Wyndham City has adopted two new policies that aim to enable the community to become more involved in the management of open spaces.
Wyndham City Mayor, Cr Jennie Barrera, said many people had a close connection to their local community garden and felt a strong ownership to their neighbouring parks.
"The new Community Garden and Adopt-A-Park policies now guides the roles of community and Council in helping make these public, green spaces thrive," she said.
"We have a number of very successful community gardens and there are also a small number of gardens that were established in parks and on nature strips that are not adequately maintained."
"This new Community Garden Policy encourages the creation of new community gardens in appropriate locations and within strict guidelines around their design and the responsibilities of the community group managing them."
"The Pasifika Community Garden in Tarneit was developed as a trial of this Draft Policy. It was funded by State Government grants and has been a great success."
"The Garden has enabled the Pasifika Community to become more resilient, growing their own food as well as using the space to bring the community's elders and young people together for mentoring."
"We look forward to the Adopt-A-Park Policy helping more people get actively involved in the regular maintenance and 'stewardship' of their local open spaces, to learn new skills, meet new people, improve their local area, and enjoy activities that may be limited due to the size of their own backyards."
"As a Council we recognise that being outdoors and gardening boosts wellbeing and builds social connection that contributes to our resilience as a community."
"We have an active community of green-thumbs and wonderful open spaces that the community love, thank you to everyone that contributed to the consultations on these policies."
