Community Gardens to be uprooted: Deadline May 29
Planting weekend is upon us, and the City of Fort St. John has thus far been unable to find a non-profit organisation to run the Community Gardens. Intererested parties have until Monday, May 29 to come forward or the City will move forward with the removal of the gardens.
At the Community Gardens Town Hall meeting on April 5, there seemed to be a lot of interest in keeping the Community Gardens running, as they have for the past decade. In a survey conducted by the City, 90 percent of the 66 respondents said that the gardens were important to the community. Of these, 65 percent said they would be interested in volunteering time and skills to help the gardens function, while 35 percent were interested in renting a garden plot and participating as an active member of the garden.
Yet, no one has stepped forward. The Catholic Church, which owns the land the Community Gardens occupies, is only interested in signing a lease with a non-profit group or organisation. This was the arrangement they had with the Northern Environmental Action Team (NEAT), which ran the gardens for the past several years, before shutting down last fall.
In spite of suggestions from people at the Town Hall meeting, the City itself is unable to devote staff to the clean-up and maintenance of the Community Gardens.
Having community gardens in the City, is a feature of the City’s Offical Community Plan, former Mayor Lori Ackerman noted at the Town Hall meeting last month. They must be saved, she said.
Naomi Gallant, Community Development Coorindator for the City of Fort St. John said all that is needed is someone to sign the lease and be a guarantor, to get the gardens up and running. “It would be up to the community to clean it up and maintain it,” she said. She noted that Dawson Creek’s community garden users have to pay a deposit, which they only get back if they help out in the common areas, something that would be easy enough to implement in Fort St. John’s gardens.
With 50 raised beds available for planting, there is much opportunity for people in the city, who may not have access to a backyard or other gardening space, to grown their own food. Skyrocketing food prices make this facility an asset to families in the community.
But here we are. The May long weekend is the traditional planting time in the North Peace, when generally speaking, the danger of frost is past. Time is of the essence. If May 29 comes and goes without anyone or any group stepping forward to help keep this valuable asset running in the community, not only will there be no Community Gardens this year, but there will be none in the future. The previous groups put in a lot of time and effort to establish these gardens, along with generous donations from businesses in the community. To tear that all up, and throw it away, would be an utter waste.
If anyone is interested in putting together a group to save the Community Gardens, or has an idea of how to do so, please contact Naomi Gallant, Community Development Coordinator at 250-787-5791.