An Auckland community garden has been ordered to leave the Mt Albert land it has occupied for 15 years, bringing to an end a prolonged legal battle over a site earmarked for a major housing development.
According to a report by Stuff, the Sanctuary Mahi Whenua Gardens, located on the former Unitec campus, received a notice from the Ministry for Cities, Environment, Regions and Transport (MCERT) on June 30 directing the group to vacate the 0.7-hectare site by July 31.
The land is part of a wider Crown-led development planned to deliver about 500 apartments on the specific site and 4500 homes across the former Unitec campus over the next 10 to 15 years. The development is being led by three rōpū, Marutūāhu, Ngāti Whātua and Waiohua-Tāmaki, and facilitated by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Development, as reported by Stuff.
The gardens have operated on the land since 2011, while educational and community gardening activities have taken place there for nearly 30 years. The site was sold by Unitec to the Crown in 2018.
According to Stuff, the community group has spent the past 19 months challenging the use of the land for housing. In April, however, the incorporated society representing the gardens lost its final legal bid to prevent the development from proceeding.
In the notice, MCERT said the gardens’ “implied bare license” to use the land would be revoked on July 31 and that the group must remove all possessions, structures, equipment and plants by that date.
The ministry said the notice was intended to “give the [gardens] an opportunity to remove possessions, structures, equipment, and plants” within what it considered a “reasonable” timeframe.
Garden members have begun propagating plants and taking cuttings from trees and shrubs to be grown elsewhere. However, spokesperson Trevor Crosby said the short timeframe had been difficult for the community.
“It’s emotionally hard to suddenly say a community garden for the last 15 years is no longer there,” Crosby told Stuff on Monday.
Crosby said one of the group’s main concerns was the future of a 27-year-old food forest established on the site in 1999. The food forest contains a range of citrus and fruit trees and is regarded as one of Auckland’s oldest.
“That is the main part. We have passed on information to the parties that one of the firms that looks after specimen trees is interested in a few of the trees to be relocated elsewhere, but that’s out of our hands,” he said, as quoted by Stuff.
MCERT said it believed the notice period was appropriate and noted that enabling infrastructure works had already begun around the site.
A ministry spokesperson said on Monday that “works (enabling infrastructure for this land and adjacent parcels) had already started, with the Incorporated Society’s agreement,” Stuff has quoted.
The ministry also said it was responsible for ensuring the developers received “a clear title” to the land.
Crosby said the garden group had not yet secured a new location but was continuing to explore possible sites.
“We’ve been looking at various possibilities. It’s emotionally hard to try to do all these things in a rushed stage,” as quoted by Stuff.
The group has asked for an additional two days after the July 31 deadline to complete the move.
“We were told to leave by July 31, and that’s a Friday. We have asked for the Saturday and Sunday following, but we haven’t heard back. So we’re still waiting to hear that,” he said, as quoted by Stuff.
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