Pinchbeck Baptist Church leaders speak out about decision not to open community garden to the public leaving volunteers ‘heartbroken’

Under fire church leaders say a community garden was an ‘ill thought-through concept’ and explained why they have ditched the idea.

Pinchbeck Baptist Church had initially agreed to allow a piece of wasteland to be transformed into a community garden but despite the fact that work is finished it won’t be open to the public amid concerns about legal matters.

Charlotte Kehlan Kebbell and her team of volunteers have spoken of their heart ache at the cancellation of the project and reject the criticism of the idea from the church.

A statement from Pastor Sue Saunders and the leadership team said: “Firstly, we would like to thank Charlotte and the many volunteers, who over the past two years, have invested their passion, time, effort and energy into this project, and to all those of you who have contributed to it.

“Pinchbeck Community Garden was, on our part, an ill thought-through concept from the beginning.

“This became clearer in the latter part of 2024 when we realised that we were not in a position to support a community garden, due to the legal and safety implications - health and safety, public liability, risk assessment, access, our neighbours, private land etc and our responsibility for them.”

Charlotte and her team were awarded £900 towards the project from the Co-op Community Champion Grant and £1,000 from the Community Land Trust (CLT) - a not-for-profit organisation.

Through Charlotte’s fundraising initiatives many items have been donated to the project such as plants, flagstones and time.

The church’s statement continued: “All donations of finance/equipment/vegetation etc that have been donated to the garden by the community have been spent on/used by Charlotte and her team solely for the garden.

“Pinchbeck Baptist Church have also donated monies to the garden for the erection of fences, shed, paving slabs etc.

“No donated finance or funding have ever been used for anything other than the garden itself and have been kept in a separate account, specifically for Charlotte to use for the garden.

“However, should anyone wish to come and collect anything that has been donated, they would be most welcome (with proof of donation, to save confusion).”

The statement goes on to say ‘once again, we are truly sorry that this has happened but we do not feel that there is another way forward, unless the garden is used for church activities, when everyone will be welcome.

“Should there ever be a new community space/garden, we as Pinchbeck Baptist Church will give a substantial financial donation towards it, when a new site and management team are in place.”

In response to this statement Charlotte has said she ‘feels heartbroken’ about the decision not to open the garden to the public.

She said: “I feel hopelessness, anger, devastation and have cried so much over this.

“It was not an ill-formed idea, there was a whole team in place and it was their insistence that it was for the community. “

Charlotte feels that the purpose of the Co-op Community Champions Grant has not been met if the garden is only to be used for private church functions.

She said: “I think someone needs to approach the Co-op as it has gone to a private Baptist Church and not the community - and another project has lost out to that grant.

“They (church officials) never ever said ‘hey Charlotte I don't think you should have been doing this’.

“We knew there would be liabilities and they have had two years to think about who owns the land and public liability.”

Charlotte was of the understanding the neighbouring property owners were happy with the project - bar one and so a fence was put up.

She also feels when asked to return her key she has been shut out of the garden she built - and that if ‘everyone took everything back there would be nothing there’.

Charlotte added: “Hours and hours of back breaking work all for a private garden that I can't even sit in because I've been locked out - I am speaking out of heartbreak.

“The further tragedy of this is who's going to finish it and maintain it?

“It’s okay to say they’ll make a generous donation - and my team is willing to start again - but where would we go in Pinchbeck to produce a garden?”

Pinchbeck Community Land Trust says it is ‘disappointed at the loss of such a valuable community asset and the reluctance of the church leadership’ to discuss the issue.

It’s statement goes on to say: “It is very unfortunate that the 'issues' they have now identified were not considered initially or at any point during the past two years whilst the community garden has been running.

“That said, we all need to move on and find a long-term solution that meets the needs of our local population. We welcome the offer of Pinchbeck Baptist Church to make a substantial donation and ask that they quantify this now to avoid any misunderstanding. PCLT would be more than happy to hold such a sum on account, until a solution is found.