City of Kingston seeking public feedback on Community Gardens
The City of Kingston’s Community Gardens Development and Operations Policy is undergoing review and the City is seeking input from the community.
According to a media release, the City wants to hear about what works with the policy and what elements can be improved. Kingston residents can have their say by completing the survey on Get Involved Kingston before 4 p.m. on Friday, Jul. 7, 2023. To complete the survey by phone or to request a paper copy, call 613-546-0000. City staff will also be visiting various community gardens during the month of June.
Feedback will be collected and taken into consideration to inform the updated Community Gardens Development and Operations Policy, the City noted. Once an updated version of the policy is drafted, it will be presented to Kingston City Council for review and approval.
“The City values community gardens as a means to improving the health and well-being of our neighbourhoods, providing food security, creating engaged communities and increasing the sustainability of our beautiful city,” said Ben Leslie, Community Development Coordinator with the City of Kingston.
What is a community garden?
Community gardens provide a shared space for a group of residents or a community organization to grow and harvest produce, flowers or native plants. According to the release, the City accepts applications for community gardens to be built on municipally owned lands to help residents and local non-profits establish community-led garden projects in parks and green spaces.
Community gardens create a healthier, more livable community by helping residents grow food and build relationships with neighbours. The City said that community gardens are open to all residents and are guided by the following principles:
- Walkable – used and enjoyed by those who live in the community.
- Inclusive – Welcoming, gathering space open to everyone.
- Community-led – Designed for the community, by the community.
City Council wasted millions of dollars on studies for the Wellington Street extension, to provide a north-south route for additional traffic expected when the third crossing was built over the Cataraqui. Neither Rideau, Montreal,nor Division streets could be enlarged to accommodate additional lanes. The solution had been provided, decades ago, with Leroy Grant Boulevard. Also, land had been purchased for a fire station to be built at the corner of Division and Elliott streets, so that fire and paramedics could travel across the Third Crossing, if needed, and serve the Kingscourt and Rideau Heights neighbourhoods. Instead, in the past decade, city staff decided to turn the unfinished section of Leroy Grant into a garden and park, as well as sell the fire station site as “surplus” land to a housing developer. While it may be nice to have a public garden near Oak Street, traffic is often backed up on Montreal and Division streets, because of inadequate traffic corridors. If anyone wonders why, it was poor planning by City staff, which was approved by City Council, at a cost of millions of dollars, (with land provided for profitable housing, (not a fire station nor “affordable” housing).
Send City staff your input about community gardens, and expect to be ignored.