By Mikayla van Loon
The Mooroolbark Community Garden (MCG) has found a pop-up home in the centre of town ready to start growing fruit and vegetables come spring.
Yarra Ranges Council, after consulting with the community in November last year, awarded the former temporary car park land at the corner of Charles and Station Streets to MCG.
Used during the construction of the new Mooroolbark Train Station and car park, the gravel area was identified as an underutilised space that could benefit from community use until a long term plan was devised.
MCG president Helen Vander-Hayden said having the support of the council really fast-tracked the committee’s plans but it has come as a welcome acknowledgement of their vision.
“We were looking at four years, five years down the road and having that kind of backing and that kind of support, from my point of view, it validated everything that the committee was trying to do that, yes, we were on the right path and we were doing a good thing,” she said.
With construction planned to get underway in late July, Ms Vander-Hayden said the hope is to open the 15 planter bed site by early September, ready to plant and grow some produce for spring.
“We open the doors in spring, then we’ll plant like crazy and do lots of classes and raise a lot of seeds and get as much produce as we possibly can growing so we can distribute it quickly,” she said.
The garden beds will be rather large, being 9.2 metres by two metres wide. The space also has room for a polytunnel, an urban orchard, composting bins, storage and a shelter.
“There’s going to be a gathering place. Hopefully we’ll have a kids area where little kiddies can play in the sand with toy veggies,” Ms Vander-Hayden said.
“It’s just really an area that’s open and accessible, where people can come and eat their lunch. Just an area for people to meet and congregate and find out what’s in their community.”
Deputy Mayor Sophie Todorov said while there were a number of options put forward for the space, the garden offered a number of social and wellbeing benefits to the community.
“The community garden made the most sense due to its relatively low cost, ability for it to be
temporary, and also provide a great physical, social and mental wellbeing outcome for the
community,” Cr Todorov said.
“In coming years, we will be consulting with the local community about how they want this space to be used from a permanent perspective, but for now, this pop-up community garden will provide a great avenue for people to come together, connect socially, share knowledge and create some quality sustainable food for local traders and the community.”
Funding for this project of $70,000 was provided through the Level Crossing Removal Project, meaning it did not come as an expense to the council.
For the next few years, MCG will lease the site until a permanent location is sourced for them in the local community and being removable makes the relocation even easier when the time comes.
But for now, Ms Vander-Hayden said she is looking forward to the launch of the garden and the opportunity to connect with the community.
“We’d like people to take their own ownership of it and look after it and work with us as volunteers or friends or members of Mooroolbark Community Garden, so we all work together to create a beautiful space together,” she said.
Memberships are now open for Mooroolbark Community Garden, with anyone interested asked to send an email to mooroolbarkocg@gmail.com
