PermaPatch Lane Cove’s local community garden is being forced to relocate after 10 years of establishing a beautiful sustainable community garden. The garden was tucked behind the Chatswood South Uniting Church on the corner of the Pacific Highway and Mowbray Road.
NSW Heritage Register
The church site is now being developed. The beautiful church is on the NSW Heritage Register. It’s considered to be of significance as it is a wonderful example of a rural church, graveyard and landscaped grounds indicative of the early rural settlement of Lane Cove in the 1870’s. It is the oldest remaining (the third built) Methodist church on Sydney’s North Shore, and the first church to be built in Lane Cove. The graveyard contains the remains of early pioneer families such as the Forsythe, Bryson and French families). It is also of aesthetic significance as a landmark on the Pacific Highway. It will have to be included in the developer’s plans. When In the Cove first published the land was being developed, so many of you mentioned your time at the Church and some of you even sent us your wedding photos.
Memories of PermaPatch
The PermaPatch garden grew fruit, vegetables and herbs. Families could visit and also see chickens, honey and fish. PermaPatch promoted composting, companion planting, animal husbandry, community, local action and sustainability. Last year, ITC visited one of their open days and ate pizza cooked in their oven with veggies from the garden.
Sadly, PermaPatch Community Gardens are unable to relocate by December 2017 and their gardens will be demolished by developers.
New Community Garden in Artarmon
Consequently, PermaPatch has kindly donated their Garden infrastructure to the Artarmon Community. It will take time for the Artarmon Community to develop the garden and in the meantime, the community garden infrastructure has to be stored. The best place to store the garden infrastructure is on the unused land adjacent to the upper bowling green at the Artarmon Bowling Club.
Sign the Petition
There is now a petition in place seeking the support of Willoughby Council for the storage of community garden infrastructure on the upper bowling green until the master plans for the surrounding land can be completed. You can sign the petition here.
Goodbye PermaPatch and thank you to all the volunteers who have worked tirelessly over the last 10 years to create a magical and vibrant area.
Community Gardens in Lane Cove
There is another community garden in Lane Cove located in Hughes Park. You can read about the Food Faith garden here. They would love to expand the garden.
If you already have some herbs or veggies growing in your garden, then you might want to participate in a Crop Swap. Lane Cove resident Laurie Green has established a crop swap programme and you can find out more about it here.
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