Verges, Gardens and Economic Development

Our McDougall Park Community Garden meeting last week was full of energy. We had lots of conversation about why we are going to share a garden space, how, what our shared values are and much more. What wonderful neighbours we have around here. For more information you can click here to go to the Facebook Group. If you click “Add Friend” you can be part of the group too.

Recent Council moves to amalgamate various tiny pieces of land in the parking area behind the Windsor Hotel and to sell the combined block have caused some concerns. Some residents have suggested that they could lose walking access across the car park. Others are concerned about loss of parking spaces and about local street exit at the rear. These are important points. Might it be possible to use “and” instead of “or” in our thinking to achieve the desired development and to maintain these amenities? I’m sure this is what we can expect with good architects, planners and local input? Have your say when you get the chance.

Preston Street too is in the news. Along with ideas for al-fresco dining and street art some have suggested that if we installed more bike lock-up points there would be fewer cars, less congestion and happier shoppers. The street is wonderfully popular; now what if we changed the dominant colour to be less beige?

Back in June, after work by myself, John McBain, Mark Taylor and many others, the Council changed the verge law so that we do not need permission for:

• Natural lawns, reticulation, verges mulched with organic mulch or low-growing Waterwise verge gardens.

This means we can have native plants, mulch and even edible herbs on the verge. Click here for more details.

My last achievement before leaving Council was to have the City commit to composing an economic development plan. Surprisingly, we don’t have one. One of the CEO’s KPIs for the year is to get this moving. There is so much happening and I’m hugely encouraged by the way our community joins in planning for our future. Do you have thoughts on this?

Please pass this on to your family and friends. You can add your thoughts by clicking on Comments below, or email me and I’ll publish for you.