Community garden will soon surround Tailem Bend station master’s house
Two grants worth $56,000 will help Tailem Bend Community Centre start to transform a long-abandoned building.
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The seeds will soon be sown for the transformation of a long-abandoned building in the heart of Tailem Bend.
Tailem Bend Community Centre has been granted a 21-year lease over the old station master’s house at 136 Railway Terrace.
In the near future, coordinator Tammy Shepherd and her team plan to use its grounds for a community garden, growing food for local people who need it.
State Human Services Minister Nat Cook visited on Friday to hand over the funds the centre will need to get things started.
Two grants, worth $56,000, will buy rainwater tanks, concrete garden beds and fencing.
Once they are installed, the centre will introduce a produce-sharing program which will direct the garden’s fruit and vegetables to people in need, helping to address the food security crisis many Murraylands households were experiencing.
Workshops and cooking classes will allow people to enjoy some time in the garden, creating social connections and contributing to their wellbeing; and making fresh food freely available will improve people’s physical health, too.
The need for nutritious food had been clearly demonstrated, the centre said in one of its grant applications.
During just six months last year, in partnership with charity Second Bite, the centre distributed:
- 6437 kilograms of bread
- 551kg of vegetables
- 13kg of fruit
Ms Cook congratulated the community centre’s staff and volunteers for their vision, and for setting an example centres around South Australia would do well to follow.
“We’re very excited that, in future, you’ll have much better opportunities in Tailem Bend to support your community,” she said.
In the long term, the centre would love to be able to make use of the property to promote local food producers more generally, or to benefit the community in other ways.
But for now, a few green shoots will be a good start.
