A Yarraville family given until Friday to remove planter boxes in front of their home is petitioning Maribyrnong council to change its nature strip policy.
Star Weekly reported last month that Rebecca Gray had been ordered to remove three planter boxes on the nature strip in front of her Hughes Street home as they contravened council guidelines.
Maribyrnong’s Naturestrip Landscape Policy & Guidelines limit the types of plants that can be grown, and state they are to be pruned to a height of no more than 50 centimetres.
Maribyrnong council planning services director Nigel Higgins told Star Weekly last month there was no plan to update the guidelines. He said edible plants could be grown directly on the nature strip, provided they complied with the guidelines.
Ms Gray last week received a letter from the council warning her that she has until this Friday to remove the boxes. She responded by launching an online petition that by Tuesday had attracted 220 signatures.
The petition calls on the council to review its policy on planter boxes to grow vegetables on nature strips. It refers to a 2013 council report which recommended the council consider nature strip planter boxes, after a successful trial in Footscray.
Ms Gray said the council was failing to keep up with the times and ignoring its own priorities, missing an opportunity to promote greater social engagement and improve food security.
“We are requesting Maribyrnong council review these local laws and provisions in favour of a more progressive environmental use of this common land,” she said.
The guidelines require residents to keep nature strips free of tripping hazards, to provide suitable space for bin collections and for people entering and exiting in cars.
