A city farm just a few minutes’ walk from Greenwich Foot Tunnel has had its future secured after a long-running wrangle with the local council – but at a cost of £15,000 per year.
Mudchute Farm, which has been on the Isle of Dogs since 1977 and is now one of Europe’s biggest city farms, had been trying to secure a long-term lease from Tower Hamlets Council at a rent it could afford.
The Mudchute Association, which took over the site after residents fought off plans for a high-rise estate on the land, asked for a 30-year lease after its previous one – on a peppercorn rent – ran out in 2024. The association said a lease at this length would help it secure funding.
Peter Golds, the Conservative councillor for Island Gardens, said it was important “that the London borough of Tower Hamlets with all its history supports community groups”.
However, a council policy for leases to community organisations, agreed in 2021, offers leases of between three and five years at rents of £14 per square foot.
Over 6,500 people signed a petition to the council in support of Mudchute Farm in July last year. Tower Hamlets’ elected mayor Lutfur Rahman, of the Aspire Party, said he was prepared to consider a 30-year lease in response.
Tower Hamlets’ cabinet approved a 30-year lease at £15,000 a year. The council currently pays the association £31,000 a year to manage the farm and Mudchute Park.
Golds told the cabinet: “Everybody should be pleased that the lease will be signed.
“Most of all, thank the people of the Isle of Dogs and Mudchute because you’re the ones that deserve everything.”
The park and farm were built on mud and silt dredged for the construction of Millwall Dock in the 1860s. The land was bought by Tower Hamlets from the Port of London Authority in 1982, a year after the dock closed.
The association, a charity set up to “preserve the area known as the Mudchute for the benefit of the community in perpetuity”, also runs a day nursery with space for 80 children.
Sue Mortimer, the chair of its trustees, said when plans for the lease were confirmed last week: “We are grateful to see this 30-year lease proposal progressing to cabinet and for the recognition of Mudchute’s enormous value to the community. The strength of public support – thousands of signatures, donations and messages – has shown how deeply loved this space is.
“A long-term lease would give us the foundation we need to protect our animals, our green space, and our education programmes for the next generation.
“However, we still face significant financial challenges as a small independent charity that does not charge for entry. We rely entirely on the generosity of our supporters, and ongoing funding will be essential to secure our future.”
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Nick Clark is the local democracy reporter for Tower Hamlets, based at Social Spider CIC. The Greenwich Wire is a partner in the Local Democracy Reporting Service, which is a BBC-funded initiative to ensure councils are covered properly in local media. Additional reporting by Darryl Chamberlain.
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