If you are interested in community gardening, the best first step (even if you're thinking of starting a new garden), is to get involved with an established community garden.
Council's Community Gardens Policy provides the framework for Council to support community gardens. This document can be read in conjunction with the Community Gardens Guidelines.
- Inner West Community Gardens Policy (PDF, 1.04MB)
- Inner West Community Gardens Guidelines (PDF, 16.99MB)
For more information about community gardening, contact Council’s Senior Environment Officer Niki Huang via email: niki.huang@innerwest.nsw.gov.au
Working Safely and Keeping Cool in the Inner West
Learn how to recognise the signs and symptoms of heat-related illness and get more important tips and information on the NSW Government Beat the Heat Page.
Find a community garden
Urban Soil Safety
Inner West Council supports community gardening, balanced with a need for community safety. One way to avoid the risk of having contact with contaminated soil is to use raised garden beds when growing food plants.
Common contaminants in the Inner West include heavy metals such as lead (usually from paints and leaded fuel use) and hydrocarbons (usually from petrols and imported soil that may contain burnt material – a very common practice in the past) among others. What is a park now may have been a petrol station, industrial site or waste incinerator in the past.
To stay safe, treat all soil as if it is contaminated and plan your garden and activities to avoid contact with it. This will help protect you, your family, and other community gardeners.
For the home gardener, the NSW government's "Stay Safe from Lingering Lead" resources include videos and fact sheets with tips on how to minimise your exposure to lead while gardening.
- Grow food in raised garden beds with clean soil
- Always use gloves
- Wash your hands immediately after handling soil
- Mulch, plant, pave or turf exposed soil