A community garden in Westlock is one step closer to fruition with Westlock town council approving a site.
Town council unanimously passed a motion at the Jan. 12 meeting to provide up to 1.5 acres of land in the Southview Park — the green space between the hospital and 100 Avenue — for an initial 10-year period at no cost. While many of the details are yet to be worked out, like precisely where the garden will be, who will pay for what and how the not-for-profit society will be structured, director of planning Simone Wiley said the Southview location is the best choice.
“So far this seems to be the best option,” she said.
“There’s a lot of neighbourhood around there, with high-density developments.”
She explained the initial ask from Highway 2 Conservation coordinator Sheila Wooten, who’s been spearheading efforts to get the garden going, is for an initial size of 0.52 acres with potential expansion up to 1.5 acres.
There would be two plot sizes available — 10 feet squared and 10 feet by 20 feet — which would come at an annual rental cost of $20 and $25 respectively.
While it’s not expected every plot will be used initially, the intention is that any extra growing space will provide extra food for the Westlock Food Bank.
Several councillors spoke in favour of the project, including David Truckey who was on the board of the Westlock Foundation when there was a community garden at the Pembina Lodge. He noted the proximity of seniors’ residences to the Southview Park as a benefit.
“You have seniors’ facilities along the north side there, you have the continuing care centre and you have the apartments and all the residential,” he said. “People just naturally flock to that area. When one guy’s out pulling weeds, 10 guys are going to come watch and tell him how to do it.”
Mike Edwards is president of the Southview Community League, which has medium- to long-term plans to develop that park, and said he and the executive see a garden as a great addition.
“This is one of several ideas the Southview neighbourhood league has discussed for use of the green space, and we’re looking forward to working with the town to make it happen.”
While the attitude among councillors was overwhelmingly positive, several potential issues were raised — who takes care of the space, how the water will be handled and who will address any potential complaints.
Town CAO Dean Krause explained the town’s goal is to hand the space over to the society, leaving the town with little to no direct involvement.
He did acknowledge that as the space is owned by the town, there’s a small chance they’d have to become more directly involved.
“Societies can fall, I guess, and there’s always a danger it could come back to the municipality for us to run,” he said.
Mayor Ralph Leriger noted after the motion passed that this could be just the first step towards more community agriculture.
“Chickens and beekeeping are next,” he said.
