COMMUNITY
Some councils are open to verge gardens, but require obtaining written permission first. Some are in a regulatory limbo, with no stated policy. Others such as Rockhampton and Peppermint Grove in the greater Perth region are opposed to residents taking over the nature strip. Perhaps the major weak point for
a long-term nature strip garden project is that the council may change its policies; Sunshine Coast Council itself was initially supportive, but has very recently taken a harder line, prompted by public liability concerns. It remains to be seen how this issue will be resolved.
HEALTH & COMMUNITY BENEFITS A hands-on project like this offers a wide range of benefits. It encourages a healthy unprocessed diet, tackles obesity, and provides food security. Local residents are connected to where their food comes from, and have an opportunity to get their hands dirty. Community connections are encouraged across the generations, with children regularly joining in. Environmentally, less car trips are required to the store, and if herbs are needed for an evening meal only a short walk is required. In pursuing nature strip gardening,
Buderim has the major advantage of grass growing all the way from gardens to the street edge, in place of kerbs. A swale system naturally slows down water runoff, and soaks it up, where it can be taken up by trees.
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Urban Food Street is attracting a lot of attention, and now has more than 27,000 Facebook followers. To replicate Buderim’s model elsewhere requires an existing sense of community together with shared pro-environment values. Cairns in the north of the state is working on its own urban food street plans. Nature strip gardening has seen a
resurgence in Australia, and was the focus of Costa Georgiadis’s On the Verge segment of his Gardening Australia ABC TV show. However, some factors need to be considered before going ahead and planting. Councils that are actively supportive are often located in inner- urban zones and include the City of Sydney, Marrickville (NSW), Fremantle, Vincent (WA), and Subiaco (WA). In 2016, Brisbane changed its policies and is now a verge garden supporter.
Busy streets present a problem for verge gardeners due to toxic diesel particulates and high lead levels dating back to the leaded fuel era. One way to get around soil contamination is via container gardening. The combination of wide roads and noisy traffic also has the detrimental effect of eroding the sense of community that is more evident on narrower quieter streets. However, for roads with a good combination of factors, nature strip gardening is well worth pursuing. n
Connect with other readers & comment on this article at
www.livingnow.com.au
Martin Oliver is a writer and researcher based in Lismore.
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