June 2020
Kia ora koutou, ni hao, annyeong and welcome to all you lovely people who have recently joined the database and our kaupapa!
In this email we're pleased to bring you:
Latest news from the council, in this week
An introduction video with info about the vision, goals and FAQ's
An update from the seedling stand on Seine Road
The new website and lots of action to follow on social media
Thank's for joining us on the journey!
- Phoebe
(Forrest Hill Community Garden)
Latest from council
A long-awaited post-lockdown update from our land use advisor came this week! I am pleased to report the following indicative timeline:
• Our council staff land use advisor will present our application for a Licence to Occupy at a workshop to the Local Board on June 6th.
• On confirmation from the Local Board to proceed, the proposal will be publically notified for a 30 business day period. We are hoping and anticipating this will be a straight forward procedure without opposition.
• At this point the proposal will go out for Iwi consultation. We are looking forward to the opportunity to work with local tangata whenua.
• Should we pass all these stages without barrier, we are anticipating gaining final approval to go ahead in early spring... a great time to get into the garden!
Watch the latest video
Thoughts on The Lockdown
As we come out the other side of this unusual season, we have reflected like many of you on the various aspects of lockdown life that we want to hold onto and take forward into this new world we find ourselves in. And hands down, top of our list is the amazing community spirit and sense of solidarity we experienced for the duration of bubble life.
Several years ago we wrote in a flyer we dropped into letter boxes “we love living in beautiful Forrest Hill and we have seen the tops of your heads as you’ve walked past our fence. But we don’t really know who you are. Rather than lamenting the loss of community, we've decided to do something about it. So we are proposing a community garden in Seine Reserve”.
How delighted we have been to have met, chatted and experienced this longed-for sense of community with so many of you over the past 5 weeks at the Community Garden in its infancy stage in the form of the seedlings stand. The level of participation, the enthusiasm and the encouragement we have received through this seed of an idea has blown us away! And has given us a fire in our belly’s for when we can at long last come together on-site and work side by side getting to know each other while shifting some dirt!
The Seine Road Seedling Stand
What began as a simple idea to bring highly sought after seedlings to neighbours who missed out in the countdown to lock-down has become somewhat of a symbol of a kind, generous and thoughtful community. We started with what we had - a bunch of seeds and some potting mix and slowly but surely the seeds germinated, the seedlings grew and the people came!
It didn't take long for our own offerings to be supplemented by things shared by neighbours. We have been delighted on a daily basis by the goods we discover that have been added - for example, potted up seedlings of parsley, passionfruit, and chives, surplus harvests of feijoas, guavas, chillis and lemongrass, freshly picked bunches of bay leaves, rosemary and oregano... the list goes on. We are so grateful, and so are all the neighbours! Keep up the awesome mahi team!
Follow our journey online
Website
You may have noticed we have a new website! One of the silver linings of lockdown was that it gave us a bit of time and some real incentive to get creative! We created the site to function as a home for the project and a central place to hold all the relevant info that you may be curious to explore more of in your own time.
Instagram / Facebook
Judging by the growing followership on social media we are greatly encouraged by the interest that is gathering amongst the community. Keep an eye on it - it's all about creating a sense of community and momentum, documenting the daily activity at the stand and showcasing some of the various projects, ideas and community gardens out there that have given us great inspiration on this journey.
