Petition launched after compliance probe threatens Bondi verge garden

A nature strip garden loved by the community in an inner Sydney suburb has come under a compliance probe as part of a council red tape crackdown over the size and variety of plants permitted on local streets.

A nature strip garden loved by the community in an inner Sydney suburb has come under scrutiny in a council red tape crackdown over the size and variety of plants permitted on local streets.

For more than a decade, Bettina Orellana has been tending to a verge garden outside her Bondi Junction home – transforming a once baron patch of land into a blossoming urban oasis.

The garden has an array of plants and vegetables, as well as worm farms, composting areas, banana and avocado trees.

As the gardens have grown over time, so has local interest in it with many residents making specific trips to the garden to enjoy the slice of green space.

But the future of the garden has also come under the attention of compliance officers from Waverley Council over concerns some of the plants were not unauthorised under council rules.

The verge garden.

Ms Orellana said she was told by the council that some of the plants were not permitted under the council’s ‘verge garden guidelines’ and had to be removed.

News of the potential loss of the garden quickly spread in the community and prompted intervention from local Mayor Paula Masselos in order to save the garden.

Ms Orellana, however, says she’s now been told that she is only permitted to plant a specific number of plants and is unable to grow any new varieties that do not fall within a list of authorised plants outlined in the guidelines.

The garden is located in densely populated Bondi Junction.

“Everyone in the community loves the garden – especially in the inner city where not everyone has one - they’re a great way to have that bit of green space in an urban environment,” she said.

“Before I started this guerrilla planting, it was a wasteland because we’re on the edge of the bus depot and rubbish was regularly dropped there.

“Now there are so many plants growing and people make specific trips to come to the garden – in my view we should be encouraging ways of connecting with the community, not discouraging them.”

The council’s eight-page verge garden guidelines include rules for the positioning of plants to allow for pedestrian access, limits for the maximum height of trees and planter boxes, as well as a recommended list of permitted plants.

Other residents in similar situations have put their name to a petition calling for the council to provide homeowners with more flexibility.

The issue was tabled at a recent Bondi community meeting which heard there has been “confusion and distress for many residents” over the council rules.

A council spokesman said Waverley Council has a public gardening policy which is in place to help foster community relationships through gardening and that the “council encourages the community to work together for the enjoyment of all through shared use of the natural environment.”

Ms Masselos said the council has been working to find a solution to simplify the verge guidelines.

“There are also requirements in place to make sure the verge gardens are looked after and kept under control but on the whole I think most people see them as an extension of the front yard and it helps to beautify the area,” she said.

“They’re much nicer than having bare patches of earth or grass.”

Other Sydney councils also have strict rules for the planting of verge gardens including Inner West Council which has strict requirements for the height and variety of plants and does not allow plants that drop fruit.