Fruit and veg for free at Manor Road station

Aug 3 2011 by Matt Hurst, Birkenhead News

FOOD lovers across Wirral will soon be able to pick vegetables growing at Manor Road station.

Merseyrail has provided planters for use by the Incredible Edible Wirral group, who have wasted no time preparing the ground for the ultimate in natural, locally grown produce.

All the fruit and vegetables that grow in the planters will be free to pick by anyone, whenever they are ready to eat.

Merseyrail’s Sally Ralston said: “We’ve put the planters in and they’ve been planted out with various vegetables and herbs.

“They are for local communities to take as they wish.”

The plan is to roll the scheme out at stations across the peninsula, to increase access to natural foods and create a sense of community cohesion.

The idea grew out of an experiment in Todmorden, West Yorkshire where community groups decided to try and persuade organisations to give up land that was not in use to allow people to plant fruit and vegetables.

The scheme quickly gathered pace and now residents can visit a website to find out where they can pick up free eggs, or visit orchards planted to provide fruit.

Every single school in the town is now providing land and the innovative idea has spread across the country.

Former Liberal Democrat councillor Peter Reisdorf got the ball rolling in December last year, when he put a motion to council praising Todmorden’s work and urging Wirral to follow suit.

Mr Reisdorf said: “The success of the project has paved the way for many local groups to follow their example.

“ I want to see Wirral Council make available council-owned land so that local community groups could apply for a licence to grow fruit and vegetables on that land.”