Decision details

Moved by Councillor Phelps, seconded by Councillor Vithoulkas –

It is resolved that:

(A)        Council note:

(i)          the Erskineville Community Garden has been created and successfully by the local Erskineville community for over 11 years, without any financial support from the City;

(ii)         the Community Garden group met with representatives from Council, including Councillor Miller and Mr Kim Woodbury on 22 October, 2020 where they were informed about the Council's agenda for looking at sites to be repurposed for affordable housing;

(iii)        in this meeting it was disclosed that the community garden is one of four sites that is being considered and is the Council's preferred site. Of other three sites being considered, two already have existing buildings and one is a car park;

(iv)       the permanent loss of the Erskineville Community Garden would be the result of any kind of development built on the existing community garden site. Relocating the garden will not guarantee the relocation of the environment and community the local residents have spent the last 11 years cultivating at the current community garden;

(v)         open green community spaces are in high demand in the City of Sydney. This has been exemplified by the COVID-19 lockdown and the City's proposal to halve the Moore Park Golf Course; and

(vi)       the City should not be removing any open community spaces that currently exist for public access and use, and should instead be looking at already developed sites to adapt into affordable housing; and

(vii)      on 16 November 2020, a motion requesting that the decision regarding Erskineville Community Garden be delayed until a toxicity report can be conducted was lost; and

(B)        the Chief Executive Officer be requested to:

(i)          investigate and rectify any potential issues with the current community garden site to ensure it is retained and suitable for community gardening;

(ii)         commit to increasing community garden space within the City of Sydney Local Government Area;

(iii)        investigate where the City of Sydney can create new open green community spaces; and

(iv)       report back to Councillors via the CEO update.

A show of hands on the motion resulted in an equality of voting as follows –

Ayes (5)          Councillors Chung, Forster, Phelps, Scott, and Vithoulkas

Noes (5)          The Chair (the Lord Mayor), Councillors Kok, Miller, Scully and Thalis

The Chair (the Lord Mayor) exercised her casting vote again the motion.

The motion was declared lost.

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