A farmer-led co-operative has won an expression of interest process to operate on Dairy Road in Fyshwick, creating a "local food precinct" with the possibility of greenhouses, a retail store and cafe or restaurant being built on the site.
Southern NSW Harvest Cooperative won the right to licence the land, with the "farmer-led member cooperative" already having a presence on the site.
The outcome has angered the volunteer-run Canberra City Farm which has also been operating on the Dairy Road land since 2015 but was unsuccessful in the expression of interest process and has now been told to leave the site by October.
The volunteers from the Canberra City Farm now say their future is uncertain - they can't operate a farm without land.
A spokesperson for the ACT government said on Wednesday that it "acknowledged the work and objectives of Canberra City Farm".
"Should any future suitable land become available, Canberra City Farm are encouraged to participate in any allocation process," the spokesperson said.
Volunteer Jenni Savigny said the city farm had a 10-year licence from 2015 with an option to extend for another 10 years.
Ms Savigny said in about April 2025, the ACT government cancelled the licence and the land was instead subject to an expression of interest process run by Tenders ACT.
"We acknowledge that as the landowner it is the government's prerogative to determine how its land is used and to choose its licencees," president Keith Colls wrote in a letter to Environment Minister Suzanne Orr.
"However, we have major grievances with the process that we have been put through which we believe are destructive of community organisations."
Chief among the concerns of the Canberra City Farm is that the tender process "is too onerous for a small community and volunteer-led organisation and is geared towards business".
The farm volunteers were also being forced to walk away from the land after making "enormous improvements" to it over the last 11 years including rubbish removal, soil remediation, the installation of garden beds, orchards and irrigation systems and the upgrade of a building to PassivHaus standard.
"We were dismayed when the government opened the tender up to 'for-profit' organisations. The improved land will now shift away from the community sector," Mr Colls said.
"We worry this decision will have a chilling effect on other local community organisations, disincentivising them from investing in land and local community, as the government has made it clear these efforts are not valued."
Ms Savigny said the Canberra City Farm had been "Green Shed-ed".
"It's a process where there are two competitors or more and winner takes all - somebody wins, somebody loses. And we have now lost," she said.
"I think what we were most shocked by is that in this process, which is highly suited to business, not to a 100 per cent volunteer-run organisation, we are left with nothing."
The Canberra City Farm was paying a peppercorn rent, but was open to negotiating a new rate.
Members of the Canberra City Farm met on Tuesday night for the first time since the licence was decided.
"They expressed their deep shock, disappointment and sense of uncertainty for the future. The community's anger was directed against the ACT government for putting us through such an arduous, destructive and divisive process for the last 18 months," a statement read.
The meeting also gave the green light for its committee to explore options that "include relocating or remaining at 2 Dairy Road under the licence of Southern Harvest".
The 2.5 hectare Dairy Road site is a hub for a number of organisations including Global Worming, Canberra Region Beekeepers, Canberra Seed Savers Cooperative and Southern Harvest.
Operating in the region since 2011 and at the Dairy Road site for the last five years, the successful applicant, the Southern NSW Harvest Cooperative, currently connects regional farmers to consumers through its fresh produce box program.
It also runs the Bungendore and Queanbeyan farmers' markets and the annual Bungendore Harvest Festival and the Capital Region Winter Festival.
Southern NSW Harvest was not commenting yet on its plans for the Dairy Road site.
But its expression of interest document says it plans for the Dairy Road site to be "the first of a series of local food precincts in the ACT" making local and regional produce "more available and more affordable".
The document does refer to working with community organisations and allowing "multiple activities" on the site, but it is unclear if that also includes the Canberra City Farm.
"The precinct would operate under a lead licence holder model, providing the ACT government with a single accountable organisation for site governance, compliance and coordination," the Southern Harvest document read.
"Thus in stage one, Southern Harvest proposes to continue to operate our core activities while convening a network of producers, community organisations and partners to collaborate on site use."
Southern NSW Harvest wants to expand its regional produce distribution at the Dairy Road site.
Its future plans might also include greenhouses, seed gardens, commercial kitchen, workspaces and an onsite restaurant or cafe, the document said.
Independent MLA for Kurrajong Thomas Emerson said the potential loss of the Canberra City Farm was "heartbreaking and deeply disappointing".
"This is no way to treat volunteers who've poured immense amounts of time, love and resources into this land over the last decade," Mr Emerson said.
"I've got serious concerns about the government's treatment of incredible local organisations like Canberra City Farm.
"This is another example in a series of damaging tender processes where key environmental groups have been forced to fight over limited resources."
A spokesperson for the government said the expression of interest process "specified that responses were welcome from community groups, not-for-profit and for-profit organisations, social enterprises, consortiums or collectives/cooperatives and individuals".
"The structure of an organisation was not considered as part of the evaluation process," they said.
The EOI process "delivered an open and transparent process to appoint an organisation to deliver a range of activities that align with the objectives of the Canberra Region Local Food Strategy 2024-2029 as well as any other relevant ACT government policies".
The goals of the Canberra Region Local Food Strategy 2024-2029 included increased local food production and consumption and support for sustainable urban and rural farming practices.
"Responses were also evaluated against demonstrated or potential for innovation and value add activities on the block that align with [those] goals," the spokesperson saod.
"The EOI evaluation process identified Southern NSW Harvest Cooperative as the preferred supplier. Licence negotiations with the preferred supplier have commenced."
