Meeting with of TTK with KCDC staff and Green Gardener 10am Thursday 15 May 2008.

Home Garden Groups.

• Merran presented a mind map of a Proposal, showing purpose, participants, implementation, organization, finance, seed collection and publicity.
• Finance: KCDC pointed out the benefits of setting up as a trust or other formal entity, as this will make it easier to obtain funding. Various funding sources were discussed – the community board, the Health Obesity program, …?
• KCDC complementary planting on council land was discussed. The council is very open to suggestion on such projects. Where community land is identified and a workable plan put forward, there are historical processes to enable the community taking it over for plantings of productive trees etc. See Chris Keenan, Parks and Reserves Manager.
• Mulch: We should contact arborists, who often have spare mulch looking for a home. Perhaps set up a distribution network.
• Workshops on preserving produce: using elder skills to teach city folks practical things like gardening, cooking and preserving. Council will support where possible.
• Older Persons Forum: Check their recent plan for sustainability.
• KCDC encourage TTK to network with existing groups. We should have a hui on local gardening and food production and invite all such groups. Could use Open space to identify champions. Set up email groups for neighbours. Write a column in the local papers.
• Schools: many have good gardens. Urban children have less contact with practical skills. Restorative justice could include garden work, which could continue as a credit system where youth can earn credits for 2nd hand computers etc.
• Council is willing to support grass-root initiatives. It can develop standardized resources around a module eg currently providing low energy light bulbs to a street in each district. It just needs a group to organize an achievable project and council will try to get alongside it.
• Note World Environment Day 5 June 2008: http://www.sustainability.govt.nz/wed/news/2008/world-environment-day-events-announced
  Summary of events in the Wellington region: Department of Conservation has a Project Titled: Weed Swap at Civic Square
  Funding: $2,341 Date: Saturday 7 June 2008

  Project description: Members of the public will bring in garden weeds and swap them for free native plants. People will swap one weed for one native plant per person. To encourage people to “Kick the Habit” anyone with a bike or a bus ticket will be given two free native plants per weed. Biodegradable bags will be provided for the plants and all weeds will be disposed of at a ‘green waste’ site.

• Final point: KCDC staff said that people that use a new low water distribution system in home gardens will be able to water without the water restrictions that apply to conventional hose and sprinkler systems.

Action Points:

• Organise a hui and use Open Space to energise the people with ideas to get various projects started.
• Investigate funding sources.
• Set up a mulch distribution network.