Events season in Parkville Gardens

Good for gardens, lawns, and parks, but not so good for holidaymakers, summer this year has been cool and wet.  Perhaps we’ll get our warmest weather now that schools are back.

As usual, life at Parkville Gardens has been quiet during January but that’s about to change. The residents’ association is gearing up for action.

We’re cooking up a community event on Sunday, March 17 … yes, St Patrick’s Day!

It’s an auspicious date that picks up vibes from Clean Up Australia Day on March 3, the Moomba Festival from March 7 to 11 and Neighbours’ Day on March 31.   

March is a grand month for community celebration and action. We’ll be getting into that spirit here in Parkville Gardens with food, attractions, and activities out on the Galada Avenue reserve. There’ll be a reminder in next month’s edition of North West City News. Our thanks to the City of Melbourne for the funding grants that make all our community events possible.

Hot on its heels will be our annual Easter egg hunt. It’s always great fun for the kids. That’ll be on Sunday, March 24. And we’ll have another community get-together before the middle of the year.  More on that a bit further down the track.

Something else to look forward to around the middle of the year will be the publication of the draft Royal Park Master Plan. It’s the fruit of an extensive community consultation conducted by a City of Melbourne team that attracted nearly 2000 comments.

Some of people’s key concerns were protecting the park environment, landscape, and habitat, addressing safety and transport issues, and maintaining Indigenous heritage. There’ll be a further round of community consultation once the draft plan is published.

We’re also awaiting feedback from the Department of Transport and Planning after its public consultations about the Royal Park Station precinct. It’s a complicated spot with trains, trams, buses, other vehicles, cyclists, golfers, zoo visitors and pedestrians all intersecting.

Work on replacing cladding at the Mercy Place aged care and retirement facility has been completed.

Beyond Parkville Gardens, interior refurbishment works are getting under way at the Juvenile Justice Centre on Park St.

Another big neighbour, CSL, has stated that it will be fully vacating its Poplar Rd site around late 2026. 

We await more information about the site’s future with great interest. •