If you ask Rick McGowan, “How does your garden grow?,” he’ll likely reply, “It doesn’t – not yet.”
The Metrotown resident is looking for space in the neighbourhood to start a community garden, but said his first choice was rejected by the city.
Last April, McGowan proposed a demonstration garden be established on a vacant city-owned lot at 5608 Halley Ave., but the community development committee did not approve the project.
The lot is one of two city-owned properties – the other is at 5587 Chaffey Ave. – where the city is putting in a pedestrian walkway, with plans to put the rest of the land up for public tender.
“It’s more of a benefit to have a community garden there,” McGowan said, adding the vacant house on the property could be used for tool storage and community meeting space.
McGowan said he is frustrated by what he perceives is Burnaby’s lack of willingness to have community gardens on city-owned properties.
He recently met with Shirley Brightman, Burnaby’s senior real property administrator, and said he was told he’d have a better chance establishing a garden on TransLink property, school sites or on park land.
But McGowan said he thinks the property is ideal for the project.
He also said he was told he should submit a petition from people interested in becoming members.
“It’s kind of a hen and chicken argument,” he said. “I’m sure we could fill it, if we had it.”
Last year, McGowan started the Metrotown Residents’ Association, to organize community projects such as the garden.
Ideally, he’d like to establish a temporary community garden on the city-owned lots, much like the Heights Community Garden at 3885 and 3897 Pender St., he said.
“We would like to see that as a model for developing a garden in Metrotown,” McGowan said. “We just want the same kind of treatment other neighbourhoods get.”
Brightman confirmed she had met with McGowan in an email to the NOW, but said she couldn’t provide information on city-owned properties or specific sites for a garden.
“I encouraged him to really research and explore the options for siting a community garden, keeping in mind the need for convenient access, parking, water, security, etc.,” she wrote. “I suggested that it is better to avoid properties that are slated for future redevelopment in favour of sites that are not likely to be sold or rezoned. Typically school sites, rights of way (such as under the SkyTrain) or parkland are sites that fit that description.”
Diana Hall, president of the Heights Garden Society, is only too aware of the challenges of establishing a community garden.
When she began the process about 20 years ago, the biggest difficulty was connecting with apartment dwellers in the Heights neighbourhood – those who would be best served by a community garden, she said.
It took about fours years and a change of site – initially, the group wanted to establish the garden at the Chevron buffer zone, she added.
But once the plan got going, Hall found everything came together, she said.
“That was what was so amazing about the whole process. Resources started coming our way,” Hall said. “This is everyday magic.”
From someone using the rocks on the site to build walls around the garden plots, to an enthusiastic neighbour with community garden experience dropping by, the society had lots of help, she said.
“You get to meet great people,” she added. “It’s a great bridge in the community.”
As for the tenuous nature of the garden site – the city land is slated for eventual redevelopment – she said she’s hopeful they’ll be able to work something out.
“I’m hoping we can discuss it with the city,” said Hall, who is a planner with the City of Maple Ridge by day. “You need some green space in a development anyway.”
