3000 Acres

Smith Street locals may have lost their secret free car park, but they’ve gained a community garden thriving in the heart of Fitzroy’s urban sprawl.

The site is the first garden of the 3000acres program, an initiative that won VicHealth’s Seed Challenge.Their idea was to utilise unused spaces in Melbourne by turning them into public “green spaces”.

“It’s extraordinary really,” landscape architect, Chris Renkin says. “It’s completely activated a space that would have just sat here for a year.”

The garden has been sprung in at Neometro’s Nine Smith Street. Alongside café, Placeholder and not-for-profit art gallery, SLOPES, 3000acres will inhabit the site for 12 months before becoming apartments.

Neighbouring businesses and residents have already recycled food scraps, planted flowers, herbs, and vegetables in their designated plots—the most showy belonging to local comedian, Hamish Blake.

The Royal Botanic Gardens and The Diggers Club will continue educating this community by running green workshops throughout the year.

Stealthy locals might also benefit from the “sacrificial herbs” located at the garden’s entrance -it’s all part of the community vibe.

3000acres is located at Neometro’s Nine Smith Street rear carpark in Fitzroy (accessed via Little Smith Street). Find out more here www.3000acres.org