date for guidelines discussion?
tamm...@gmail.com
discussion?
t
David Tracey
timing.
Ron Plowright
table for FF/CF at the premiere of Tableland),
Ron
Coordinator
Urban Aboriginal Community Kitchen Garden Project
Vancouver Native Health Society
449 East Hastings St.
Vancouver, BC
V6A 1P5
Tel: 604-254-9949
Fax: 604-254-9948
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11:10 AM
Brent Mansfield
Brent
Cylia Wong
-----Original Message-----
From: vancouver-com...@googlegroups.com [mailto:vancouver-com...@googlegroups.com]On Behalf Of Brent Mansfield
Sent: Thursday, November 29, 2007 7:26 PM
To: vancouver-com...@googlegroups.com
Subject: Re: date for guidelines discussion?
tammy toad
The significant problems we face cannot be solved at the same level of thinking we were at when we created them.
- Albert Einstein
Brent Mansfield
Cylia Wong
Cylia Wong
tammy toad
- Albert Einstein
David Tracey
i'm in.
david
On Dec 2, 6:51 pm, "tammy toad" <tammyt...@gmail.com> wrote:
> we are gonna have a good time tomorrow night!
>
> pizza and policy? this reeks of revolution!! ;)
>
> t
>
> On Dec 2, 2007 5:20 PM, Cylia Wong <cy...@telus.net> wrote:
>
>
>
> > Last call everyone. I am assuming that I am hosting this meeting at my
> > place tomorrow at 6 p.m. The snow (although very beautiful) is melting.
> > So far, only Brent and Tammy have confirmed their attendance. I will email
> > them individually with my address & directions.
>
> > On another matter I will be taking notes to bring forward to a City
> > consultation session on community garden policy in December and would like
> > your feedback or comments so please pass them along to me, especially if you
> > are not able to attend tomorrow's meeting. Thanks. cylia
>
> > -----Original Message-----
> > vancouver-com...@googlegroups.com]*On Behalf Of *Cylia Wong
> > *Sent:* Saturday, December 01, 2007 9:09 AM
> > *To:* vancouver-com...@googlegroups.com
> > *Subject:* RE: date for guidelines discussion?
> > Well that means 4 of us so far.
> > I have two cats so be forewarned there will be cat hair.
> > Others???
> > c
>
> > -----Original Message-----
> > vancouver-com...@googlegroups.com]*On Behalf Of *Brent
> > Mansfield
> > *Sent:* Friday, November 30, 2007 8:21 AM
> > *To:* vancouver-com...@googlegroups.com
> > *Subject:* Re: date for guidelines discussion?
> > I could be down for pizza too!
>
>
> > > pizza?! yum! im in!
>
> > > t
>
> > > On Nov 29, 2007 8:10 PM, Cylia Wong <cy...@telus.net> wrote:
>
> > > > Peter and I are available and can host the meeting at our place. We
> > > > live at 18th & Commercial Drive.
> > > > We could order pizza if the group wants to eat as well.
> > > > Cylia
>
> > > > -----Original Message-----
> > > > vancouver-com...@googlegroups.com]*On Behalf Of *Brent
> > > > Mansfield
> > > > *Sent:* Thursday, November 29, 2007 7:26 PM
> > > > *To:* vancouver-com...@googlegroups.com
> > > > *Subject:* Re: date for guidelines discussion?
> > > > I later looked in my agenda and I realized I had written down
> > > > December 3 at 6:00... are we still down for this? Works for me.
> > > > Brent
>
Ron Plowright
There was a discussion last night between myself and a woman that has
gardened at Cottonwood for a few years. We met at the premiere of a new
film called Tableland that y'all should check out. Anyhoo, she said that
community gardens get charged for water and it amounts to about half the
allotment plot fee for each plot-holder. Is this true? If it is, we oughta
advocate that the city starts to waive this charge for community gardens,
Ron
Coordinator
Urban Aboriginal Community Kitchen Garden Project
Vancouver Native Health Society
449 East Hastings St.
Vancouver, BC
V6A 1P5
Tel: 604-254-9949
Fax: 604-254-9948
-----Original Message-----
From: vancouver-com...@googlegroups.com
[mailto:vancouver-com...@googlegroups.com]On Behalf Of David
Tracey
Sent: Monday, December 03, 2007 6:06 AM
To: Vancouver Community Gardens
hi all,
i'm in.
david
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12:20 PM
tammy toad
urbanper...@gmail.com
i'm afraid i can't attend the meeting.
recently i attended the Food Policy Council's meeting at Cedar Cottage
Neighbourhood House, "Using the Vancouver Food Charter in Your
Neighbourhood".
the Council clarified the following:
The Council has been gathering information about food charters in
other jurisdictions. they are most impressed by Toronto's.
.2010 gardens by 2010: the number refers to individual plots and not
gardens themselves, and includes the following: backyard shared
gardens; plant-a-row/grow-a-row.
these gardens can be very temporary to be counted ie. space to garden
for only 1 year.
in order to participate in the initiative, people have to go to the
Food Policy Council's website and fill out an on-line request for a
garden plot.
as for the "operational Guidelines for Community Gardens on City Owned
Land other than City Parks" here are somethings that i felt need to be
flushed out:
community consultation process involving the City and non-profit
society. most times this is very grassroots and the individuals/
groups are not a non-profit society. potential barrier to starting a
garden.
.the garden site plan must be approved by City staff. includes: layout
of plots and proposed structures or fences.
.under specific terms: 5 year terms.
.longer terms are at the City's discression.
.community outreach programming beyond the Society's members
.long term plan.
.execute significant approved site improvements
.agreement can be terminated by the City upon 30 days written notice.
.allotment fees charged by Society must be reported to the City.
.garden practices shall comply with all City policies and by-laws.
the present policy seems too restrictive and very controlling in terms
of what a community garden can and cannot do, seems to me to take away
from the grassroots, spontaneous energy of a community garden and its
members.
sharon
Cylia Wong
minutes from our mtg yesterday, I will incorporate your comments into ours.
See my comments below.
Everyone else: please keep on sending me your comments. cylia
-----Original Message-----
From: vancouver-com...@googlegroups.com
[mailto:vancouver-com...@googlegroups.com]On Behalf Of
urbanper...@gmail.com
Sent: Monday, December 03, 2007 9:26 PM
To: vancouver-com...@googlegroups.com
Subject: Re: date for guidelines discussion?
hi folks,
i'm afraid i can't attend the meeting.
recently i attended the Food Policy Council's meeting at Cedar Cottage
Neighbourhood House, "Using the Vancouver Food Charter in Your
Neighbourhood".
the Council clarified the following:
The Council has been gathering information about food charters in
other jurisdictions. they are most impressed by Toronto's.
.2010 gardens by 2010: the number refers to individual plots and not
gardens themselves, and includes the following: backyard shared
gardens; plant-a-row/grow-a-row.
these gardens can be very temporary to be counted ie. space to garden
for only 1 year.
in order to participate in the initiative, people have to go to the
Food Policy Council's website and fill out an on-line request for a
garden plot.
Cylia says: good to know info. Thanks.
as for the "operational Guidelines for Community Gardens on City Owned
Land other than City Parks" here are somethings that i felt need to be
flushed out:
community consultation process involving the City and non-profit
society. most times this is very grassroots and the individuals/
groups are not a non-profit society. potential barrier to starting a
garden.
Cylia says: The others also wanted clarity as to what the consultation
process means exactly and questioned whether the non-profit society idea was
necessary. It does appear to be a barrier for many since it (a) involves a
lot of sustained effort through another level of government (b) is it really
necessary (c) can take up to six months to get approvals (d) knocks the
momentum out of people who want it now.
.the garden site plan must be approved by City staff. includes: layout
of plots and proposed structures or fences.
.under specific terms: 5 year terms.
.longer terms are at the City's discression.
.community outreach programming beyond the Society's members
.long term plan.
.execute significant approved site improvements
.agreement can be terminated by the City upon 30 days written notice.
.allotment fees charged by Society must be reported to the City.
.garden practices shall comply with all City policies and by-laws.
the present policy seems too restrictive and very controlling in terms
of what a community garden can and cannot do, seems to me to take away
from the grassroots, spontaneous energy of a community garden and its
members.
Cylia says: I can understand your points. The others are also questioning
the necessity of specific 5 year terms and notice periods. We don't see any
of the existing gardens going away now that they are established. We see the
need for more gardens to be created because at some point in our not so
distant future, every person in the city will need to be more sustainable
and "eat locally".
Cylia says: It does appear that the city has a need to control and regulate.
Not sure why? Some possible reasons would be to ensure that there is a
mechanism in place to to ensure that a community garden is still being
managed and that contact people still exist to be contacted, etc. It would
be good to ask the question though -- as to why so many rules and
regulations? We may not like the answer but at least we will know why.
sharon
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10:56 PM
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10:56 PM
urbanper...@gmail.com
it seems like the contencious issues have been raised.
i agree with your comments about planning for gardens in the future.
it would be great if we could have some policy like the agricultural
land reserve but in perpetuity, perhaps a lifetime covenant on gardens
and green spaces rather than the short term plan that the City is
proposing. i know in my neighbourhood community garden, now in its 7th
year not much was in place after five years but has now blossomed into
a mature garden creating a lively habitat for people and wildlife.
thanks again for compiling the guidelines and contact info.
sharon
Cylia Wong
"Operational Guidelines for Community Gardens on City Owned Land other than
City Parks" (a copy can be found on the City of Vancouver website, under
Social Policy, Food Policy, Community Gardens: Guidelines and Policies). The
only difference in the copy that we received at our last VUAN meeting is
that the website version has an extra clause "An ornamental perimeter garden
must be provided between the community garden and the street to create an
attractive buffer with the neighborhood."
Some discussion occurred in relation to the origin of community gardens,
ground up (from the public) or top down (from city planners). Vancouver
gardens have originated from the ground up, whereas this is not necessarily
the case in other cities. We also talked about how well other cities are
doing and agreed that Vancouver is faring much farther behind such urban
centers as Montreal and Toronto.
In general, we questioned the intent of the guidelines -- instead of making
it easy or encouraging gardeners to create more gardens, the guidelines
outline a lengthy process. Our group questioned the necessity and what the
following requirements meant:
· Why does a garden need to be run via a non-profit society?
· 1 (b): how large does the group have to be to qualify under this clause?
· 1 (b) and (c): define what "assisting" means, for example, unclear as to
what steps the city has taken to date, what steps they are planning to take,
who within the city is responsible for taking action, where is this
organization, etc?
· 2: what is the exact time frame in which approvals should take?
· 2a: why are community gardeners being billed for water when the city is
already watering other city property?
· 2b: define what "community consultation process" is, for example,
criteria, need clarity, what does this look like, etc?
· 2(d)(i) why are there lease terms, why can't it be rezoned for
agricultural use indefinitely?
· 2(d)(viii) what are the maintenance standards? explain what this means,
who checks to determine that they are being maintained, what happens if they
are not being maintained, is there a complaint process?
People who want to cultivate a piece of land generally do not want to (nor
have the know how) go through a huge bureaucratic process with various
levels of government, then have to steer through a community consultations
process, with the possibility of having their garden bulldozed with 30 days’
notice. What incentive is that, all they want to do is garden!
Various ideas on an umbrella organization were suggested. Our preference
includes the following criteria: city sponsored and/or funded or
self-funded, community driven, autonomous, could be steered by a board of
directors, membership owned, non-profit, co-op, established gardens could
join up to benefit through bulk buying, etc. Separate from political
influence or change in city leadership.
December 3, 2007
Summarized by Cylia T. Wong
sharon
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5:05 PM
Cylia Wong
"us", I welcome your feedback and input to modify the report. cylia
Peter Finch
With very little revision, I think this document could be presented to the 'powers that be."
> To: vancouver-com...@googlegroups.com
> Subject: December 3 Guidelines Input
laurinemelenka
Hi all,
I haven’t been there for any of this due to work and other commitments but I’m sure impressed. I’ll be back when time permits. I miss you all. Happy Holidays and all that good stuff. LaurieJ
> </html
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