A new community garden will be added to Kimberley’s McDougall Park after a decision made by City Council on Tuesday.
On Tuesday night’s council meeting, Kimberley gave the green light to an occupation agreement with Kimberley Edible Gardens and Greenhouse Society for the community garden.
The aim of the garden is to give residents a public space to grow naturally sourced vegetables.
“We got involved with Healthy Kimberley in a food security program for the community,” said Jori Adank, president of the Kimberley Edible Gardens and Greenhouse Society.
Mayor Don McCormick said council was enthusiastic about the idea when it came forward.
“It’s an enhancement to the park, not a change in the function of the park. In other words, everything that could be done in the park will continue to be done and now we’ll have this garden that offers food security and sustainability options,” said McCormick.
Once completed, the gardens will take up about 5% of the park.
On Tuesday night’s meeting, the public came forward with a number of letters voicing their concerns with the addition.
“At the end of the day, it’s about wanting to know specifics about what it’s going to be like once it’s completed,” explained McCormick. “The specifics take some time to play themselves out, not all of the answers are available. It’s those not-available answers that cause people to get a bit fussed.”
This will be Kimberley’s only community garden after a previous one was left unattended.
“We had a community garden down near Centennial Park, that was not all that well looked after, frankly it became an eyesore. People were concerned that the same thing would happen to McDougall Park. It’s a valid concern, but steps have been taken to make sure that doesn’t happen,” said McCormick.
The completion of the garden does not have a timeline yet.