Wollert Community Farm set to thrive with support for second stage
The Wollert Community Farm is an innovative project creating opportunities for community connection, conservation and enterprise development to benefit local community and environment.
Yarra Valley Water Managing Director, Pat McCafferty, said the Farm is a shining example of how collaborative efforts can lead to sustainable and impactful community outcomes.
“Wollert Community Farm is being recognised as an innovative local partnership that makes good use of otherwise unused buffer land at our treatment plant. It will include environmental education, a local food system that utilises recycled water, and conservation and land management,” said Mr McCafferty.
Alex Haynes, CEO of Whittlesea Community Connections, said this grant will significantly boost the farm’s capacity to deliver on its mission.
“This additional funding means Wollert Community Farm is well on its way to creating more volunteer, training and employment opportunities for local people as well as implementing positive land management practices,” said Ms Haynes.
The Farm includes infrastructure for native horticulture including seed production, nursery and greenhouses, as well as meeting, education and community spaces, toilets, utilities, access road and car parking.
The funding announcement caps a successful year for the community partnership, which was recognised with Gold at the International Water Association’s 2024 Project Innovation Awards. The award recognised its groundbreaking approach to reimagining the use of land for community benefit and environmental sustainability.
Funding for Stage Two of Wollert Community Farm was secured through the Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development, Communications and the Arts’ Thriving Suburbs Program Grant of $1,028,619.
About Wollert Community Farm
Wollert Community Farm is a community partnership led by Whittlesea Community Connections and Yarra Valley Water. The farm will be a place for the local community to connect, learn and prosper through environmental and agricultural activities.
The farm has been in planning for 6 years since Whittlesea Community Connections approached Yarra Valley Water in 2018. The community facility is located on land owned by Yarra Valley Water, in the buffer between the Aurora Recycled Water Treatment Plant and the communities of Wollert, Roxburgh Park, North Epping and Craigieburn.
Whittlesea Community Connections and Yarra Valley Water are working to complete the project by the second half of 2026.
Yarra Valley Water is providing the land, access to recycled water and renewable energy, and experts in planning, assets and project management to help deliver the groundbreaking project. Whittlesea Community Connections is providing community engagement through programs and activities that help people break the cycle of disadvantage and supports social enterprise nugal biik plants and seeds at the site
For more information about the Farm’s aims including restoring natural heritage, enhancing biodiversity and creating opportunities to embed Traditional Customer principals of caring for Country into land management, visit: whittleseacommunityconnections.org.au/whittlesea-food-collective/ or visit www.yvw.com.au/Wollert-community-farm