The Community Gardens

Community Gardens Consultation Update: CoM Considering Final Report

The Collingwood Children’s Farm Committee of Management has received the CCF Community Gardens Redevelopment (CCFCGR) Consultation Project final report.

The Project, commissioned by the Collingwood Children’s Farm CoM, commenced in May 2022 and was completed in August 2022, with the final report delivered to the CoM in late September.

The Purpose of the consultation was to engage a wide range of the CCF community members (children, volunteers, community organisations, collaborating partner organisations, disability services, previous CCF Community Gardeners) to “gather ideas to understand the needs of the community to contribute to the design of a rejuvenated, productive community garden to benefit all”.

Community members engaged in the consultation have long standing and/or regular contact with the Farm. The participants were diverse in age, role, abilities, connection to the Farm and included staff, volunteers, students, people with disability, community groups, partner organisations, members, visitors and previous CCF Community Gardeners.

Twelve separate consultation sessions were held, where 75 individuals participated and provided their ideas during 90-minute sessions. Participants were then invited to revisit their ideas and those of others in a Gallery of all original work created during the consultations. Some 47 people from Round 1 participated in Round 2.

The Committee of Management will now consider the findings of the report, which will be used to brief landscape architects on the practical and aesthetic requirements of the new Community Gardens area within the context of the broader Farm’s operations.

Once the report has been formally adopted by the committee, the outcomes and findings of the report will be released shortly.

The CoM would like to sincerely thank everyone who gave their time, energy and creativity to the consultation process. The passion shown for this project and the Farm as a whole is a testament to the importance of the Farm and its future to our whole community.

We look forward to rejuvenating the space to provide a welcoming, enjoyable, stimulating, green urban space for children, their families and people facing disadvantage.

Community Gardens Consultation Update

The community’s passion for the Collingwood Children’s Farm and the future of the Community Gardens has shone through during community consultations which commenced in June.

So far more than twenty meetings have been held with the Farm’s many community groups and members, with more to follow in the weeks to come. By the end of the community consultations, meetings will have been held with First Nations custodians, early learning and schools, disability services, community groups, existing community gardeners, staff, and volunteers. 

Due to the diversity and varying needs of the Farm’s community members, sessions are conducted with small groups, to ensure everyone in attendance gets a say and that all community views are represented.

The Farm has been overwhelmed with the positivity and enthusiasm by people for being involved and would like to sincerely thank all members of our community who have expressed an interest in being involved in this important project.

A session for members and visitors will be held on Sunday 17 July from 2:00pm–3:30pm. The session will be capped at 20 participants, so if you would like to join us, please sign up here.

Once all the sessions have been held, all the ideas will be consolidated and synthesised and re-presented back to all of the groups consulted for final informal ‘voting’ before being used in the design brief for landscape architects/designers.

Having existed for more than 30 years, the Community Gardens are such an important part of the Farm. Through this consultation process, community will be at the heart of the design. We look forward to rejuvenating the space to provide a welcoming, enjoyable, stimulating, green urban space for children, their families and people facing disadvantage.

Community Consultations on the Re-design of Collingwood Children’s Farm Community Gardens

Collingwood Children’s Farm will shortly recommence consultation on the redesign and redevelopment of the Community Gardens site.

The consultation process will consider and balance the varying needs, interests and ideas from its broad range of community members. The Farm has engaged Fiona Sharkie from Michelson Alexander to lead the consultations to ensure the voices of all community members are heard and represented.

Over fifty diverse groups have been defined as the Farm’s community, including Farm members and staff, schools, disability services, local community groups, former community gardeners, program partner organisations, First Nations custodians, local business, governments and funding partners.

As articulated in the Farm’s Constitution and Mission, the Farm exists to provide a welcoming, stimulating, and enjoyable green space for children and families, with an emphasis on supporting children and people who are socially isolated, experience disadvantage through mental health, disability, and any form of marginalisation in society.

The Farm is incredibly excited to hear from our community, and can’t wait to see the Community Gardens space resume its place at the heart of Collingwood Children’s Farm as a space for people from all walks of life to come together and grow.

Update on the Collingwood Children’s Farm Community Gardens

The clearing works on the Collingwood Children’s Farm Community Gardens have been completed in order to meet the 15 March deadline set by WorkSafe.  
 
Initial works involved clearing pathways, brush-cutting overgrown grasses and any invasive weeds to allow the horticulture contractors to safely access and assess individual plots. The plots were then assessed individually for possible hazards, the presence and relocation of wildlife, and the cataloguing and collection of items belonging to the Community Gardeners.

The site has been cleared, and mitigation strategies are in place to preserve the quality of the topsoil to ensure the site is in the best shape possible for the new Community Gardens.

Wildlife
All wildlife on the site was allowed the space to move off the site or was relocated where necessary. To ensure the safety of wildlife, each plot was examined by hand for evidence of animals. A snake handler was called to relocate a tiger snake from the gardens, and blue tongues and skinks were given space to move off when disturbed. 

Only after every plot was reviewed was the machinery permitted onto site.
To ensure the safety of any remaining animals and workers, a spotter was on look out when machinery was in use. 

Two wildlife protection organisations contacted the site to ensure all wildlife was protected during the works. Both organisations confirmed that the process used by the horticultural contractors was best practice. 

Collection of Items
The Collingwood Children’s Farm Committee of Management reached out to the Community Gardeners via email and phone and asked them to identify items in the plots that they would like retrieved. Farm staff and contractors have done everything possible to accommodate requests while remaining compliant with the OHS Act 2004 and the Improvement Notice issued to the Farm by the independent WorkSafe authority.

 The horticultural contractors retrieved items including gardening equipment, plants, personal items and other hardware and set them out for collection by the Gardeners. Photos were taken of each plot, and all items were catalogued, including noting whether items identified by the plot’s former gardener were present; if plant matter was living; or if items could not be retrieved due to OH&S purposes. 

Only once this comprehensive process was complete was machinery allowed to work on site. 

Collection of the items commenced on Monday 28 February. Upon collection, all Gardeners received a receipt of items retrieved and a record of items that were unable to be retrieved. 

Preservation of the site 
The preservation of the topsoil in the Community Gardens is a priority for the Farm. 

Prior to the introduction of heavy machinery, mulch was installed to mitigate compaction from work vehicles and other machinery entering the site. 

A dust mitigating spray system was installed on the site on 21 February, to inhibit the amount of topsoil removed by the wind. The Farm’s horticulture team will maintain the soil health of the site and prioritise weed management, until the construction of the new Community Gardens can commence. 

A cover crop will been sewn to lock carbon into the soil and protect the land while the consultation & design processes are underway.  

Consultations
In light of community feedback, the community engagement strategy is currently being reviewed. We will provide an update on the next steps in the community engagement process shortly, in the meantime please sign up to be involved.

Works Start to Build Collingwood Children’s Farm Gardens for the Whole Community

The much-loved Collingwood Children’s Farm Community Gardens will be redesigned with the new gardens providing an accessible and safe space for everyone. 

General Manager of Collingwood Children’s Farm, Ms Conor Hickey acknowledged community concern  about the decision to recreate the Gardens following a WorkSafe notice late last year. 

“We understand some of the existing Community Gardeners are disappointed with this outcome, but these decisions have been led by the need to ensure community safety and that the site is accessible to  all,” Ms Hickey said.  

WorkSafe issued a notice last year instructing the Farm to remediate the existing Gardens by 15 March 2022 as the land was not accessible or safe and the structures in the Gardens had become hazardous. 

Work to remediate the gardens has begun, with horticultural contractors onsite to recover items that plot holders have asked to be retrieved. Consultation on the design of the new Gardens has also begun and the Farm encourages all members of the community, including plot holders, to get involved.

Any inorganic and organic materials will be recycled where possible. The site will then be graded, reinstating the existing and natural slope of the land and a safe working gradient will be created for future works to be undertaken.

It is important to note that the works are restricted to the existing Community Gardens area of the Farm. The rest of the Farm will continue to operate and is open for visitors and community groups. 

“As the population and density of the area grows and becomes more diverse, it is vital that everyone who wants to be involved in community gardening has a place to go and a community that will embrace them”, Ms Hickey said. 

“So many people in our area don’t even have a balcony, let alone a backyard! We don’t want to be running decades’ long waiting lists for plots anymore, we want people to get involved now, especially–in line with our mission and purpose–children, people with disability, seniors, and those in our  community who are experiencing adversity.

“This is a community space, and we want it to be safe, accessible and inclusive for everyone in our  community. 

“This will still be a working farm, not a corporate space as suggested by some stakeholders. Following the design of a new Community Garden with stakeholders input, we can’t wait to welcome the public to visit us, experience a real working farm and get their hands dirty!” 

Minister for Energy, Environment and Climate Change, Lily D’Ambrosio, said the Andrews Labor Government had allocated $860,000 to the Committee of Management to redesign and rebuild the  gardens to be a safe and accessible place for everyone.  

“This is an opportunity to redesign the Gardens with the whole community in mind and comes from a need to ensure accessibility and community safety,” Minister D’Ambrosio said. 

All members of the community are invited to help design the new Community Gardens. To get involved in the consultations, register your interest at:
https://farm.org.au/get-involved/community-gardens/ 

Community at the Heart of Revitalised Community Gardens

The Collingwood Children’s Farm Community Gardens will undergo the first large-scale investment and refresh since they were established more than 40 years ago. 
 
The design brief for the revitalised Community Gardens seeks to maximise the Farm’s core and original purpose: to create a beautiful, productive food-growing space that maximises safe access and participation at the site for children and vulnerable communities, in line with the Farm’s overarching aims. 
 
The Farm was established to drive social inclusion for children and disadvantaged persons. A wide range of programs operated by the Farm have been transformative in the lives of thousands of members of vulnerable communities, including at-risk youth, people with disability, seniors and women and children who have experienced family violence. 
 
As the designated land managers, the Collingwood Children’s Farm is committed to ensuring that children and disadvantaged people have full access to a rustic community working farm that provides diverse training programs, opportunities for therapeutic horticulture and a connection to the land in an inner-city setting. 
 
The Farm is therefore committed to ensuring the Community Gardens are safe, accessible and inclusive, and are excited to begin consultations with the existing Community Gardeners and the wider community to ensure the Gardens are truly a place for the whole community. 
 
The Farm’s decision to refresh the Gardens has arisen from the need to ensure community safety by clearing the current Community Gardens which have been deemed unsafe by WorkSafe.  
 
The Collingwood Children’s Farm understands that some of the Community Gardeners may be disappointed that WorkSafe has issued a notice resulting in the clearance of the existing Gardens, however, we hope that their passion for the space is carried over into helping with the design and refresh of the new Community Gardens through the consultation process. 
 
A draft design has been produced to illustrate what a refreshed Community Gardens could look like. The final design will be informed by community consultation and will be a welcoming space for people of all abilities, including children, to garden communally. 
 
The refreshed Community Gardens will include a safe, productive space for the current Community Gardeners to continue to share their expertise and passion for gardening with the whole community. 
 
Works to clear the existing site will commence on 14 February 2022, and the garden refresh project will begin following community consultation. 
 
The Collingwood Children’s Farm Committee of Management thanks the Victorian government for its ongoing support and commitment to renewal of the Community Gardens site. 

Clarification for Community Gardens

We’re pleased to provide an update on the Collingwood Children’s Farm Community Gardens. Members of the Farm’s Committee of Management (the CoM) have been meeting weekly with plot holder representatives and officers from the Department of Land, Environment, Water and Planning (DELWP) to discuss actions and timelines for reopening the Gardens for an interim period before full redesign and refurbishment can commence.

Recently, we took onboard community and gardener requests to assess any potential heritage values in the Gardens. A heritage assessment was completed which determined that CCF can proceed with its planned redevelopment of the Community Gardens without breaching the heritage requirements of Heritage Victoria. The assessment and determination is now public via CCF’s website.

Timeline for Gardeners Return
The key issue for the site remains safety. After heavy spring rains and an extended lockdown period, the Community Gardens are now severely overgrown.
The broad plan is to clear the flat bottom third of the Gardens of weeds and structures to create an accessible and safe gardening space for current plot holders before a wider community consultation process commences in 2022. The interim space will be maintained and supported by CCF staff who will also manage several plots for community engagement and education programs. 
However, these plans are still in development.

Clarification on the Future of the Farm
Please note that some plot holders have formed a Collingwood Community Gardens Association. This organisation is not affiliated with the Farm and gardeners do not have to be a formal member of either the Community Gardens Association or the Collingwood Children’s Farm in order to be allocated a plot. All plot holders will however be issued a DELWP licence through the Farm. 

The Association recently distributed some information about the future of the Community Gardens that may be causing confusion with plot holders and members, so we’d like to clarify some matters. 

Will the Community Gardens return to plot holders after the safety works? 
Yes. After the safety upgrades, plots will be re-zoned and offered to current plot holders to continue their farming activities. The timeline for interim access is in discussion.   

Will the Community Gardens be used for a social enterprise business? 
No. Once the safety works are completed the Community Gardens will be reopened for plot holders and the broader community to continue farming as they have for many years. 
One of the 70 plots is held by CCF’s Moving Feast partners who are a social enterprise, but that plot will not be used commercially. It will be used for engagement and educational purposes with vulnerable youth.  

Have Community Gardeners been consulted in the process?  
Yes. Community Gardeners have been represented by three delegates from the Digging In Gardener’s Steering Committee in discussions since July.  
This evolved into a DELWP-led mediation process involving DELWP, Steering Committee reps and CCF Management and Committee Members that has been occurring weekly since September.  
The newly formed Collingwood Community Gardens Association has only recently contacted CCF, and it’s not clear whether they are affiliated with those three delegates and the Digging In Gardeners or not. 
CCF is committed to ongoing consultation with the Gardeners and local community.

Funding Request
The Farm has applied for funding to undertake a systematic review of the role and function of the Gardens, to be based on a wide community consultation with diverse stakeholders, partners and users of the Farm. The funding request includes design and refurbishment of the Gardens to create a beautiful, all-access food-growing space to meet the educational and social justice objectives of the Farm. We hope to hear news on this application in the next couple of weeks. 

Documentary
We are also heartened to hear that a community documentary-maker and local heritage professionals are keen to document the history and significance of the Community Gardens. 

The Farm will support this effort by providing historic photographs and archived documents and will begin sourcing these as soon as possible. We will also seek funds to have a “history of the gardens” interpretive signage as part of the renewal project. 

Finally, we want to acknowledge that the temporary closure of the Gardens has upset many people and are sorry that the closure has been hard for Gardeners and their families. We have also been overwhelmed with messages of support to rejuvenate the Community Gardens and make it an inclusive space linked to the work of the Farm. 

Thanks to everyone who has reached out, and we look forward to working with current plot holders, farm partners and supporters and the wider community to redesign and renew these Gardens in 2022.

The Community Gardens Will Remain Community Gardens

No bulldozers.
No commercial development. 

The section of land at Collingwood Children’s Farm known as the Community Gardens are temporarily closed. We understand our community of gardeners are saddened by the temporary closure; however, this area has been deemed an extreme safety risk for children, gardeners, the community and Farm staff by an external safety consultant.

Collingwood Children’s Farm Committee of Management made this decision in line with best practice guidelines that prioritise community safety and assist committees when dealing with risk management.
Hon Lily D’Ambrosio MP
Minister for Energy, Environment and Climate Change & Minister for Solar Homes

Temporary Closure of our Community Gardens

On Thursday 27 May, we received a safety report from an external safety consultant about our Community Gardens. To say that the findings were not good would be an understatement. The report identified major safety issues and concluded that the site is unsafe for gardeners, the community and Farm staff. Several factors were rated as an extremely high risk, requiring immediate action.

The works required to fix the issues are significant and go to the very heart of the layout, structure and design of the Gardens.

Following receipt of the report, the Committee of Management reluctantly decided to temporarily close the Community Gardens in order to implement the report’s recommendations.  

Our Community Gardens bring immense joy to our Community Gardens members.
We will be doing everything we can to ease the impact of this closure and keep our Gardeners connected and active during this time.

We will be providing alternative opportunities at the Farm for our Community Gardens members to garden and maintain their social and physical well-being during the closure. 

Healthcare Card holders who relied on produce grown in the CCF Community Gardens and who experience food insecurity are offered produce from the CCF Market Garden.

While this will be an emotional and difficult transition for our Community Garden members, we hope that this will allow the Community Gardens to sprout again, not just safer, but more accessible and more inclusive than before.

The Community Gardens were closed in July 2021 due to safety concerns.  
The paths throughout the Community Gardens are not compliant with DELWP and Crown Land requirements.  This land is not currently accessible or safe and the structures in the Gardens have become hazardous. 
This area is particularly dangerous for children, the elderly or those with mobility challenges; all of which are regular visitors at the Farm.   

WorkSafe inspected the Gardens in December 2021 and established that there was a risk of serious injury to anyone working in the Community Gardens.
WorkSafe have therefore ordered that remediation must occur by 15 March 2022.
To meet this deadline, works must commence on 14 February 2022. 

Collingwood Children’s Farm (CCF) asked for advice on the works and quotes from several independent contractors. CFF were advised that the work required to remediate the site to WorkSafe standards was extensive, and all works required the use of heavy machinery.

Collingwood Children’s Farm is not able to provide lawful access until the safety works have been completed. The extent of the work required on the Gardens meant that working-bees and self-directed remediation would not be sufficient to meet WorkSafe’s requirements. COVID-19 restrictions also limited the opportunity for access to the Gardens in 2021. 

No, the work required to remediate the site in July 2021 was just as extensive.
The Community Gardens have a unique set of problems and issues which have accumulated over decades. 
Some of the safety issues identified by WorkSafe include: uneven and slippery walkways, fencing barriers constructed from various materials that are in poor condition, fences with sharp edges protruding into walk ways, overhead structures not adequately secured, rocks/blue stone used as garden edging that are loosely installed and pose trip hazards. 

Remediation of the Community Gardens followed by community and stakeholder consultation for their redesign and rebuild.

Collingwood Children’s Farm did not have the funds available to remediate the Community Gardens to WorkSafe standards, a financial situation that was exacerbated by COVID-19 restrictions in 2020 and 2021. 

The Community Gardens is an allotment-style community garden which was developed in 1979 when the Collingwood Children’s Farm was founded. There are 70 plots on 3.5% of farmland; of the 70 plots, 50-odd were used by 100 to 150 people. 
CCF has 15,000 visitors per month (at the time of writing in 2021). School groups, community groups and our volunteer cohort are locked out of the Community Gardens and have been for several years. The opportunity to refresh the Community Gardens, and redesign them with the whole community in mind, has come from a need to ensure community safety. 

A process is being considered to address this. While some Gardeners have taken advantage of previous invitations to retrieve belongings, we know there are others who have not yet done so. We would like to organise for remaining property to be retrieved as soon as possible (at the time of writing in 2021). 

We are excited to continue consultations with the existing Community Gardeners and the wider community to ensure the Gardens are truly a place for the whole community. Collingwood Children’s Farm has engaged a consultant who will ensure the whole community can contribute their ideas on the design of the new Community Gardens, including the current Community Gardeners. We hope that their passion for the space is carried over into helping with the design and refresh of the new Community Gardens. 

While our vision for the site is to make it a more accessible and open space with fewer individual lots, we want the current Community Gardeners to continue to play an active role. We want to provide a safe, productive space in which the current Gardeners can share their expertise and passion for gardening with the whole community. 

Yes. The group has been represented by three delegates from the Digging In Gardener’s Steering Committee in discussions since July.  This evolved into a DELWP-led mediation process involving DELWP, Steering Committee reps and CCF Management and Committee Members that has been occurring weekly since September.  CCF is committed to ongoing consultation with the Gardeners and local community.  

No. Once the safety works are completed, the Community Gardens will be reopened for plot holders and the broader community to continue farming as they have for many years.
One of the 70 plots here is held by CCF’s Moving Feast partners who are a social enterprise, but that plot was never intended to be for commercial use. It will be used for educational purposes with vulnerable youth.  

The Collingwood Children’s Farm sits on the lands of the Wurundjeri Woi Wurrung People.
It is a Crown Land reserve that comes under the jurisdiction of DELWP.  
CCF Inc. was a body set up by volunteer users of the Farm that the state government appointed to administer the Farm with its Committee of Management in line with its Constitution.  The Community Gardens have always sat on this Crown Land reserve.  

No. This has never been proposed or discussed by the CCF. The Farm is not CCF’s land to sell.