A group of Steveston residents aren’t opposed to community gardens – they just don’t want a 40-bed one behind their fence.
The City of Richmond is proposing a community garden on the Railway Greenway just south of Steveston Highway, but some of the residents of Birchwood Estates are worried about an increase in rodents, foot traffic from strangers and the smell of compost and manure that would come from this endeavour.
“We are not against community gardens in any way, shape or form – none of us are against (them) but we are just against it being over our back fence,” said Roidon Lamb, a resident of Birchwood Estates who brought the complaint to city hall last week.
Lamb told the parks, recreation and cultural services committee that the residents of Birchwood Estates only found out in May that a community garden was planned for the greenway with a tentative construction date of July 2021 after a resident saw it on the city’s website.
Lamb said the greenspace is currently used by residents of Birchwood, for example, children playing ball, as well as by other community members.
“If the park was converted to a community garden, it makes little sense. The use of a park by dozens and dozens of people now comes to an end so 40 people can grow vegetables six months of the year, and the other six months, it just sits there, and it’s an eyesore,” Lamb said, adding that there is other land along the greenbelt that could be used for a community garden.
Meanwhile, there are currently 500 Richmond residents on a waitlist for a community garden plot and 200 of those are in Steveston.
Coun. Bill McNulty, who said he would like to see the proposed community garden location behind Birchwood Estates nixed, said the one on Moncton Avenue looks like a “pigsty” nine-tenths of the year, and there should be more rules around maintenance of gardens.
Furthermore, McNulty said council, not city staff, should decide where community gardens are located.
“Too much seems like a done deal,” he said.
Coun. Linda McPhail said she supported re-examining the Birchwood Estates location, however, she pointed out council has asked staff to create community gardens.
“We said this was a high priority for council, to bring on as many community gardens as possible,” she told the committee.
City staff said they will be consulting the wider community on the proposed location.
Another resident of Birchwood Estates, Pedro Villalon, called the greenspace "the gathering space of our whole community," adding "higher weight" should be given to the opinions of those who are most impacted by the community garden.
The parks committee in the end asked city staff for more information, namely, a map of proposed community gardens, an explanation of the consultation process, a re-examination of the rules of maintenance as well as finding where the 500 people on the waitlist are located.
