The community garden was awarded a $9000 grant last last year, and was planning on completing the project by Easter, however that hasn't happened.

Catherine Sharpe, who was at the helm of the project and initially applied for the grant, has taken up a new position away from Griffith and is no longer involved, leaving the project understaffed and without a clear leader.

Despite these setbacks, the current administrator of Barnabas House Felix Sebastian is confident in the benefits the garden will bring to the centre, and is not dissuaded by the obstacles.

"The project will go on because it's bigger than one person... it's some unfortunate circumstances but we're still well inside the timeframe."

Mr Sebastian said that while the garden may not have been planted yet, progress is still being made on it and that it would be complete soon.

"We're putting a team of people together. We've got the finances now, so we're meeting next week to get people involved and start building."

Mr Sebastian has said the project is expected to take six to twelve weeks to complete and that he anticipates the garden will be complete and ready for planting by the end of July.

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The $9000 grant was awarded to the centre as part of the 'Seeds of Renewal' program, run by ANZ and the Foundation for Rural and Regional Renewal, and comes with a twelve month deadline.

If the garden isn't complete by the end of the year, the grant becomes invalid and will have to be returned, which Mr Sebastian is well aware of.

"One of two things are going to happen by the end of the year. We either return the money, or we finish the project."

Community gardens are proven to provide a variety of benefits to a population, including reducing stress levels, decreasing obesity rates and improving air and soil quality.

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