Another dispute about a verge garden

We have council elections in 6 weeks. So, it’s no surprise to see a verge garden dispute this week.

Verge gardens are inherently political. They are contested spaces, our local commons, public land maintained by residents.

There are three ways to deal with this:

1. Be very restrictive - maintaining the status quo with grass only.

2. Use it as a battleground to push your agenda.

3. Use it as a space for everyone to learn about competing and diverse needs and find collaborative solutions that benefit all.

The third option is the basis of The Shady Lanes Project.

I’ve studied verge disputes in different council areas and in different states. They follow a predictable pattern.

1. Resident plants on their verge without understanding the complexity of the space and either doesn’t understand, or doesn’t know or care about the council policy

2. There’s a complaint to the council

3. Council approaches the resident with a view to working with them to get a compliant verge garden

4. Resident is outraged and sees themselves as the well-meaning victim

5. The story gets on social media (and sometimes real media) with emotive stories of poor resident, nasty council, nasty whoever it was that complained

6. Keyboard warriors take the resident’s side. No context, no fact-checking.

7. Goodwill and trust is lost. Relationships in the community are harmed. Myths about the dispute continue.

Step 3 is the point where it either becomes a learning experience where everyone wins or it snowballs into a dramatic dispute where everyone loses.

Step 4 is where the politics and competing views become more visible.

I live in the Brisbane City Council (BCC) region.

Although BCC has an excellent verge garden policy, it is not well known and is not supported or promoted by the two major parties. That has allowed the Greens to set the agenda and make verge gardens an increasingly partisan issue.

We have council elections in 6 weeks. It’s no surprise to see a verge garden dispute this week being stoked by a mayoral candidate.

Lost Opportunity

Verge gardens in this city add up to a significant amount of land.  I wrote about them in this article.

Big Bold Plans

On a conservative estimate, if half the residents planted an average of just 20sqm (or 1 in 4 planted 40sqm) that would work out to 500 hectares.   

We can only do that with residents and council working together. The councillors who operate between the council organisation and residents could help to promote the policy while also helping residents understand the reasons for restrictions when planting in this space.

We are missing out on a fast, affordable way to help increase Brisbane's shade to tackle urban heat and to increase biodiversity - all because it has been allowed to become a political football between the LNP and the Greens.

Responsible verge gardeners come from across the political spectrum.

We need to take this topic back and discuss it in a non-partisan way that builds community, not divides them.

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