Temple Street Field

The field off Temple Street (formally known as Coopers Field) is part of the 'green heart' of Padfield. Its size and location is reminiscent of a public common and there are members of the village that remember being able to access the field openly, in the past. In 2020 the field was put up for auction. Concerned that the field may be purchased by housing developers, village residents sprang into action.

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2020: Taking action

 

A significant number of village residents quickly pledged donations or loans to raise enough money to purchase the field at auction, which they did in September 2020. 

 

A single entity was required to make the purchase, so POGs (Padfield Open Green Spaces) was born. The group was made up of 3 directors and all shareholders who donated or loaned money for the purchase. As a limited company, it was the quickest kind of organisation to create, but unable to apply for the funding that would be required to transform and manage the field for public use and the benefit of nature, into the future.

 

The sole aim of POGs became to buy the field and hold onto it until a new local charity could be set up to re-purchase the field on behalf of the village. And that charity is us! 

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2021: Finding our feet

 

Padfield Community Spaces was established in 2021 and incorporated in 2022 as a CIO. We quickly formed a voluntary Board of Trustees to help us develop the field for nature and community use, and - most importantly - secure the funding to buy and maintain it.

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Throughout 2021, we carried out three rounds of public consultation - by leaflet, on Facebook, and in person - to gather ideas and views from the Padfield community for the field's use and management. We had a broad range of responses, but common themes included prioritising areas for wildlife and allowing for enjoyment of the site, through improved access and provision of seating.

 

We also worked hard to find grant giving organisations who might be willing to provide the funds needed to purchase the field from POGS so we could make this vision a reality. Finally, in 2024, after some disheartening rejections, we found the Community Ownership Fund (COF), provided by the UK Government. 

 

In December 2024, we received the exciting news that we had been successful in obtaining a £50k grant. It was a fantastic end to the year!

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2025: Getting to work

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We spent 2025 negotiating the complicated (and at times exhausting!) legal requirements to take ownership of Temple Street Field. This included dealing with property lawyers, purchasing insurance and getting through planning permission to change the field's offical use from 'agricultural' to 'community garden'. All these steps needed completing before we could begin any of the work we had promised to deliver in our bid to COF.

 

The Board worked incredibly hard and by November 2025 PCS became the legal owners of Temple Street Field! 

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Over the next month we worked even harder to ensure we made the terms of our grant bid. This included:

 

• hosting a community event to share our updated management plan, in collaboration with Derbyshire Wildlife Trust

• hosting short-notice workdays to clear the field of debris and prepare it for access and works

• removing diseased trees

• re-establishing the field boundary with a new fence

• installing accessible kissing gates, picnic benches and sitting benches on site

• starting a habitat pile for small mammals and invertebrates

• planting spring bulbs to bring the site to life in the new year

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We also hosted additional community events, handing out Spring bulbs and celebrating the arrival of Winter with mince pies and festive tunes on the rec adjacent to the Field.

 

It was with a huge sense of achievement that we ended 2025 with all bid requirements met and Temple Street Field transformed from an empty field into a place in the process of becoming something much more exciting.

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2026: Next Steps

 

Plans are big for the year ahead. We'll be installing a path across the site to make moving around easier for those with access requirements, and to ensure that some areas for wildlife are kept free of foot traffic.

 

Further plans include planting an orchard (in line with Padfield's plum tree heritage) and starting work on a community flower beds.

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This second phase of the project is in part funded by the UK Government through the UK Shared Prosperity Fund.

 

Until access works are complete, access to the site is on an ad-hoc basis, for PCS co-ordinated activities only. This is only a short term situation, and we look forward to opening the site fully at some point in 2026. 

​We will continue to run community engagement events throughout the year, including volunteering on site when possible, to keep everyone up to date as things progress.​​