News / Environment
Reprieve for community garden after all-clear from contamination
Fence comes down as Guerilla Gardening Naarm vows to carry on
Mark Phillips
Wednesday, May 27, 2026
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The collective that operates a popular “guerilla garden” in Coburg say the project is here to stay after it was cleared of any chemical contamination.
The future of the Radicle Roots Commons at De Chene Reserve had been in doubt after Merri-bek Council fenced off the site in late-March over concerns that soil could contain harmful Perfluoroalkyl and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS).
But test results have not detected dangerous levels of PFAS in either the soil or produce grown in the garden and the fence that surrounded the site throughout April has now been removed.
However, the period when it was closed has left the collective scrambling to prepare the garden beds for winter.
At a working bee last Saturday, a small but determined group of volunteers pulled up weeds and began planting crops for winter.
Representatives of the Guerilla Gardening Naarm collective which established the garden in December 2023 said the support from the local community during the enforced closure had strengthened their determination to continue the project.
“The public response was pretty incredible,” said Bella Ford, who has been involved in the Radicle Roots Commons since the start.
“Everyone who came down to chat and ask questions about what was happening was outraged at the lack of transparency and communication from the council and people were stressing how important these community places were for them.
“People said they were feeling frustrated that a grassroots space trying to grow food was treated like we were treated and that this was happening during a cost of living and climate crisis … It was very sad and stressful but made me feel deeply in the power of the community.”
Teddy Ditze, another founding member of the collective, said the group was grateful that Mayor Nat Abboud and councillor Sue Bolton had both often encouragement during the period when access was restricted to the garden.
“The garden is in need of a lot of love because we haven’t been able to access it for two of the most important growing months of the year but we are as strong as we were at the start and will continue to be as strong as ever and not let a council fence slow us down.”
The drama began in late-March when the council informed the collective without any forewarning that the site would be fenced off from the public while testing could be done for PFAS.
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With the test results still unknown, Guerilla Gardening Naarm mobilised supporters and at a council meeting on April 8 pleaded for the garden to continue.
It took almost another month before the final results were shared with the collective.
A council spokesperson confirmed that testing “identified no detectable contamination in the sampled produce, indicating that vegetables grown at the garden are considered low risk for consumption”.
Within days of the results being known, the collective removed the fencing themselves.
When they finally regained access to the garden earlier this month, it was “a mess” and full of weeds, said Ford.
“The fence went up in a critical time of transition from summer to winter crops,” she said.
“I don’t feel like we lost specific crops but we’re far behind in preparing for winter crops like brassicas and garlic and peas. If you plant them in the ground when it’s too cold, you won’t have a crop. I’m worried we have missed some of that time for crop rotation.”
Ditze, who spoke at the April 8 meeting, said the wait for the test results had been a nervous period.
She said the group had conducted its own soil testing for heavy metals and chemicals before it established the garden more than two years ago but PFAS were an unknown quantity because of their prevalence, including in the water supply.
“We knew we had done all we could to make the garden safe but we can’t control [the presence of] PFAS,” she said.
“We had been responsible by doing soil testing before [starting the garden] and all the inputs going into the garden are organic and safe for consumption but there’s always an element of risk when you do urban gardening.” 
Above: a sign at the garden outlines its philosophy.
Guerilla Gardening Naarm has had an uneasy relationship with the council since it the Commons were first planted without official permission in December 2023 on public land near the Merri Creek.
It has since grown to encompass a space of about 600 square metres with an array of crops including vegetables, fruit, herbs and flowers.
The garden is managed by the self-governed collective that has swelled from an initial dozen or so people to almost 150.
All produce grown at the garden is made freely available to the local community to pick for their own kitchen tables.
Ford said it was possible that the history of the garden being started without any official consent may have set the group on a collision course with the council.
“We’re a guerilla garden and they [the council] don’t have much say or control over what we’re doing here,” she said.
“I have asked them [council staff] multiple times if they are planning to test any other gardens for PFAS and they said no, so it definitely felt targeted to us.
“Testing makes sense but the concerning part for us was the lack of communication and putting up fences without consultation.”
For that reason, Guerrilla Gardening Naarm is also wary of entering any formal agreement with the council to formalise its existence because it would be contrary to its own philosophy of self-determination.
Ford said she and others were keen to move on from the crisis and refocus on the reasons why the garden was started in the first place.
“We’re in a food and cost of living crisis and this project is aiming to respond to that by addressing community needs and creating an alternative to the urban food system,” she said.
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