The Jill Gibbs Neighbourhood Garden in Sunbury will be hard to miss, with the organisers unveiling an eye-catching new sign funded by a local grants program.
Celebrated with a community barbecue on Friday, April 4, the colourful sign was funded through a grant from Sunbury Connected Communities and draws attention to the plot on parish land on Riddells Road.
Garden co-ordinator Jozef Wiegerink said that the new sign was much-needed, with the previous sign degrading due to weather exposure.
The idea for the shared garden formed back in 2009, when members of the Catholic Parish of Sunbury were inspired by an television program discussing how to set up a neighbourhood garden next to a parish church.
The garden is named in honour of Jill Gibbs, who was instrumental in presenting the neighbourhood program to the parish and gave permission to the group to name the garden after her before she died.
It consists of 51 three-by-10 metre plots that can be rented for $42 per year, with most of that going towards the water bills.
“It’s about building community and getting people out of the four walls … and doing something physical, for their diet,” Mr Wiegerink said.
“The garden has filled an itch for some of its members in so far as some great friendships have developed because of people meeting … and the [chemistry has] just been right … they’ve formed great friendships,” he said.
“If you want to get outside and get involved in something that’s physical but very rewarding, then gardening for your own table is a great activity to be involved in – and we’d make you very welcome if you were interested.”
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