The Barrhead Community Garden’s new home will be behind the United Church in Beaverbrook Estates, in what used to be the home of the town’s Japanese garden in Millennium Park.
The question now is whether the site will be ready in time for next year’s gardening season?
Barrhead Community Garden treasurer Marilyn Flock isn’t too sure.
“We accepted the idea of the move in principle and to start negotiating what we can get some help on, because we can’t afford to make the move it ourselves,” she said, following the society’s July 30 board meeting.
The society held the meeting to determine the garden’s future after finding out from the Town of Barrhead that they will have to relocate the 76-plot garden at the end of the summer.
Councillors made the decision to send a letter the society stating they would have to find a more permanent location for their garden following an in-camera session July 10.
For the last five years, the garden has been located on a five-acre parcel of what is commonly referred to as the Schneider Lands on the west side of town, just north of the apartment buildings along 53rd Street and south of the Shepherd’s Care facility.
The town purchased the land a number of years ago as a possible location for the replacement of the old aquatics centre.
However, when the Barrhead Regional Aquatics Centre ended up being built on the same site as the old facility, the town offered the society the use of the land for the garden on the condition that if the town ever developed the land it would have to be relocated.
“The town said they would work with us and indicated the [County of Barrhead] would help too, but there is a lot of work that needs to be done to the site before we start moving stuff over,” she said.
One of the society’s concerns is drainage.
“The strip that the Japanese garden was located on is a little low, but they tell us it can be built up with topsoil and the like. But before they do that, they have to fix the drainage because I know the residents back there are having issues as well,” Flock said, adding the site would also have to be landscaped.
She noted the society would have to come to an agreement with the United Church to allow gardeners to use its parking lot.
In an earlier interview with the Leader, Flock said it would take many years to build up the garden.
“It’s not just one year’s worth of work, it’s three or four by the time you get that soil built up, with all the extra stuff that you have to put in it to make a garden ready,” she said. “That’s if you’ve got some decent soil to start with.”
Flock also said that she is also concerned if their members are willing to put in the work necessary to get the garden up and running at another site.
“This has taken a lot of wind out of our sails and a lot of us have been at this for a long time and are getting tired, but hopefully after we get over our disappointment, there are some people that are willing to make the move, because I think it is still needed,” she said.
“It’s just not about gardening and the plots. It is about getting together, socializing, staying healthy by getting outdoors and exercising. Then there are the school classes and the workshops; there is so much good that comes out of this thing.”
Mayor Dave McKenzie said while he understands the society’s disappointment, the move was inevitable, noting the town spent considerable time and expense in an effort to attract development to the property.
In 2015, councillors approved the Schneider Lands Area Structure Plan that allowed the town to rezone the original parcel of land and the adjacent parcel that the town purchased in March for commercial use.
“We are in a situation where we have to ask them to relocate and we didn’t want to just evict and leave them with no place to go, because we believe in the importance of the community garden. So we looked at our town-owned land to see what was available and suitable,” he said.
McKenzie also put an end to what the speculation that the town is planning to move the skate park to the location.
“It’s nothing like that. We have had some interest in the location where the garden is located and probably by the end of August we will be briefed on the results of a needs assessment to see what kind of developments could go into that area,” he said. He added that while council officially approved the letter telling the society they would have to relocate July 10 the executive was informed about the possibility about a month prior.
