Friends of Royal Park are now a year old, and have been busy negotiating the future of Buninyong's old football oval with Ballarat City Council. Our aim is to ensure that this area is properly maintained and is developed for the future needs of the Buninyong community.
We have conducted several surveys amongst Buninyong residents, and held information stalls at local events (Gold King Festival, Farmers Markets etc.), seeking feedback.
We have had some great responses, and our long term vision of a sustainability education centre for Regional Victoria is still our main goal, and attracted very positive and enthusiastic support.
We envisage that part of the proposed sustainability centre would be the development of a 'community garden' which would aim to educate and act as a community learning hub for Buninyong residents, including individuals and groups.
There are many benefits of community gardens - social gatherings, education, health, food production etc. Community gardens can incorporate 'shared gardens' , educational gardens (schools etc), group-run gardens ( local clubs etc),or individual plots. They can also include meeting 'hubs' (BBQ areas etc). (Ref: www.communitygarden.org.au).
We see the establishment of a community garden as the first stage of our plans - but we need your support and involvement. We cannot create a community garden without gardeners! You don't need to be an expert - just bring your enthusiasm and willingness to join in a community project!
The future of Royal Park is in your hands.
If you were unable to attend the meeting on the 16th of July, please contact us if you want to be involved and make these ideas become a reality!