According to a director and former president of the West End Residents Association, more people inquire through the WERA website about community-garden space than about the World Naked Bike Ride.

“It’s overwhelming,” Brent Granby told the Straight by phone.

Granby said he’s had a hand in community gardens at St. Paul’s Hospital, Mole Hill, and Lost Lagoon in Stanley Park.

Now Granby has gained the support of Vision Vancouver and COPE park board commissioners for building a garden on top of the West End Community Centre when its roof is replaced this summer. NPA commissioner Ian Robertson and the Greens’ Stuart Mackinnon missed the May 16 board meeting, where the $512,521 bid to replace the roof was up for a vote. Granby spoke at the meeting, citing widespread support for his idea, including from Vancouver–West End NDP MLA Spencer Chandra Herbert.

“It means that there’s the possibility that the rooftop garden can go on top of the West End Community Centre,” Granby told the Straight. “It means that the investment that taxpayers made to that space—that invested in having public space in the West End—will be accessible and usable to West End residents in the future.”