Green day
A popular laneway will be turned into an official community garden space after locals banded together to prevent the green space being destroyed. The laneway, between Underwood and Dudley streets (behind the London Hotel), had sprung up as a greenway decorated by residents with potted plants and statues.
But the space was jeopardised in May after a removalist working for a resident complained the plants made it difficult for him to access a residence, and a council ranger decreed an order to remove the garden space, including all its plants.
“The garden began after one of my neighbours would find rubbish dumped in the laneway, which got to be a real problem,” says resident Petra O’Neill, who campaigned to save the space. “It became almost a weekly dump. Bins were left out during the week and they got to overflowing by week’s end. So, we came up with the idea of planting a garden.
“We thought if it became a beautiful place to walk through, then maybe the garbage dumping would stop, and it did.
"During COVID it took on a different purpose, unintentionally, which was to become a community space. One of my neighbours plays the violin, and I’d be gardening and would hear his beautiful music, and neighbours would walk by and say words in passing. And after the Cook’s Paddock playground was upgraded, children would walk along the laneway and talk about the plants.
“Then I added statues, and the children talk to them as they walk by. So it’s become a space for neighbours to stop for a chat. And being in the laneway among the plants, gives me and others a sense of calm at challenging times, and a feeling of doing something good for others to enjoy.”
O’Neill says the community was dismayed when the council ranger ordered the destruction of the space on the grounds of it being hazardous to movement. The order gave residents three days to remove items behind their houses or risk fines. Residents immediately went to Woollahra Council asking for a reprieve. Happily for them, the council was receptive to the idea of turning the lane into a designated greenway.
“Woollahra Council recognises community gardening as a valuable recreational activity that contributes to health and wellbeing, positive social interaction, environmental education and sustainability principles,” a council spokesman says.
“We support the development of community gardens where available land exists, in locations that do not impede public access and safety and when it can be demonstrated neighbours are supportive of the initiative.”
After an application process, the laneway garden was approved this month and the garden spared. The garden may well develop into one of the neighbourhood’s most-loved areas, similar to Hayden Ln, Potts Point, where a derelict alley was turned into a gorgeous green space much-loved by that neighbourhood.