Green thumbs get new guidelines
Image: There will be new protocols for community gardens
Waverley Council’s revitalised Public and Street Gardens policy will see the council play a deciding role in which street or public gardens can go ahead.
The revised policy builds on council guidelines released more than a decade ago. There is now a step by step checklist in place intended to guide those looking to work on their own street or public garden. All paperwork must be submitted to the council which will have the final say regarding the approval of a proposed street or public garden.
Russ Grayson, from the Australian City Farms and Gardens Network, said a permissions process should not be seen as a burden on communities looking to build their own street gardens.
“You need a minimal permissions process,” he said. “People have been building these things without permission for a long time.”
Mr Grayson stressed a more streamlined application process would provide the opportunity to properly plan a street garden’s design.
“What you don’t want is people rushing up and making it without giving it some good thought first,” he said.
“There are questions of public access, access to vehicles, access to get your wheelie bins out that come into the design of street gardens. You’ve got an ageing population so convenient access is getting more important.”
A spokesperson for Waverley Council said a more considered application process has been put in place to make things easier, as the revised guidelines take gardening communities through important design criteria in a thorough manner.
“The policy and guidelines were a response to community feedback and the growing desire to plant vegetables and garden together in small neighbourhood groups in a range of new locations and structures,” the spokesperson said.
“It ensures gardens are planted in appropriate places, where surrounding neighbours are supportive of the project. The policy and guidelines also ensure public gardens are maintained to allow access to footpaths and other public lands.”
The spokesperson said the revised policy now gives the community more flexibility and options in designing their ideal street or public garden. The guidelines now include tools such as templates and diagrams with dimensions, and allowances for growing vegetables or installing wooden planter boxes, where practical.
Mr Grayson welcomed the fact that councils around Sydney are getting more involved in community experiences.
“It creates a new type of public interaction in public space. It empowers people, even if it is in a small way,” he said. “If you build a garden with other people in the neighbourhood, it becomes a community building exercise.”
