‘Community gardens can take root’, says local councillor

Community orchards and gardens are already being established locally, and Cllr Hazel Smyth hopes to see more.

She tabled a motion at the November meeting of the Municipal District of Mullingar Kinnegad, calling on the district to take steps to promote them, in accordance with the new National Strategy for Horticulture 2023-2027.

“I’d like to see the council take a proactive approach to working with community groups to provide for these allotments, orchards and gardens,” Cllr Smyth said.

She said she hears a lot from people who are interested in developing such projects that they are not aware of what land might be available to them, and asked if that information could be made available.

“I know there is a lot of interest from community groups in providing for this, particularly given the cost of living crisis and the desire to be more eco friendly,” Cllr Smyth said.

She suggested that the council contact other local authorities involved in such projects to see what actions can be taken.

Cllr Smyth said there is already a successful community garden in Ardleigh in Mullingar.

“They’re excellent for community building, for people’s health and just to increase connections there among people. And so I think where we can try to actively support community groups with this, I think it would have great positive benefits in many ways for that group,” Cllr Smyth stated.

The official written response from the district to Cllr Smyth said that the National Strategy for Horticulture 2023-2027 names Bord Bia as a lead agency and suggests it works with local authorities to implement and support community gardens and allotments to encourage enthusiasm for gardening and growing and promote fresh produce consumption and healthy eating.

The Dept of Agriculture is also named as a lead agency and is tasked with engaging with the Dept of Education and the Dept of Health and local authorities to coordinate activities emphasising the health benefits of eating more fruit and vegetables and growing your own.

The response continued: “Westmeath County Council awaits contact from both bodies in order to ascertain and agree local objectives that may involve the preparation of a policy around development of community gardens and allotments through the relevant strategic policy committee(s).”

It added that as part of the Community Climate Action Fund, the council is actively promoting these types of projects with community groups and is working on developing some ideas with groups who are interested in applying for funding.

“The fund is opening for applications in the new year, so we will hopefully have some projects ready to apply,” the response concluded.

Director of services Deirdre O’Reilly, responding to Cllr Smyth’s query on what land might be available, said it would be a bit of an exhaustive process to start identifying lands, and she suggested that communities identify possible sites and check with the council’s climate action officer, John Jackson, if they could be put to this use.