Pittwater Life May 2023 Issue

Bayview garden support grows
A
fresh community garden
may soon be bursting
into life at Annam Road
Reserve, Bayview.
Driven by a Bayview residents
group headed by President
Wendy Cummins, a dream
that formed with a letterbox
drop in 2020 is getting closer to
being realised.
Wendy and her team have
been working on a proposal for
the community garden with the
support of Northern Beaches
Council and are now heading
into the next phase.
Council has placed the
proposal on public exhibition
(‘Your Say’) until May 29.
Wendy talks about creating
places to hang out and mingle,
bringing young families and retirees
together and the garden
design.
“If there was a community
garden of some sort that would
seem to me to be a huge advantage,”
she says.
“I just tried to make it flexible
and open. All the way
DREAM: Bayview resident Wendy Cummins.
through the design, you can
sit anywhere because it’s got
openings so you can come in
and out. I don’t want it to be a
closed-off space.
“I wanted it to be something
free.”
Fruit, vegetables, flowers and
native trees will ripen and grow
in the proposed 450-squaremetre
garden. Sustainability is
a focus and there will be compost
and worm farm areas.
Feng shui principles inform
the design. Plants and flowers
are to be a palette of colour
linked to elements of water
(blue and dark), earth (orange
and yellow), metal (silver and
white) and wood (medicinal
herbs).
The flexible design provides
multi-purpose scope for different
community groups and
interests. A gazebo with a BBQ,
table and seating could be the
garden centrepiece.
There are currently six community
gardens on Council
land, including at Newport.
There is another at Barrenjoey
High School at Avalon.
Annam Road Reserve adjoins
Bayview Golf Course. The
Reserve is over 4000 square
metres with trees around its
perimeter. Infrastructure is
just a few hand-made swings.
Increased physical activity,
community interaction, education
and a reduction in stress
are benefits of community
gardens; research in the social
housing context backs this up.
An open afternoon on-site is
planned for 20 May, with representatives
from Council and
the residents group available.
People can come and express
interest or concerns and obtain
information.
“I do think it will build momentum,”
says Wendy.
Wendy hopes this will also
bring people forward who
would love to be part of establishing
the community garden.
“I’ve literally taken it one step
at a time”. – Greg McHugh
*On-site afternoon May 20.
News
The Local Voice Since 1991
MAY 2023 23