Community garden to nurture south Taranaki

From left: Sustainable Taranaki community garden coordinator Alice Arnold, Reverand Shirley-Anne and Sustainable Taranaki south Taranaki project manager Andrea Rowe.

A new project will nurture south Taranaki.

The Hāwera community garden project is seeking green thumbs, garden dabblers, and lots of community spirit, says Sustainable Taranaki community garden coordinator Alice Arnold.

"This project doesn't have an end date and people can join in at any time, there's no timeline."

The garden will be located at St Mary's Anglican Church on Princes St where a hall was located.

"With the hall being demolished it left a canvas for us to work with. It's a place for school groups and the community to form relationships, and friendships and share and learn different skills."

The project is funded by the Tindall Foundation. Alice says the project is a partnership between St Mary's Anglican Church, Sustainable Taranaki, Enviroschools and the community.

"On Wednesday we had a planning day which was all about getting our partnership with the community started. We were very impressed with the turnout with a lot of people interested in the community garden."

She says groundwork is expected to start in May.

"We've got a lot of people on board who are ready to help."

Sustainable Taranaki south Taranaki project manager Andrea Rowe says as well as nurturing the community, the community garden will also grow learning opportunities.

"So far we have Hāwera High School and Tawhiti School on board through Enviroschools. It's a space for workshops and will provide plenty of educational opportunities. Our motto is 'unity in community' so this project is a way we can do that."

Reverand Shirley-Anne says the project is exciting.

"It's like the old days, a workable community garden. It's a place to grow all sorts of vegetables but to also sit and look and if the beans are ready to be picked they can grab some for tea."

■ For more information, visit the Sustainable Taranaki Facebook page or email Alice at alice.arnold@sustainabletaranaki.org.nz.