The Lampson Brook Farm area of Belchertown (seen at right) is the focus of efforts to identify ways that the former Belchertown State School (BSS) farm may contribute to local food security and open space & park access that will benefit the community. The Belchertown Agricultural Commission has received an assistance award by the Pioneer Valley Planning Commission to help develop strategies to achieve these goals.

Leased and managed by the New England Small Farm Institute (NESFI), Lampson Brook Farm comprises some 400 acres of state owned land, located adjacent to and just north of the former BSS campus and the Town’s newly developed Lake Wallace conservation area, now used for nature studies by Belchertown schools.  The farm‘s extensive woodlot trails are used by town residents for cross country track practice and competitive events, and for informal, passive recreation such as horseback riding, hiking and birding. Lampson Brook is also the site of the Belchertown Community Garden. Adjacent active farmland is managed under sub-lease agreements with several small-scale agricultural businesses.

PVPC planners worked with the Agricultural Commission, as well as with the Conservation and Historical Commissions, the Planning Department and NESFI, to generate concepts for ongoing development and management of Lampson Brook Farm to enhance local food security, protect the site’s historic vistas and natural resources, and further the goals of the Town’s Open Space & Recreation Plan and Community Plan. The recommendations will be incorporated into a Master Plan for presentation to and consideration by the Commonwealth.