GERALDTON — Greenstone council has voted to turn an obsolete outdoor recreation facility into a community garden.
Earlier in June, council voted in favour of a recommendation from city staff to effectively decommission the unused tennis court behind the Geraldton Community Complex and convert the space to where fresh produce can be grown.
Greenstone mayor Jamie McPherson said it’s a pilot project at this point, saying “many people … look forward to eating healthy and we're going to provide that opportunity.”
“We want to ensure healthy people and two good things come out of it,” he continued. “You get something healthy to eat and you get outside taking care of that good thing that's going help you (eat) healthy.”
“We get a double win out of this.”
The garden will be a three-year trial.
A report by city staff said the court was last set up for tennis in 2019, “however, no usage was observed.” The report also noted at least just over a half-million dollars in repairs needed to reopen the space for tennis, including resurfacing, repairing fencing, removal of old light poles and replacing netting, racquets and balls.
Comparatively, administration said setting up the garden, which would initially consist of 24 above-ground beds, would see a year-one cost of just over $52,000. That would include the cost of the beds, running a new underground water line to the space from the community complex, completing some of the lesser property repairs and various other startup tasks, like building a shed, installing an accessible picnic table, and buying equipment, gardening supplies and tarps.
The report said that year-one cost has already been budgeted for, with costs in years two and three estimated at $2,000 for things like buying new soil and fertilizers, minor repairs and any needed new tools.
“All costs for the garden over the three-year pilot program have been budgeted within the approved community services deferred revenues,” the staff report said.
The three-year plan involves constructing the space in 2025, opening the garden to the public in 2026 and fully evaluating the program in 2027.
McPherson said the move made sense, given how little the court was being used for sport.
“Tennis in many of our northern communities is struggling,” McPherson said. “Pickleball has taken over — pickleball indoors.”
-With files from Justin Hardy.
