Community-led farmers’ market achieves a lot

The community space, which has been set up on the corner of Campbell Street and Karori Road, has been hosting ‘Food Truck Friday’ every week from 4pm to 8pm, and a community farmers’ market each Saturday from 9am to 1pm. 

The initiative, which started at the end of January, was organised through a Wellington City Council development group to take advantage of an unoccupied Council lot, while the future of the land is being decided through a lengthy tender process. 

Sharon, Karori resident and professional event planner, pitched the opportunity to bring back the beloved Karori market, which had previously been shut down due to the pandemic.
 
“The Karori community had been asking for years when the farmers’ market was coming back, so we knew this needed to happen,” says Sharon.

Outside of the markets, the lot acts as a community garden and a space to spend time in Karori.

“We knew when we designed the lot that it would act as both a market and a community garden,” explains Joanne, whose company Boston Projects Ltd specialises in project management and property consultancy. 

“Karori has such amazing activities and amenities, and we’ve made a place to relax after these amenities. It's so awesome to see people enjoying the space throughout the week.”

Sharon and Joanne say that part of the market’s charm is that hardly anything on site was bought new, with the site’s plants, seating, turf, picnic tables, gravel, and tables donated by the Council, local businesses, and the wider community.

“The Council has been awesome about donating stuff to the site. We’ve decorated the space with old Council planter boxes and have repurposed old railway sleepers from the waterfront into seating for the space, which would have cost us thousands to buy new,” says Joanne.

During Food Truck Fridays, the variety of delicious food trucks can attract between 700 and 2000 people, which encouraged the team to think sustainably. 

“We’re hot on sustainability,” says Sharon, “so we’ve got a wash truck onsite as part of our waste management plan.”

The wash truck is partially funded by the Council and managed by Sustainability Trust and NonStop Solutions. It is a portable kitchen that provides dishes for people to use at the food trucks when they’re eating at the market, and then washes and reuses them throughout the night to reduce waste.

This initiative, along with the market’s recycling and compost bins, has reduced rubbish down to one bag an event. 

Delly Ranginui, a Community Advisor from the Council’s Connected Communities team, is impressed with the group’s mahi. 

“I’m glad that the space has been put to good use, you can see it is really benefitting the community.” 

The markets have proven to be quite popular in both Karori and wider Pōneke, with an onsite survey showing that 37 percent of people are coming from outside of the suburb.

“People have started to see the good work that we're doing and the asset that it's bringing to the community. Now people are approaching us saying, 'what can we do to be involved? What can we do to help?' They really want to see it succeed,” Sharon says.

With the quality of the market, the team aren’t surprised.

“The market’s variety is amazing,” says Joanne, "It's the perfect way to spend a Saturday morning, where you’re able to get all of your treats.”