Community Garden in Oaklands

Oswald Park Community Garden: APPROVED! 

We believe that the garden plan attached has a strong community focus and will provide amenities that all park users can benefit from. The northeast entry to the garden provides gathering spaces, community message boards, and educational signage near the entry, as well as a seed exchange library! Common gardening areas, including fruit trees and berry patches, are focused near the perimeter of the garden and are accessible from existing public pathways. Internal pathways have been  carefully considered to provide shortcuts through the space and encourage public access. Much of the garden will be protected by deer fencing. All gates will be unlocked and are intended to be welcoming and  decorative. The gardens will also allow the OCA to offer expanded programming in Oswald Park. It is envisioned that educational gardening programs will be offered to both adults and kids once the garden is up and running.
 

In response to community concerns regarding parking in this area, we have made some recommendations/requests to improve parking options in surrounding areas - including limiting the time that users may park in the parking lot and reserving a portion of allotment beds for gardeners who have committed to not driving to the park. The City has agreed to install an additional bike rack near the community garden and is reviewing our request to limit parking time. OCA strongly encourages  active transportation for all garden users but is mindful not to exclude community members who need or choose to drive.
 

  We require your support and help as we move into Phase 2: Construction!
If you’d like to volunteer for the Oswald Park Community Garden construction phase, please contact us at
 

Phone: 250-370-9101 ext. 0

Email: reception@oaklandsca.com 

City of Victoria Parks Department: parks@victoria.ca 

The City of Victoria is committed to “increase food production on public land including increasing community gardens in all neighbourhoods in the city, and building urban food systems into our parks operations”, and this goal appears in the City’s current Strategic Plan (Strategic Objective #5: Health, Well-Being and a Welcoming City, pg. 20). As part of the City’s ongoing community gardening initiative, the Oakland Community Association has secured funding to build a community garden in our neighbourhood. 

For more information on the process of initiating a community garden, and the City of Victoria’s requirements and regulations please visit “Building a Community Garden on City Land.”  The OCA greatly appreciates the support and expertise of the City of Victoria staff during our planning process.  Community surveys and early visioning exercises to date have helped our group form the following vision of a community garden in Oaklands:

The vision for a community garden in Oaklands is a garden that includes both common garden areas and 20-30 individual allotment gardens. Allotment gardens would be raised beds gardens that would be rented and maintained by individuals. There would be a percentage of wheelchair accessible beds. The common garden would have a native and pollinator plants and edible perennials (ie. berry bushes and small fruit trees) with educational signage so that people strolling through the park could stop to nibble on berries, cut a sprig of herbs for their dinner, and perhaps gather some flowers for their table. We envision flower-lined entryways and paths, a wheelchair-accessible main path and beds. We would also like to incorporate a teaching area that could be used by local schools, colleges, and community groups. The gardens would have deer fencing with unlocked gates, and would be designed with open sightlines to ensure public safety. The garden would not impact the use of the existing basketball court or the walking paths. It would however, require the relocation of the volleyball polls. We are working with the City to determine a good location for the volleyball posts to be relocated to. 

See the August 5, 2019 article by Vic News about a potential community garden in Oaklands!

See the January 19, 2020 follow up article by Vic News about our workshop and upcoming proposal. 

 1. What is the current status of the Oaklands Neighbourhood Community Garden plan?

The Oswald Park Community Garden has been approved by the City Council. We are moving towards the construction phase and need volunteer support!

2. Who would operate the Oaklands Neighbourhood Community Garden?

The Oaklands Community Association would operate this community garden. Volunteer Coordinator Grants are available from the City of Victoria, for community gardens that are in compliance the City’s Community Garden Policy.

3. How will the shortage of parking be addressed in the design?

We have heard from local residents and park users that parking is in short supply at Oswald Park. There are several actions we are taking to limit the garden's potential impact on parking at Oswald Park. These are:

- Designate the majority of the allotment beds "car free" and include in the Policy and Procedures that gardeners do not park in residential only parking areas. 

-  Request that the Transportation Department investigate introducing a time limit to the Oswald Road parking lot for non-residential vehicles. 

- Request the City Install a bicycle rack at the north end of Oswald Park. 

- Request that the Transportation Department designate a wheelchair accessible parking space. 

4. Will the Garden be fenced?

 Based on the current design, the majority of the garden space will be within a City approved deer fence. There will be four unlocked gates as well as two gathering spaces outside of the garden space. 

5. How will the garden affect current park use?

The community garden will not affect the off leash dog area, playground, multi-sport trail and pathways, or the hockey/basketball court. We have requested that the City investigate swapping the basketball hoop to the south end of the court. We have also requested that the City find a new location nearby or in Oswald Park for the existing volleyball posts. 

6. Who could use the Oaklands Neighbourhood Community Garden?

The community garden can include both common garden areas and allotment garden areas. All community members will be welcome to use common areas. Allotment garden areas would be rented to individuals, in accordance with the City of Victoria’s User Agreement policy for Community Gardens.

7. What are the next steps and how can I get involved in the project?

Provide your feedback on the proposed community garden by calling 250-370-9101 ext. 4, or via email at community@oaklandsca.com.