Page 646 - Week 02 - Wednesday, 9 March 2011
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Land Development Agency has been having discussions with the Canberra Organic Growers Society with a view to establishing a community garden in Coombs.
There are provisions in the parks and recreation zones development code that specify how much of an urban open space area can be occupied by a community garden or other type of outdoor recreation facility. However, given the significance of community gardens, the government proposes to prepare a specific policy addressing the benefits, the site requirements and management issues associated with community gardens.
To further the development of this policy, a working group of the key ACT government agencies involved in residential development—that is, ACTPLA, TAMS and LAPS—has been formed to address the policies and identify sites that will promote community gardens.
As community gardens are public spaces set aside for specialist use by community groups, there is a need to ensure broader community support and equity when considering approvals for new community gardens. Space allocated for fruit and vegetable gardens within new residential developments should be weighed against the overall size of the development, the amount of land needed for accommodation and the amount of open space required for the general public.
Licence application processes and the licence agreements are already standardised and allow for special conditions to accommodate specific requirements by the group or specific aspects of a particular site. The licence application is lodged with ACTPLA after preliminary discussions with the land custodian.
Currently, community garden groups can apply to the ACT environmental health grants program for limited funding to a maximum of $20,000 for capital costs and the ACT health promotion grant program for projects costs associated with new initiatives. In the past three years the ACT health promotion grants program has granted $10,000 to the Richardson community garden and $20,000 to Pegasus Riding for the Disabled for sensory and vegetable garden activity nodes.
Public housing tenants can also apply for tenant-initiated grants for projects such as community gardens. Since 2006 Housing ACT has funded 97 tenant-initiated grants, including 20 garden projects that received assistance of $58,000. The gardens that were funded in the past year were located in Griffith, Lyneham, Fisher, Dickson and Phillip.
In conjunction with funding from the commonwealth and the national partnership agreement on preventative health, ACT Health is facilitating key partnerships with Turner, Braddon and Reid. For example, the community garden within the public housing complex at Kanangra Court will be a central point for nutrition education and skill development in the provision of fruit and vegetables for residents.
With regard to the funding of insurance arrangements, the costs of ongoing operational aspects are normally the responsibility of the group themselves. The funding of insurance for the community gardens would also likely set a precedent for funding the insurance premiums for other types of community groups, which could
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