Parkville Gardens AGM

First things first – a calendar entry. Parkville Gardens residents, please book yourself up for our annual general meeting (AGM).

We’re having it earlier this year – on Thursday, September 8 at 6.30pm in the Reggio Calabria Club.  It’s open to all residents, but you’ll have to be a paid-up member to vote.  Come along, meet your neighbours, hear what’s happening and have your say.

The Parkville Gardens Residents’ Association (PGRA) wants to hear from you and work with you to make the neighbourhood an even better place to live. You’ll have the option of staying on after the meeting, treating yourself to a very reasonably priced meal at the bistro, and enjoying good company.

Current and prospective members alike are strongly encouraged to consider joining the committee. We’d love to see some new faces. All positions become vacant at the AGM so here’s your chance to offer yourself, your energy and ideas to serve the local community – and enjoy yourself in the process.

PGRA members are gently reminded that they need to pay their annual renewal fee of $5 to maintain their membership and voting rights. New members are most welcome. Contact us via [email protected] and we’ll send you the application form. The joining fee is a modest $20.

Looking back briefly, a very worthwhile meeting took place at The Park Club off Galada Ave on July 27. Arranged by Kylie Osborne, the community development person for Frasers Property, it brought together a range of stakeholders with interests in the apartment buildings along Galada Ave. Attendees included representatives from Frasers, the owners’ corporations (OC), The Knight (the OC managers), Housing First (the owners and managers of the social housing complex currently under construction), Melbourne Building Management and PGRA. It was a great opportunity to share information and ideas about collaboration and communication.

Construction of the social housing building on Galada Ave continues apace. It is on track to be completed by mid-2023 and to have residents in place around September. Roadworks at the intersection of Oak St and Galada Ave have now been completed. The entrance has been narrowed for safety’s sake and a zebra crossing installed. Just beyond the boundaries of Parkville Gardens, the footpath on the eastern side of Oak St is currently being resurfaced.

Further afield again, Public Transport Victoria is holding information sessions about the Route 58 tram service. One is from 2.30pm to 5.30pm on Wednesday, August 17, the other from 10am to 1pm on Saturday, August 20, both at Royal Park Station.

And just nearby in the park, walkers, joggers and cyclists are being treated to the rare sight of goats! There are some small fenced-off areas where the goats are contributing to an experimental weed control program.

Back in Parkville Gardens, residents have the prospect of a second café, this one to be operated by Mercy Health. Work on the space at Mercy Place in Willam St is underway.  More details to follow as they become available.

To finish on the same note with which we began, please make a note of Sunday, October 23.  Subject to funding being secured, PGRA plans to stage a children’s event that morning.  Hopefully there’ll be good news about that in the next edition (and good weather on the day!). •