We would like to thank everybody who took the time to share their views with us on the future of Grimsbury Farm as we seek to find charitable or not for profit organisations interested in running the farm.
The findings of our Community Conversation have been published in the form of an engagement report which is available to view here – What you told us – Grimsbury Farm. This feedback will be used to assess future potential partners’ ability to deliver the benefits you have told us are most important to the community.
Expressions of interest were received from a number of organisations. The council’s initial assessment of these has identified organisations eligible to progress for consideration as a potential lead tenant for Grimsbury Farm. We also had some exciting proposals from organisations interested in occupying part of the site and we will pass those proposals to the successful lead tenant who will look to see how they could co-locate.
Those organisations have now been informed and asked to submit a full business case and presentation outlining, amongst other things, how their plans will respond to the findings of the community engagement report and equalities impact assessment.
This next stage of the process should be complete by the end of the calendar year and we hope to be able to announce the new operator of Grimsbury Farm by spring 2026.
Councillor Sean Rhodes, cabinet member for communities at South Gloucestershire Council, said: “We know people are keen to hear about the future of Grimsbury Farm so we wanted to give an update on where we currently are, and also to thank everyone for their feedback and ideas, which have been central to the process of finding a new operator for the farm.
“We’re really pleased with the quality of the proposals that have come through from organisations expressing an interest in running the farm, and we now have to explore them in further detail before we can make any final decisions. We aim to announce the new operator by spring next year. We recognise that this is a long process, but we know how important the farm is to our residents, and want to ensure we get the best possible long term outcome for you… and in the meantime, the farm is open to visitors so please come along and enjoy all it has to offer.”
