Page 2905 - Week 08 - Tuesday, 14 August 2018
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maintaining an organic garden full of flowering trees and plants, the commons is also helping to support our local bee population. I know that members are well aware of the importance of bees.
The Lyneham Commons also adds to Canberra’s famously successful urban forest. The trees on our streets, in our parks and in our private and public gardens all contribute to our city’s atmosphere and beauty. Trees mitigate the heat island effect and provide shady spaces for the community to gather during our scorching Canberra summer.
Much of our existing urban forest already produces food; collecting plums from street trees is an annual tradition in some Canberra suburbs. At the commons, the natives planted between the fruit and nut trees offer windbreaks and help to balance soil nutrients. The Lyneham Commons is taking these staples of Canberra life and using them as a tool to promote a positive message of sustainability and to help build connections in the community.
This connectedness and inclusion of our community is of enormous importance, especially among groups that are known to experience social isolation, such as older Canberrans and people with disabilities. Many Canberrans owe their health, their mental health and their quality of life to the support and connection offered by the inclusive and active community around them. When communities come together with a common goal, be it through a community garden, a walking group or even a monthly coffee catch-up, it naturally provides an additional avenue of social support.
It is wonderful to see this little corner of Lyneham being used so productively. It is a spot I walked past pretty much every day as a teenager when walking between Lyneham high and the shops or walking the dog along the bikepath. I hope that the example set by the Lyneham Commons and by the many other community initiatives across our city inspires more Canberrans to find ways to build spaces and activities that are inclusive, sustainable and community minded.
Hackett—tuckerbox
MISS C BURCH (Kurrajong) (5.56): I rise this evening to talk about the wonderful work being done by one of Kurrajong’s local community groups—the tuckerbox at Holy Cross Anglican Church in Hackett. The tuckerbox is a food service designed to help Canberrans who are struggling to make ends meet. It gives them access to high quality, nutritious groceries, including an abundance of fresh fruit and vegetables.
The tuckerbox was started by Holy Cross Anglican Church to address an urgent community need for access to low cost fresh food. Pensioners, people living with disabilities and families who are doing it tough are among the members of tuckerbox. Each week the friendly team of volunteers make sure that members have access to a wide range and variety of goods to meet their needs.
Every Thursday Kirsty and her incredibly dedicated and hard-working team of volunteers receive up to three tonnes of groceries from Foodbank New South Wales and ACT. The team gets everything unpacked and stored away ready for the weekend.
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