It’s official, community gardens are trending across our community, thanks to creative locals who are taking street pride to the next level. Meet Sebastian and Mike from Hayden Lane. Sebastian and Mike are long term residents of Darlinghurst who love their neighbourhood. a few weeks ago, they got to work on turning their drab laneway, into what is now a lush green oasis, and wall murals, which has fast become a favourite place for locals to wander through, enjoying the hard yards and efforts of the two locals.
Rewind to February – Hayden Lane was drab, undesirable, and the main feature was the red and yellow lidded bins awaiting collection. Sebastian and Mike came up with a plan to change their laneway and got to work immediately to make it happen. The fabulous thing about this is what I love about so many local residents, they don’t sit back waiting for things to change, they jump on in and create the change themselves.
A post by Sebastian in the Darlo Darlings Facebook Group started an avalanche of plant donations by locals. Within a week, residents had dropped off palms, succulents, grasses and other plant varieties for the guys to rearrange and beautify their lane. Each weekend, Sebastian and Mike would be up at the rising of the sun, repotting, planting, and cleaning up the laneway. If you’re in the area, please get along and check out their hard work.
Wall art – the future plans for Hayden Lane include a series of wall murals. With one already installed, it has already added artistic flair and character to a once soulless lane. Deputy Lord Mayor, Jess Scully paid a visit to Hayden Lane during its beautification and was blown away with the work completed. Having worked on many community garden projects across the City, Jess supported the Darlinghurst locals by tabling a motion at Council recently, which was successful, and will help in potentially installing a sustainable rain water tank, curb extensions to support the plant installations and improved lighting to make Hayden Lane a safer place for locals.
Congratulations Sebastian and Mike for making Hayden Lane such a beautiful place that we can all enjoy. Urban Village readers can visit Hayden Lane, just off Liverpool Street, Darlinghurst. You can follow the progress and check out the wall art on Instagram @haydenlanelife
