Why not get to know your neighbours while also helping to green our city?
Wollongong City Council are offering grants to help build neighbourhood connections by sharing and fostering a verge garden.
Applications are open for Council’s Connecting Neighbours Verge Garden Grants which are offering 20 one-off $250 vouchers to help neighbourhoods beautify the Council-owned land between homes and the street.
The Greenplan vouchers will allow successful applicants to buy plants from Wollongong Botanic Garden’s nursery for their project.
“This initiative is a great way to be outdoors enjoying some fresh air and giving back to the environment as well as sharing meaningful conversations with your neighbours,” Wollongong City Council Manager Open Space and Environmental Services (Acting) Paul Tracey said.
This is the second round of verge garden grants following the successful pilot program in 2020. It aims to achieve key goals laid out in Council’s Our Wollongong 2028 community strategic plan to value and protect our environment and connect with our community.
“We’ve heard many stories from successful applicants who’ve benefited from these projects, such as how its sparked conversations with admirers walking by and the satisfaction of shaping a liveable and green city,” Mr Tracey said.
The vouchers have helped projects like replacing an overgrown verge with a native garden in Scarborough, a mixed verge garden to complement the street trees in Fairy Meadow and a refreshed front yard look in Mount Kembla.
Earlier this year, we spoke to two successful applicants from our latest grant round. You can read about how the grants helped them in our media release: ‘Wollongong locals fruitful vision for community verge gardens.’
“We’re particularly looking for projects that neighbours have planned together to beautify their street. These projects are something to be proud of and makes a difference in our city, so I encourage residents to work with their neighbours and apply today,” Mr Tracey said.
