Severe 'prune' for community garden

Mat Pember, director of Pop Up Patch, a
community garden
behind Federation Square faced with closure.

A thriving community garden at Federation Square used by CBD residents, chefs and students is facing closure, with square management calling for expressions of interest for the site.

Potatoes, strawberries, lemons, chillis, cabbages and rosemary flourish in 100 planter boxes at Pop Up Patch, a green oasis behind the square between Flinders Street skyscrapers and railway lines.

Mat Pember, whose the Little Vegie Patch Co runs the garden at a small profit – charging $25 a week per box – fears the four-year-old garden will be "cut down in its prime", in favour of a more lucrative helipad or car park.

Read Carolyn Webb’s story in today’s Melbourne Age - “Future of thriving CBD community garden under a cloud.”

(Yes, the last thing Melbourne needs is more parking spaces or even a “heliport”; rather, what it really needs is more community gardens such as this one at Federation Square that look likely to be sacrificed to profit – Robert McLean.)