Wait list at 25 for patches at Monteith
Coun. Tara Ney isn’t giving up just yet on her seeing more allotment gardens in Oak Bay.
“Given the attention to food security in the region, why haven’t we made a gesture?” she asked at a council meeting Monday.
Oak Bay has 12 plots in its sole allotment garden on Monteith Street. Ten more were to be added by this spring at the .81 hectare site. Ney is adamant that more plots need to be made available for rent in the municipality, especially with 25 people on the wait list.
Oak Bay parks and recreation director Lorna Curtis noted that two other sites were looked at, but the cost of developing the sites precluded moving forward with them.
Coun. Hazel Braithwaite, who chairs the parks and recreation commission, suggested that some plots could be eventually added at the redeveloped Oak Bay High for student use.
Coun. Pam Copley sided with Ney’s argument that more public plots are needed, mentioning a provincial guideline for incorporating allotment gardens in communities. Rather than leaving it up to parks staff to look for more garden space, residents should be engaged, Copley said.
“We need to put our heads together. This is do-able,” she said.
Braithwaite agreed to revisit the issue at the next commission meeting.
vmoreau@oakbaynews.com