Advice about starting a community plot

Hi everyone,

I've found a few disused looking bits of land in between houses/garages and I've emailed the town council to enquire about starting some community gardening on them. Has anyone had got any experience of doing this? Please share any wisdom you have.  I'm a member of the community allotment in my town but these extra plots could be mini food forests or more educational with plaques showing info on the plants there. I'm in Gloucestershire, England.

Ron Finley has a great take on the process of creating a communal garden space: https://youtu.be/EzZzZ_qpZ4w

What a great Ted Talk!

I'd like to plant up some disused land and have emailed the local council who probably own it. I'm waiting to hear back about that. I'm not guerilla enough to just get on with it!

I've done that in Switzerland.
The owner was convinced by somebody he knew that the school also was interested in using it.
The town council was very hands off at first but once they got it changed their mind. I told them, the real harvest is social, people working together.
The biggest fear was squatting - no land is free and there are usually plans to build down the road.
The other concern is mess, noise or other nuisance.
Try to find out who owns the land and how it is zoned.
Make sure there's a max of people involved. Start a kids club if you need to.
And talk about it. Lots. To everyone. In person.
Good luck