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NORTHEY STREET CITY FARM
Northey Street City Farm (NSCF) is a 4ha urban farm located 12km from Brisbane CBD. Despite not being related to any residential use, the project has had positive impacts on the neighbourhood and city scale. These impacts include the generation of volunteer jobs, food production, and organic markets, as well as a role for the community as an educational centre promoting sustainable practices. Running since 1994, NSCF developed as a community project, welcoming visitors, students and volunteers.
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The installations of the Farm include a kitchen area (the main gathering place of the community) (see Figure 13), a Nursery, an office building and public bathrooms - all designed under sustainable principles. The area is set out as per permaculture principles, generating food to feed the volunteers, and provide products to sell during the adjacent markets on Sundays. NSCF also performs as a cultural events and community centre; organising celebrations and community gatherings
Figure 14 - Location Northey Street City Farm, Brisbane
Figure 15 – NSCF Aerial View
COMMUNITY-BASED PLANNING PROCESS
During a Rural Market organised by the City Council 17 years ago, a group of citizens participating in one of the workshops agreed to work together to develop an urban farm project in Brisbane. After a long period of searching for a site the local Council offered a 4ha flood land lot. This site, which had been previously developed, is located next to Enoggera Creek, north of the city (see Figure 9).
As a strategy to apply for local grants, the group decided to establish themselves as a legal Corporation. The process to define their community statues was developed following a flat organisational structure, encouraging community participation. The final idea of this group was:
Based on this aim, the original community-based organizational structure remains until today; residents and volunteers are involved periodically in decision-making meetings that take place under a mango tree after mornings work in the farm. These meetings help to developed capacity building and trust between members.
The close relationship and partnership between the corporation and Brisbane City Council (BCC) meant the NSCF was favoured in applications for grants, resulting in diversifying of activities in NSCF. One of the more significative outcomes was the modifica-tion of the local regulatory framework, recognising urban farms as an alternative land use activity inside the city. As a consequence of this, the lease between BCC and NSCF was formalised, allowing NSCF to diversify its economic strategies celebrating weekly organic markets and promoting social enterprise projects (Village Life). Another benefit of this partnership has been the possibility to develop governmental social programs within the farm. Activities such as “Planting for Pizzas” and “The Green Army” have provide recreational and payed opportunities for local citizens, while increasing human resources associated with maintenance activities in the farm.
After 12 years the corporation has grown enough to provide employment for 6 people on part-time bases, beside casual appointments. Currently the organization of the Farm is managed under planning groups, including an Operations Coordinator who is also in charge of applying for external grants.
As declared by one of the founders, the secret of the success has been keeping the project loyal to its original objectives. However, interviewers identified difficulties on the process. According to the Operations Coordinator of NSCF:
Time, social capital and consensus are required to achieve agreement. In order to improve these dynamics decision-making workshops are planned to be implemented between members and key volunteers in the short-term.
Figure 17 - Kitchen and community area
