerly Twitter) and Facebook. Send your story ideas to channel.islands@bbc.co.uk.

More on this story

Related links