A planning quirk has led to an important Australian garden being split in two by impenetrable metal fences.
Whites Creek Community Garden was founded 30 years ago to provide more open space for residents in Sydney’s inner west, a densely populated community of close to 5,500 people per square kilometre.
Members are allocated a plot of land to grow their own fruit and vegetables, a measure that proved enormously popular. Food is also supplied to a community pantry.
“We have 100 people on our waiting list,” the garden’s co-coordinator, Sally Gillespie, told Yahoo News.
The garden comprises two properties on White Street, Lilyfield, that are owned by the Inner West Council — 1,000 square metres to the north and 600 square metres to the south.
But sitting between them is a narrow 3.5-metre-wide NSW government plot.
A map shows the north and south gardens on White Street, Lilyfield, separated by a narrow strip of NSW Government land.
For over a decade, it had been hoped that the state government would transfer ownership of the strip to the council so the garden could be expanded.
“We’ve got so many people wanting to garden, but nothing has been done with the vacant land,” Gillespie said.
“The government just mows it every two weeks.”
The waste of land was a constant frustration for the community, but this turned to anger in May when the government fenced it off.
“How absolutely ridiculous,” one person wrote on social media.
“Bureaucratic madness, and this is me being polite, and I don’t garden,” another said.
This sudden act made the unification of the garden sites seem further away than ever.
“There’s both the short-term exacerbation, but also long-term frustration,” Gillespie said.
“The fence separates the two halves of the garden, so we have to walk up onto the street to get from the north to the south, which is hard when you’re pushing a wheelbarrow full of dirt.”
Illegal acts lead to building of an impenetrable fence
For years, a dilapidated fence had run along the border, but its broken palings were easy to navigate.
While this was great for gardeners wanting to walk between the north and south sites, it created a problem for the NSW Department of Planning, which took direct action to block all access.
“A fence was installed along the strip in May to replace a dilapidated paling fence and to prevent the unlawful dumping of rubbish on the land,” it told Yahoo News.
The department did not respond to questions about the cost of the fence, or how much it pays contractors to regularly mow the strip of unused land.
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Gardeners had been able to navigate between the north and south gardens before the metal fence was built.
Local leaders call for quick resolution to planning issue
Inner West Council councillor Philippa Scott said she understands how “frustrating” the situation must be.
“It doesn’t make any sense at all to have an unusable grass strip of land between two community gardens, when we know that they’re really well used,” she told Yahoo News.
She confirmed that the Inner West Council has applied to the Department of Planning to transfer ownership of the land.
Personally, she has filed a notice of motion about the matter for the June council, and she’s written to the Planning Minister Paul Scully, calling on him to expedite the transfer.
Local state MP Kobi Shetty confirmed with Yahoo News she had also written to the minister, calling for the government to act “quickly”.
“Open space in this part of the city is much needed,” she said.
Politician’s response sparks hope of planning fix
There is hope the matter could soon be resolved, with Minister Scully confirming to Yahoo News that he is aware of it and that his department will consider the council’s request.
“I understand this land sits between the northern and southern sections of the community garden and I am aware of the local community’s desire to see it incorporated into the garden,” he said.
“The Department is currently considering further land transfers to Inner West Council and will consider this request as part of that process.”
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Responding to his statement, Councillor Scott said she’s “hopeful the community will get its land”.
“It seems like the Department of Planning and the Inner West Council are working cooperatively to get this done, and I’m really pleased that the minister is listening to the community and to our advocacy,” she said.
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