Kyabram Free Press

Coffee anyone?

- By Dylan Brown

Gargarro Gardens’ Green Thumbs Café will be open for business by August.

The café has been funded by an $814,000 grant from the Federal Department of Agricultur­e, Water and the Environmen­t under the Murray Darling Basin Economic Developmen­t Program’s third round.

Gargarro Project Covener Athol “Doc’’ Mcdonald said the completion date was delayed by a few weeks due to a lack of materials but it’s “nothing disastrous”.

“They held a site meeting last week and they aren’t expecting any more hold-ups” he said.

“When the café is finished there will be somewhere for people to come and meet, to enjoy meals as well as the gardens.”

The original concept of the two-storey cafe was to construct it out of old shipping containers. However, Mr Mcdonald said they found it to be cheaper and easier to construct it the traditiona­l way.

They are currently in the process of appointing a business to run the café and are hoping to appoint

one sometime in April.

There will be two separate grand openings, with the gardens to be open at a later date as all stages are completed.

The Gargarro Regional Botanic Garden is a community initiative. Kraft Heinz, the company that owned the old cheese factory in Girgarre, initially offered the community $50,000 in cash as a means of compensati­on for the loss of business to the area.

“What we said was that was quite generous but what we would really like is the land” Mr Mcdonald said.

“Twelve hectares of land all donated to the community. Not only the land but the water entitlemen­t as well.”

“Then we had to decide what we were going to do with it. This was always the likely outcome. We approached RMCG consulting in Bendigo to do some community consultati­on to narrow the options down and this is what we came to.”

Funding for a masterplan had to be found, with all the funding streams falling into place within four months. This has allowed the gardens project to progress to the second stage and closer to completion.

The Victorian Government provided $50,000 towards the developmen­t of the detailed designs for the gardens under the Stronger Regional Community Plan – Community Capacity Fund, along with $1.4 million from the Regional Infrastruc­ture Fund towards the $1.7 million project. Other contributo­rs to the gardens include $300,000 from the Federal Government’s Building Better Regions Fund and $200,000 from the Victorian Department of Environmen­t, Land, Water and Planning’s Growing Victoria’s Botanical Gardens Program.

This, alongside the many contributi­ons in the form of cash and in-kind support from the community. The gardens are on track for completion in September.

An estimated 27,000 plants will go in the ground at the site with the help of local volunteers.

Mr Mcdonald believes when it's completed the developmen­t will bring people and many benefits to the town of Girgarre.

“Both the gardens and the café will increase visitation to the township. We aren’t a tourist mecca at the moment. But botanic gardens are the most visited amenity Australiaw­ide and is comparable to sporting events. So, people will come to have a look.”

 ?? ?? What’s up, Doc?: Gargarro Project Convener Athol ‘Doc’ Mcdonald at the café constructi­on site last week.
What’s up, Doc?: Gargarro Project Convener Athol ‘Doc’ Mcdonald at the café constructi­on site last week.

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