Welcome!

For sometime now I have been passionate about the access to fresh fruit & vegetables for residents living in Diggers Rest. Over the past 2 years I have encouraged the development of a community garden for Diggers Rest with the emphasis on "locally grown fresh produce".

The main objective for this website is to locate people interested in supporting their local community with the emphasis on access to affordable quality fresh fruit & vegetables.

Many small residential communities within Australia have been identified as having limited access to basic fresh fruit & vegetables. In Victoria and located within the Shire of Melton, Diggers Rest, Exford, Rockbank and Toolern Vale are amongst those communities.

Getting Started

fresh4all.com.au has been created to provide a platform aimed at recruiting a common interest within communities and to collate and broadcast the collective feedback required to assist with the development of a sustainable social enterprise.

In 2006, Melton Shire Council received funding from the Department of Planning and Community Development (DPCD) Community Strengthening Program to work with the Small Townships of Diggers Rest, Exford, Rockbank and Toolern Vale Communities. The focus of the program is to bring small communities together to work in partnership with Council on projects that will strengthen these communities.

The outcome of the consultation process showed a high level of interest by the community to establish a Community Garden in Diggers Rest. A steering Group was established via the Diggers Rest Information Forum to lead the project, consult with the community and to prepare an application for funding of $15,000 to undertake the development of a community garden in Diggers Rest.

The Melton Shire Council grants assessment team considered that the Community Garden Proposal did not meet the guidelines of the grant criteria and any reference to "fresh fruit and/or vegetables" component was not fully sustainable.  A beautification of some wasteland along side the Family Services Centre was proposed and subsequently adopted as an alternative project.

Moving Forward

Melton Shire Council is reviewing small township access to fresh and affordable food options in its designated small towns.  Council understand that the community has diverse requirements and that everyone will have a different need.  We encourage you to complete the survey and return it by Monday February 26th 2010.  Your feedback is an important step towards identifying a service model that satisfies as many people in the community as possible.  Survey details can be obtained by contacting Community Projects Officer, Food Security at Melton Shire Council on (03) 9747 7127

For additional information, call David O'Connor on 03 9740 1060