A little on my local nature strip guidelines…
First up, I need to say that in different Councils, there are different guidelines for street gardening. Some are 20 pages long, some are 3. Some make it very very difficult to plant on public space, some don’t .
City of Port Phillip is actually one of the more lenient councils.
This is great! They want street gardening to happen!
However, though their guidelines do have some overarching things to keep in mind, they are vague and the majority of the guidelines only apply to a tiny % of street gardens. For public spaces like street squares, narrow nature strips and under-maintained council garden spaces there is nothing mentioned particular to these spaces.
The problem…
There is a lot of council land that is, according to Council, the responsibility of the residents to maintain …………but there is a void in information around this.
Gah!
The Challenge in the void for people starting out…
Little to no information is, needless to say, challenging and frustrating for all whether they are starting out on their street gardening caper or are experienced street gardeners.
For people starting out, weirdly, the lack of guidelines turns a lot of good people away—-it is very confusing and overwhelming to a resident to be armed with so little knowledge when walking (and gardening) in a public space. I talk to SO many people who want to do something but are lost as to what to do. They WANT to do the right thing but have no idea how.
Big problem.
The Challenge in the void for existing street gardeners…
Then you get people who pluck up their courage, venture out into the world and do something. Most of the time, they have to rely on their own decisions and initiative to create something that is ‘compliant’. For residents with existing street gardens this is disempowering and frustrating because when there is an issue (and there will always be a someone somewhere who doesn’t like something for some reason) there is nothing for the resident or Council to refer to.
No one knows what to do. And then who holds the power in all of this? The person who complains.
What happens when friction happens…
Most residents do amazing things within this void- indeed, as I walk around my area of South Melbourne, I rarely see a street garden that is unsafe and lacking in thought. But, like we all know, of course problems arise. It can be a concern face to face, a note in the letterbox or a complaint to Council. When a complaint happens it creates much work for Council and the poor resident might have one or all of the following happen to them…
1- a Council rep could come around and give residents a hard time a out removing their garden
2- There may be lengthy waits to see what will happen which causes stress and uncertainty in the community and rifts between Council and resident and between residents.
3- A letter to the resident (who has tried to make their patch of earth a better place) for them to remove their garden
So much of this uncertainty could be avoided with Council guidelines that are realistic, clear, thorough, accessible and appropriate to helping with climate change.
What I am doing to help close the gap…
Nothing can replace the guidelines that are so desperately needed but I have been trying to close this knowledge gap for residents, showing them what to do through my own street gardening, chatting a lot in person, in email and on the phone.
I want to help residents create sustainable, safe and awesome street gardens for themselves and nature and to do this I have done these four things…
1- Created a Facebook Group- Street Gardeners of South Melbourne
Its purpose is to provide positive support to existing, potential and new street gardeners. One of the group’s aims is to be able to rally lots of support easily and quickly to help drown out the one negative nellie who holds so much power in the eyes of Council.
2- Created this website
This has also been created to bring the street gardening community together in a positive way. I consider the planting of these public spaces to be of vital importance for locals and nature but of course it can’t be done willy nilly! Plantings need to be created safely, keeping some things in mind so that we can all benefit from them positively!
3- I have been creating street gardens myself
I hope that by demonstrating what I do, and writing about what I have learned and what works (and what doesn’t!) will help residents feel more comfortable crossing over from private to public gardening.
4- Created a walk called The Street Garden and Street Art Walk
All the gardens and art installation are created on public land by residents. It is to demonstrate what can be done with underused and undernourished land. It is hoped that all of these 4 things I have created can be used in conjunction with new Council nature strip guidelines to help residents create the healthier, greener, cleaner, more nature-focussed future we so desperately need.
Hoping CoPP will get on board…