More community gardens coming to Barrie this year

Barrie is getting three new community gardens this year at Riverwood Park, Lampman Lane Park and Batteaux Park.

Virtual public information meetings were held for each garden concept to collect public feedback last January and February.

“No key issues have been identified that would prevent the installations of this community amenity,” Wendy Loevenmark, Barrie’s landscape architectural planner, said in a May 10 memo to city council. “The majority of survey respondents were in favour of the proposals and community gardens in the city have been very successful additions to community parks.

“Community gardens are considered a desirable park amenity in response to intensification, food security and social equality," she added.

Barrie’s general manager of infrastructure and growth management has delegated authority to approve the new community gardens.

Those who attended the public information meetings, and everyone who submitted feedback and provided an e-mail address, will be notified by e-mail of the outcome of the approvals process. The community garden program web page and buildingbarrie.ca will be updated to indicate the garden proposals have been approved.

The city defines community gardens as outdoor spaces on designated public lands where Barrie residents meet to grow and care for vegetables and flowers, and where the gardeners pay a small annual fee to the city to register and rent their own plot and take initiative and responsibility for organizing, maintaining and managing the garden area. Each community garden location has one person who acts as garden co-ordinator to be the main contact person with the city.

Riverwood Park is located on Kozlov Street and its community garden will result from the closure and transfer of the existing Sunnidale Park garden, also in Ward 4. Lampman Lane Park is on Ward 5’s Lampman Lane and Batteaux Park is in Ward 6 on Mapleton Avenue.

Barrie also has community gardens in Shear Park on Holgate Street, at Golden Meadow Park on Hurst Drive and in Eastview Community Park on Grove Street. The Sunnidale Park community garden is located at the Coulter Street curve.

The Urban Pantry, in partnership with the Simcoe Muskoka District Health Unit, secured Trillium Grant funding in 2020 and submitted proposals to open community gardens at Riverwood Park, Lampman Lane Park and Batteaux Park.

The Urban Pantry will construct the three gardens in accordance with Ontario’s COVID-19 pandemic emergency orders and protocols. The province recognizes community gardens as essential services and permits municipalities to operate them during 2020 under COVID-19 protocols.

City staff will continue to monitor direction from the province and the Simcoe Muskoka District Health Unit about the operation of municipal community gardens this year.