Throughout the years we have spoken with community members who lamented the lack of green space in the Beenleigh area. Whilst many community and neighbourhood centres are located close to parks and within residential areas Beenleigh Neighbourhood Centre is located within the Beenleigh CBD and is surrounded by buildings, roads, and carparks. Our centre has a small plot of unused greenspace which we believed could be repurposed as a community garden.
We hosted an information session in April 2019 for community members who may share our interest in developing a community garden. Four enthusiastic community members attended the session and soon formed a steering committee. It was decided by the committee and Beenleigh Neighbourhood Centre that our garden would be named the ‘Beenleigh Community Garden’.
Much time was spent managing the administrative aspects of the project, including applying to Logan City Council for consent to make changes on the property, developing a management plan and new member induction guide.
Unfortunately, due to the 2020 COVID-19 Coronavirus pandemic progress was slowed significantly. This is not to say that any progress was not made, we were fortunate to receive several donations, including:
- A used water tank from Logan City Council
- Recycled timber from Langs Building Supplies
- Construction of raised garden beds, planter boxes, and workstations by
- Beenleigh District Men’s Shed
- Soil from Smart Stone Landscape Supplies
The steering committee held working bees where they got to work preparing the site and painting the garden beds, planter boxes and workstations.
We were fortunate to receive a Gambling Community Benefit Fund grant from the Queensland Government which assisted with funding the purchase of essential tools, materials and structures. We also held a Trivia Night fundraiser to raise additional funds for the initial site works.
The project is now nearing completion, with an official opening planned for mid-2021. We are always looking for new members, if you or someone you know is interested please visit the Beenleigh Community Garden Facebook Page, or contact us.
