Council & Business
7 October, 2025
Maryborough Community Garden find possible home in “eyesore” land
The local community group may have found a new home but doubt lingers over how long that'll be true.
A seed of doubt has been planted in Maryborough Community Garden’s future despite finding a new home, but not a forever home, behind Maryborough’s Mill House.
During September’s council meeting, Central Goldfields Shire Council voted to allow Maryborough Community Garden to move to a derelict council-owned block.
According to the motion, the community group has made clear that the disused site at the rear of 53 Burns Street, commonly known as the MKM site, was their preferred choice.
An alternative option at California Gully was explored by council but was considered “unsuitable” by the group.
The MKM site’s higher visibility, better access, and more effective community partnerships with nearby organisations like Mill House were all cited as benefits of the site.
Maryborough Community Garden has been stuck in limbo since 2023 when they had to move from the rear of Mill House to the yard of one of their members.
They’ve been working with council in the years since to find a more permanent solution.
“It’s essential that we find a new place because we’re all older and we’re running out of energy — we hope this is the last time we move,” Maryborough Community Garden’s Margaret Parsons said at the time.
However, celebrations weren’t forthcoming, with a theme of uncertainty underscoring many councillor’s comments.
That’s because the resolution came with caveats that could see the community group moved in years to come.
Despite being offered a long-term lease of nine years, subject to planning approval, the community group could be moved on with six months notice if council decides a project of “higher community benefit” should go on the site.
It meant that councillor Ben Green, although in agreement with the overall concept, disagreed with the wording of the motion.
“Higher community benefit is a very subjective aim, it’s a noble aim, but it’s subjective. It’s just too vague for me to agree to at this current stage,” he said.
Joining him in voting against was mayor Grace La Vella, who believed the decision “may expose council to unintended consequences” despite legal advice having already been sought by council.
“It is essential that our decisions are legally sound, strategically aligned, and reflective of our duty to act in the best interests of the community as a whole,” she said.
Despite their concerns, the other five councillors voted in favour, passing the motion.
Amongst them was councillor Liesbeth Long, who emphasised that the Maryborough Community Garden needed to understand the move may not be forever.
“It’s a very prime piece of land that council owns and there may be better uses for that,” she said.
However, Cr Long also said she’d seen community gardens in Europe that were almost “utopian” for their communities.
“Just to see these families at night tending to their veggies, it was just amazing, and I thought how wonderful would that be if a derelict piece of land at the moment be turned into something like that,” she said.
That’s the vision that councillor Gerard Murphy seemed to see in the site which, he said, hasn’t been used in over 20 years.
“The Maryborough Community Garden will maintain the upkeep of the site and provide a garden for the whole community to be proud of,” he said.
It’s a level of care, councillor Geoff Bartlett said, council hasn’t given the land.
“We as a council actually haven’t maintained it in a spick and span manner,” he said.
“It’s been an eyesore for years.”
Cr Murphy said the project was a chance for councillors to “make a difference”.
“A councillor is elected by the community, for the community, to support the community,” he said.
“If we don’t do it, when do we do it? When do we do things like this for the community?”