By April Murphy
Community spirit is flourishing in the family-friendly suburb of Holland Park, known for its leisure options such as sporting facilities, picnic areas and a playground.
As you walk along the shared pathway at Seville park, on Elgar Street, you will find a Community Pantry, beautifully decorated wooden shelving unit that has been stocked full of household items.
The storeroom is there so that locals can take what they need or restock the shelves for others.
“The Community Pantry is a fun activity for me and my daughter. We bring down items to restock the pantry and my daughter gets to play in the park,” says Holland Park resident Samatha Cumiskey.
To add to the appeal, an anonymous person has now placed a Tupperware container of chalk under the pantry so children can use the chalk to draw on the pathway.
Not too far from the pantry, there is a free book exchange which offers the opportunity for residents to take a book and replace it for another.
If Seville wasn’t already appealing enough, you can now grab yourself some free home-grown tomatoes. A resident that backs on to the park has taken it upon herself to share her tomatoes with the visitors.
The honesty policy seems to work well as all free items are always stocked and not taken advantage of.
“It’s in an inner-city suburb and we have a busy life. It is nice to be reminded that we are part of the community,” says Ms Cumiskey.
You can check out the features of Seville Park on the Holland Park Community Facebook page.