Editorial: Together we can be proud

That sense of community we may have lost somewhere along the line appears to be making a comeback.

In Owhata, a new project is helping to inject some community pride through the transformation of a local park where the playground had been set on fire and which had become a neighbourhood dumping ground.

As we report today, Aspen Place residents have, as part of the project, created a community food garden its hoped will provide the catalyst for those who can to develop vegetable gardens in their own backyards.

They've had some help and support from others and everyone involved deserves a pat on the back. They are a great example to other communities.

While there have always been pockets of residents joining forces to look out for one another, there seems to be more of a push towards people helping themselves and each other. Perhaps it's the economic downturn the world is still very much caught up in, perhaps it's just that some people have had enough of watching things around them go bad and they've decided it's time someone cared enough to do something to fix it.

Community vegetable gardens would seem to be a great place to start in bringing people together and with the cost of living only going up, it's a concept which can also be a huge help to many families.

We need more communities to take action, to help themselves and neighbours in need, to take an interest in what's happening around them and be prepared to pitch in and contribute when and if required.

The work done by some of these groups is a wonderful example of what can be achieved when a caring community comes together.

Only good can come of communities doing it for themselves.

WHAT DO YOU THINK?

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