NEV project back on track

After briefly losing momentum, the North East Valley Community Development Project is back on track and quickly making progress, project workers say.

The North East Valley Community Development Project was established last year to identify ways to make the valley a better place to live for its residents.

After making initial headway - collecting feedback from valley residents, identifying areas of concern and formulating a valley-wide strategy for fostering community - the project lost traction, project worker Jan Hudson said.

"When Vicky [McDermott] and I finished with the project in December we knew the next stage was going to be about implementation and how to go about it successfully to help the programme keep going.

"It was evident that the project was a good thing but unfortunately it started losing momentum and we needed to get it back on track. When Melanie [McNatty] and Family Works Otago came on board in June, things started to pick up again," she said.

Projects under way in the valley so far include the formation of an education council to discuss transitions between educational facilities for children in the valley, the compilation of a "space-holders" database to link community groups with available spaces, the redevelopment of the valley's newsletter and the creation of a North East Valley website.

Project worker Melanie McNatty said future undertakings would include establishing working parties to improve the valley's physical environment, create more playgrounds and possibly plant fruit and nut trees on public land.

"One exciting idea which has emerged has been the possible establishment of a community garden, which we are working hard on at the moment," Ms McNatty said.

The proposed community garden will cater to families and work on an allotment and mentoring basis, where families would be allocated a plot of land to work for one year and would be mentored in gardening by community groups.

It was hoped funding could be sourced from groups interested in taking part in the scheme and the project could get started in the new year, she said.

North East Valley couple Alex and Valerie Parkinson have offered a section of land on Watts Rd to be used as a temporary community garden for interested families.

Mrs Parkinson said they wanted to see the land put to good use and wanted people to go as organic as possible.