A city farm which closed down in controversial circumstances is reopening to the public - and is holding a party to celebrate. Hartcliffe City Farm has been closed since before the covid pandemic but is returning under new management on Sunday, June 5, with a day of family activities to celebrate the jubilee.
And the farm is appealing for volunteers to help run the farm in the future, and say it will be a combination of a visitor attraction for the local community, and a green space to produce food and offer volunteering opportunities. The farm effectively closed in early 2020 when Bristol City Council said they no longer wanted to allow the then management team to continue to run the farm.
A takeover was proposed by South Bristol horse charity HorseWorld, but that ran into trouble, and then, with the pandemic delaying work to sort out the farm’s future, the council offered the opportunity to take on the farm to any interested charities and organisations. Local community organisation Heart of BS13 joined forces with Bedminster’s Windmill Hill City Farm to put together a plan that the council then backed - and the two groups took over the farm in 2021.
