RIGHT TO GROW
“Right to Grow” is a term used to describe a national campaign which aims to enable people to grow food on public land. CAG Oxfordshire has been working with Incredible Edible projects in Oxford and Oxfordshire to establish clear pathways for local residents to grow on publicly owned land. This page will be updated on progress on this project and ways to get involved.
The Right to Grow is a national campaign led by Incredible Edible
that gives communities the legal and practical support to transform underused, unloved public land into accessible vegetable patches, orchards, and wildlife spaces
“A Right to Grow would require local authorities to make it easy for the community to create community gardens for food and nature on public land. Communities need access to straight-forward, zero-cost leases that protect their Right to Grow, and those groups must be allowed to bid for the land should the authority decide to sell it.” (From Right to Grow website)
What’s the difference between “Right to Grow” and ‘guerrilla gardening’?
While they’re both about turning unused and unloved patches of land into thriving growing spaces, ‘Right to Grow’ deals specifically with publicly owned land (land owned by local and national governments) and campaigns for the authorities which manage this land to recognise that the public have the right to grow on them. In this way, it seeks to legitimise the concept of people growing food on public land, shifting the perception of it as an asset owned by your local council to commons, managed by the council for public benefit.
On the other hand, guerrilla gardening can happen on any patch of land no matter who ‘owns’ it, and would not typically seek any licence or lease arrangement.
WHAT'S HAPPENING IN OXFORD?
In the summer of 2023, Oxford City Council passed a motion supporting a Community Right to Grow. The main practical provision in this motion was that the Council would “provide a clear register of unused public land that can be offered to community groups for cultivation and a robust but simple process for doing so”. You can read the full text of the motion here (item 29).
The register of unused public land which could be offered to community groups for cultivation has been commissioned by the City Council and compiled by Good Food Oxfordshire in 2025. The map is not yet publicly available.
The ‘robust but simple’ process enabling access to land for community growing is not something the City Council is offering yet.
WHAT'S HAPPENING IN OXFORDSHIRE?
There have been no Right to Grow resolutions passed at the County Council level, or by any of the other District Councils. However, the County Council has shown support for various community growing initiatives, through the work of its Public Health, Sustainability, and Highways teams.
In 2025, Edible Streets, an Oxford Brookes based project, worked with the County Council on developing a process enabling residents to easily apply for a licence to grow edible plants on street verges in Oxford and the county. This process has been piloted with a community group in Wood Farm.
You can now apply for a licence to grow on a street verge near you by using this simple form on the County Council’s website.
CAG Oxfordshire is keen to help anyone who is interested in going through this process, so if you need any support please let us know by contacting our Community Gardens Network Coordinator at marta@cagoxfordshire.org.uk.