Last week a Community Garden volunteer wanted to know how the Town of Barrhead would make up for the shortfall of fresh produce the not-for-profit group provides the food bank every year if a new location for the garden isn’t found.
While I understand her frustration, I believe the question is unfair.
The property was always going to be developed commercially it was only a matter of when and for what.
Originally it was going to be for the aquaticscentre, but when that didn’t work out the town switched gears preparing it for future commercial development.
If there was any doubt of this, it should have been dispelled in 2015 when council approved the Schneider Lands Area Structure Plan. It is also the time when the society should have started working with the town on a plan if, or more likely when, a developer appeared.
Unfortunately, this did not happen and now everyone involved is scrambling to make sure something is in place by next spring.
Although I’m not sure if the rush is necessary, when I talked to mayor Dave McKenzie in August he said the town had received some interest about the property, and that is why, in part, town council informed the society that they would need to relocate. But considering the town just hired a real estate management firm to help drum up interest in the property, I’m not sure if anything is imminent.
That being said, a decision about a location needs to be made quickly unless the town wants to extend the society’s lease for a minimum of two years, because once everything is settled, there won’t be a lot of time. Trust me, it is going to take a lot of time and effort to work out who is responsible for what, and who is going to pay for it.
Although the town and county have offered to do as much as they can to help relocate the garden, they, the town especially, will expect the society to have some skin in the game, not only in terms of volunteers but monetarily, whether it is cash or as services-in-kind.
I know this from personal experience because my club’s radio shack in Kelowna was forced to relocate after the city sold the building. As with the garden, the city provided us with another location, rent-free, but we were on the hook for the majority of the moving costs, which is fair enough.
This is why I would suggest, if the option is still available, the garden be moved to Millennium Park. It is a better fit. Many communities that have community gardens are in public parks and more importantly, by having it located in a park, and not on a chunk of land that is zoned for some sort of development there is no danger of having to do this again.
