Council Lunch Box garden in Maam Gaduying May 2012

Council Lunch Box Garden

Council Staff and Northbank Community Garden Volunteers at completion of the initial planting of the Council Lunchbox Garden.

Northbank Community Garden

Media Release

Date for Release: 14 May 2012

Contact:                Guy Saddleton (Edible Streetscapes spokesperson) - 0411 229 300

                                    Nic Denshire (Northbank Community Garden President) - 0410 532 272

                                    Zoe Moore (Bellingen Shire Council Sstainability Officer)  (02) 6655 7305

Lunch can’t get more local than this!!

The Edible Streetscapes project took another leap forward this week with the creation of the Council Lunchbox garden in Maam Gaduying.  The Garden will provide fresh greens to Council staff and community members and was installed as part of the Edible Streetscapes project. It complements existing projects under the Edible Streetscapes banner including the edible gardens out the front of Guy Saddleton Real Estate, Number 5 Church St (Installed by Bellingen Solar), the old Kombu Site and Alchemy. Bellingen High School students also helped to plant citrus trees in Connell park as part of Edible Streetscapes. 

Guy Saddleton (Bellingen Chamber of Commerce president) said, “The Edible Streetscapes Project is a great example of us achieving more together.  This collaboration between Northbank Community Garden (NCG), Transition Bellingen and the Bellingen Chamber of Commerce and the help of numerous community members has achieved more than any one organisation could have achieved on their own”.

The Council Lunchbox garden was instigated by Councils internal sustainability team; the BATS. Council’s sustainability officer, Zoe Moore, said, “The BATS team were incredibly keen to start the Lunchbox Garden as one of their sustainability actions.  Working in with the Edible Streetscapes project is a logical partnership. We want this garden to be used by our local community so people should feel free to pick some salad for their lunch. We hope this will be the first of many similar local food projects to come throughout the shire,” she added.

In 2009, Bellingen Shire Council resolved to support a community target of ‘one earth living’ by 2015.  ‘One earth’, in this context, relates to the aim to embrace a lifestyle that could be adopted by all humans in the world, without permanently depleting earths’ resources.  Northbank Community Garden President, Nic Denshire, explains, “A significant proportion of an individual’s ecological footprint is accounted for by food. This initiative is a meaningful progression toward increasing the proportion of local, low impact food consumed in the Shire.  NCG has been building our capacity to deliver local food to the community for over four years.  This collaboration between Edible Streetscapes and Council is a symbolic but significant move in the right direction”.

For further information on the Edible Streetscapes project contact Guy Saddleton on 0411 229 300.For the Council Lunchbox Garden contact Zoe Moore on (02) 6655 7305