Community Garden in “The Garden Shire” at Baulkham Hills
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Hillsrotary
After nearly 2 years of planning, The Rotary Club of The Hills-Kellyville proudly established a Community Garden at Conie Avenue Reserve, Baulkham Hills in 2020 with the support of The Hills Shire Council, a Federal grant along with members of the community and local businesses
Community gardens have shown to contribute to a better and healthier lifestyle.
The Rotary Club of The Hills-Kellyville has been involved with running the Orange Blossom Garden Competition and the associated Open Gardens for many years. This connection led the Club to the question of how to broaden the involvement of the community in the pastime of gardening. Following in-principle support from the Hills Shire Mayor, Rotary consulted with the community about the possibility of establishing a community garden and it all progressed from there.
A grant under the Federal government’s Stronger Communities Programme was applied for in 2019 and subsequently the Club was notified by local MP, the Hon. Alex Hawke MP, that the grant application had been approved. The grant was used for required infrastructure to set up the Community Garden.
With the help of generous donors including Bunnings Castle Hill, Turtle Landscape Supplies and Cooks Plumbing, members of the Rotary Club of The Hills-Kellyville along with interested community members prepared the site and built the garden beds. The Community Open Day attracted quite a crowd and resulted in the first day of Gardening with keen gardeners registering for the 14 garden beds and starting the plantings. The official launch in May 2021 was our club’s project to mark Rotary’s 100th year in Australia