A community garden is a communal area where a group of people come together to grow produce and learn about gardening.

There are many types of community gardens, as defined by the Australian City Farms and Community Gardens Network:

• Shared gardens, in which gardeners work in the whole garden, doing whatever is needed at the time and taking a share of the produce they grow
• Facilitated gardens, where gardens are integrated into an existing community hub (such as a Community Centre or common open space) and the garden is managed on behalf of Council, taking responsibility for ensuring the garden is well attended and diverse
• Allotment gardens, in which individuals or families have their own garden; and
• A garden with both allotments and shared gardening space.

Community gardens are formed when a group of volunteers join together to present a proposal to Council with a request to create a new garden. Council assesses the application to determine if it meets the appropriate criteria.

Community gardens can be established in Bayside on private land or Council-owned or managed land and should have a positive environmental impact.

Council’s role in community gardens will vary according to land ownership and the complexity of the community garden site.

Community gardens provide a valuable recreation activity that contributes to health and wellbeing, social connectedness and interaction, environmental education and sustainable living practices. The Community Garden Policy ensures that all community gardens are established and maintained in a clear and equitable manner.

The Policy is scheduled to be reviewed every four years.

Proposed changes to this Policy include:

• Demonstrating Council’s commitment to encourage and assist community gardens throughout Bayside
• Introduction of a two-stage application and assessment process to streamline community garden requests
• Requirements for a Council-run community engagement process to be undertaken on all proposed community garden applications that progress to stage two of the assessment process

Proposed sites are required to meet a specific set of criteria to ensure they are suitable as a community garden space.

Sites will be assessed based on the following criteria:

• Is the land Council public open space?
• Is it a Council leased community space?
• Is it linked to an existing community facility to allow access to amenities such as public toilets and water; accessibility, sun and shade?
• Is there any established community garden within walking distance?

Yes. If an application is successful in reaching the second stage of the assessment process, a Council facilitated community engagement process will be undertaken, in accordance with the Community and Stakeholder Engagement Policy 2021, to seek feedback from the wider community on the proposal.

To find out about current community gardens in Bayside please email sustainability@bayside.vic.gov.au for more information.