In 2019, a group of valiant villagers in Chinnor, South Oxfordshire, won a David-and-Goliath battle to protect an empty field in their parish from housing development.

The ecowarriors convinced the developer to let them have just a corner of a new housing estate so they could turn it into a community garden.

No sooner had they won that battle, than they had an even bigger challenge on their hands: to actually make it happen.

The group recruited local landscape gardener Lucie Ponsford to draw up a design, and started applying for grants: £200 from Friends of the Earth; £1,000 from Chinnor Parish Council; £2,500 from the National Lottery Local Connections Fund – the kitty started to fill up, and they set to work.

Two-and-a-half years on, the rectangular plot between the village school and the new houses is unrecognisable: a jungle of great, bushy leaves; orange, yellow and red flowers, and busy volunteers lovingly tending to their new community garden.

The space has been divided into six ‘pods’ to mirror a leaf with its leaflets: each pod has a large raised bed to enable gardening by all ages and abilities, surrounded by grass and seating. The beds are planted with a host of vegetables and surrounded by soft fruit trees and rose bushes.

The growers share the fruits of their labours with the community – leaving fruit and vegetables at the front of the garden for people to take, and even delivering to their neighbours.

The garden, particularly the open front section, has become a meeting place for the community - but this green haven is much more than just a place for people.

The garden committee always wanted to make their garden a haven for wildlife as well, and have done exactly that.

The team reached out to the Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire Wildlife Trust (BBOWT), and the Trust’s Katie Horgan was delighted to offer advice as part of her Rough Around the Edges project helping communities in the Chilterns take action for nature.

The garden now has several wildflower areas bustling with poppies, wild carrot, yarrow, weld and cornflowers.  The yellow rattle, sown to keep the beautiful but invasive grasses under control, has been a particular success.

The wettest corner of the plot was turned into an informal pond and wet area, but struggled during August’s record-breaking heatwave, so the team is going to try sinking a large tub in the centre which will retain water year-round, while keeping the wildlife-friendly logs and planting around.

There are several bird boxes on the site, a hedgehog hide and the group have even turned their wooden fence into a wildlife habitat by putting up bee boxes: members saw solitary bees flying in and out in the spring and many of the holes are now stopped up, so the team are hoping they will see adult bees emerging next year.

More recently, the group set up a BBOWT camera trap in the garden - a weather-proof, motion activated camera that can operate at night – so they will soon have a much better idea of the nocturnal visitors they are getting.

The committee say they are indebted to all of the volunteers who have worked 700 hours at the garden in the last year alone, in addition to all the work that goes on behind the scenes.

The staff at BBOWT now want to highlight the Mill Lane Community Garden in Chinnor as a perfect example of what they call #teamWILDER: communities taking action on their own doorstep to help wildlife and the environment.

We have recently launched a new #teamWILDER Networking Hub for all the fantastic community groups in our three counties – like Mill Lane Community Garden – to meet up, share their top tips, ask questions and join forces.

Find out more about #teamWILDER at bbowt.org.uk/team-wilder, and join our new networking hub Facebook group at facebook.com/groups/bbowtcommunitynetwork