Calling all Parkville Gardens primary schoolkids, parents and guardians!

Take up the challenge of our Amazing (not really a) Race event. It’s a fun activity for kids aged 5-12. All are welcome but you MUST register and get your free ticket from Eventbrite to take part. Click here to get your free ticket.

Places are limited.

We’re keen to see you for a 10am start on Sunday, October 23 – meet at the start of the path between the wetlands and sports-field. Enter from the Oak St car park opposite the end of Galada Ave. Cross over safely using the pedestrian lights!

There’s more!

We’re going to finish the year on a high. Parkville Gardens residents, put Sunday, November 20 in your diary. We’re going to have a Spring Fling. There’ll be kids’ games, food and much more. We’re teaming up with Frasers Property to have a trial run of a Garage Sale Trail. This will pave the way for a full-scale event in November next year. For more information about the Garage Sale Trail email [email protected]. There’ll be more detail about the PGRA Spring Fling in next month’s bulletin.

In the meantime, you can make good use of your time by participating in a number of consultations.

The first is about plans to upgrade the Royal Park Station precinct on Poplar Rd. The Department of Transport is conducting an online workshop on the project on Monday, October 24 from 1pm to 4pm. The department says this will bring “together experts, agency representatives, and key community stakeholders. The aim is to get everyone working together, listening to each other to identify possible options to inform the design of the precinct and future works.” 

Click here to register.

The next three are being run or partnered by the City of Melbourne.

The first is about neighbourhood batteries. Power Melbourne says it’s “committed to powering Melbourne with 100 per cent renewable energy by 2030”.  To help achieve this, it “will install a network of neighbourhood batteries around the city. The batteries will be linked to a retail electricity plan to help renters, people living in apartments, and those running small businesses access more affordable renewable electricity.”

You have until the end of the month – October 31 – to complete the survey. You’ll find it at participate.melbourne.vic.gov.au/power-melbourne. There’s a video too, which you can watch here.

The second is a project to watch for the Superb Fairy Wren.

This is “a partnership between the City of Melbourne, BirdLife Australia, The University of Melbourne and RMIT University.”  The aim of the exercise “is to improve inner-city habitats for fairy-wrens and other small birds. We’re tracking superb fairy-wrens in Royal Park to see how they respond to habitat restoration works.” For more information: superbcitywrens.com

The third is about nature journaling. Become a citizen forester! Go to participate.melbourne.vic.gov.au/citizenforester and you’ll be told you can help “collect data about trees, plants and ecology to grow a greener Melbourne. The Citizen Forester Program holds events that allow you to meet new people, learn new skills and build knowledge about green space in our city. The program has a variety of activities that allow you to participate in meaningful, fun and rewarding environmental work”.

That should keep everyone very usefully occupied until we hold our Amazing (not really a) Race event at 10am on Sunday, October 23.

Don’t forget to register and get your free ticket – remember, numbers are limited! •