There has been much discussion about the Garden’s response to COVID-19 restrictions on social interaction and event planning. The committee has organised new guidelines for garden activities that will limit virus spread; aiming to keep our members safe and healthy, as well as ease the upcoming pressure on our health system by maintaining social distancing.
The most important thing to remember is to not be at the garden if you are unwell.
With the recent announcements from federal and state bodies in mind, we have updated guidelines for garden attendance and and activities. We have put these into place to ensure the continuation of care of the garden while face-to-face meeting of our community will be reduced.
Member Attendance and Roster
In line the with Federal Government's limits to indoor and outdoor gatherings
a maximum of 2 people from different households
are to be onsite at any time.
We ask you to consider your reason for visiting, and come only if you a have a specific task in mind.
In an aim to facilitate these guidelines a Google Calendar has been set up to coordinate visits, members are asked to book in their time slots at this link. Please have a read of the document attached for tips on how to use the calendar, the log in details are:
Account Name: bcggardenvisit@gmail.com
Password: Gardenvisit
Maintenance of Community Areas
When attending the garden you should aim to complete a community bed/area task, a list of which will be on the shed noticeboard. We need all members to contribute to garden maintenance without out working bees going ahead, even completing a small job is a great help.
Allocation of Essential Tasks
Important community tasks which need ongoing attention will be allocated to specific members via a roster system. These include jobs such as daily feeding the chickens, weekly cleaning of the chicken coop, and maintenance of compost and worm farms. Thank you to those who have volunteered to help with these jobs, their roles have been emailed to members.
Details of the chicken roster and other jobs will be updated on the shed noticeboard, please check this whilst at the garden if you would like to help out.
Garden Management Committee Meetings
Face to face meetings of the Committee will be cancelled until COVID-19 restrictions are lifted. Committee members will continue to remain in contact via email and phone, with important decisions communicated to general members via email.
New Members
We will not be accepting new members at this time. An update regarding membership turnover will be provided via email at the usual time of June/July. Private beds which are not currently in use will be turned over for community use.
Children
Until the state and federal governments relax their restrictions children under the age of twelve should only be onsite with their immediate family members. This is due to their risk of them presenting with asymptomatic infection.
Families are asked to book a time slot for attendance that does not overlap with others, and state that you will be bringing children in your booking.
We know that this a lot of information to take on board, and the guidelines above will have a great effect on how our community uses the garden. Please keep in mind that we have implemented these changes with an aim to keep all members healthy, to keep the garden operating as long as possible, and to uphold our social responsibility to slow virus spread.
We thank you for your understanding, please remember that these guidelines will be reviewed when once government restrictions change.
Although many of our members will no longer be meeting face to face we hope to still maintain a sense of community over the next few months. You can connect with us and other members through the Garden’s website blog, Facebook page, and Instagram (@balgowlahcommunitygarden).
Comments