Discussions to have a community garden situated in Richmond will begin this Thursday night.
Tasman District Council environment education officer Rob Francis is hopeful the meeting can get the ball rolling and follow nearly every suburb in Nelson’s lead by creating a garden that enables its community to use to grow fruit and vegetables.
Rob says there has been plenty of interest in the past but admits council has never “canvassed” the interest widely enough. “To be honest, we do all these other things like workshops, gardens in schools, composting workshops and so on, but community gardens may only appeal to a certain number of people,” says Rob.
Council has already earmarked a handful of potential sites on private and council-owned land. If the council opts to use its own land it is likely that the garden would be situated on a reserve. It was also open to discussions with NMIT and the A&P Association over the use of land on Lower Queen St.
A community garden will only go ahead if there is a committed group of volunteers running it. “If people aren’t committed then there’s no way that council or anyone can carry it. If the community wants it and they can get together then we will support it.”
Rob admits it could be a long process but now was the time to finally get this project underway.
The discussions will begin at the Richmond Library on Thursday at 7pm. For more information contact Rob on 543 8484.
