The Brite Nursery has been undergoing some very exciting new developments recently that will completely reshape this amazing part of our organisation. Back in April, Brite became the recipient of a $935,000 Broadmeadows Suburban Revitalisation Grant to be used on the redevelopment of our beautiful plant nursery by the end of September.
Since then, we have been hard at work using this grant to make our nursery a better precinct all round. We now have the resources to enhance our plant supply, improve our infrastructure, and employ more people with a disability or those from disadvantaged backgrounds. Revitalisation work has been going well, and while there is more work to be done, we are excited to share with you the progress that has already been made.
Obtaining Grant Support
The Broadmeadows Suburb Revitalisation program is a Victorian Government initiative designed to enrich the local Broadmeadows community. With the help of this program, Broadmeadow residents will only ever be a 20-miute walk from all their daily needs. The grant that Brite was rewarded as part of this initiative will upgrade and expand our wholesale nursery, with the following project outcomes:
- Redevelopment of the Brite Nursery precinct
- Enhanced capability for plant supply and other project work under social procurement
- Construction of fit for purpose plant nursery related infrastructure to provide capability for the direct employment of 14 people with a disability and people from vocationally disadvantaged backgrounds
- Procurement of fit for purpose plant nursery machinery and vehicles
The Progress So Far
Early June 2022
To conduct the redevelopment of our nursery precinct, we have employed the services of Ecostream Water Management who will be carrying out three initial stages of construction:
- Levelling the surface of the old herb farm to commence sub surface drainage and irrigation
- Trenching off the main yard to install new water efficient irrigation fixtures
- Levelling the surface of the vacant land between the main nursery yard and the front fence line to commence cutting off the site for drainage channels
The team has already installed the new water efficient irrigation system into the main yard. Not only will this system allow our nursery team to develop flexible water programs to cater for different types of plant species, but it will save us water costs in the long term thanks to its improved efficiency.
The team has also been making steady progress in the formation of new advanced tree growing yard. New star pickets and micro drippers have been installed to support the growth of our advanced tree range. The micro drippers deliver water directly to the root zone of the trees. As such, we expect to reduce our water usage in this yard by up to 60% after the installation of all fixtures. The advanced tree growing yard has now been completed ahead of schedule, with most of Brite’s advanced trees having been moved over to this new yard.
Mid June 2022
The Advanced tree growing yard is complete ahead of schedule. Ryan and the plants team have been hard at work to achieve this milestone alongside Ecostream Water Management.
The majority of our advanced trees have now been transported into the new yard where they will now be irrigated through micro drippers making our watering program even more water efficient than their previous yard.
Early July 2022
With the completion of the advanced tree growing yard, the Ecostream Water Management team have now been in the process of laying drainage pipework and connecting with existing drainage networks along the new nursery driveway. The new driveway will ease trucks in collecting order pickups and deliveries from the Brite Nursery.
Work will soon will commence on constructing a new concrete parking bay and walking path for employees and students to ensure there is safe access to all Brite training classrooms.
More to Come
Those are just some of the improvements that have already been implemented as part of our nursery revitalisation project. There is always more work to be done, but we are already excited by the results we are seeing and the possibilities of increased productivity and employment opportunities in the near future.
