Garden gets the go ahead Tuesday, 29 August 2006 A COMMUNITY garden will be established behind the Wingham Court House following Greater Taree City Council's approval of the scheme at their August meeting. The garden will come under the auspices of Manning Valley Neighbourhood Services which lease two areas within the court house and provide a variety of community services. It will be developed using organic principles using compost and avoiding chemicals for example. In years gone by this area has been used as a garden with the remnants of six beds already on the site. According to one of the coordinators of the project Kevan Millican these could have been established when the courthouse building was still being used for its original purpose and included a residential section.
The concept has been many years in the making with various sites considered but the neighbourhood centre seems the perfect spot with its doors open to all members of the public for such a wide range of community development purposes. The garden would be an extension of this concept b open for all to enjoy and perhaps even learn some new skills. "It would have multiple benefits to the community. People could wander through the garden or stop and have afternoon tea. It would also act as an education model to show how you can produce a great amount of kitchen vegetables in your backyard and some of these skills aren't as common as they used to be. "It could be a place of beauty as well as serving a very practical purpose," explained Kevan. As well as the general public the development of the garden could ideally involve volunteers, neighbourhood centre clients, local school children and participants in the Work for the Dole scheme. With the neighbourhood centre's management committee auspicing the project their public liability insurance will cover the volunteers involved. Council have agreed to extend the neighbourhood centre's lease to incorporate the garden at no extra rental and with work conducted largely by volunteers, the community garden will be an inexpensive venture. As Kevan points out some years ago when the concept was first being considered, a grant for a trailer and tools was received so these are already waiting to go. In addition to this Kevan is pursuing a small grant through the ABC's Open Garden Scheme to purchase mulch and other basic materials. In the event of the community garden attracting vandalism council has reserved the right to require its removal and if in the future it ceases to be maintained the area will be returned to a mowable grassed area. The next step will be an open day where the public can come along and take a look at the site, learn more about the project and maybe even get their hands dirty. ________________________________________________________________________ Check out AOL.com today. Breaking news, video search, pictures, email and IM. All on demand. Always Free. ______________________________________________________ The American Community Gardening Association listserve is only one of ACGA's services to community gardeners. To learn more about the ACGA and to find out how to join, please go to http://www.communitygarden.org To post an e-mail to the list: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To subscribe, unsubscribe or change your subscription: https://secure.mallorn.com/mailman/listinfo/community_garden
