City of Cockburn to vote on front verge community gardens

AN initiative turning street verges into community gardens could be trialled in Cockburn

In August, Coolbellup resident Jodie Vennitti flagged her intention to run the Food is Free Project at her home.

The movement, which began in the USA, encourages people to connect with their neighbours and to build “front yard community gardens which provide free harvests to anyone”.

Gardens are built using recycled products.

The City of Cockburn will vote tonight on an officer’s recommendation calling for a trial on “a limited number of properties”.

With the proposal likely to conflict with council policy regarding community gardens and street verge improvements, City officer Anton Lees said a trial was the best way to go.

“This would be a one-off situation and not to be construed as setting any precedent or variation to any of the existing City Policies, to allow assessment of all the practical details and community impacts before Council makes any further decisions or makes any policy changes that would impact the whole City,” he said in a report to councillors.

“A period of twelve months would be appropriate to gauge the impact of the trial.”

Ms Vennitti, who said she would have a clearer picture after tonight’s meeting, was concerned with talk of objectives, locations and key performance indicators mentioned in the report.

She said the initiative had worked elsewhere and information could be gathered by council by following up about previous trials.