By Tyler Wright
New facilities at Monbulk Recreation Reserve are now open to the public for sport lovers and families alike to enjoy.
A new playspace with a junior slide, swing set, track and track and ride spinner was opened in July alongside a car park extension, path improvements and connectivity upgrades.
Fencing, rockwork and garden beds have also been added through funding from both the federal government and Yarra Ranges Council.
The federal government committed $250,000 to the project with Yarra Ranges Council contributing a further $150,000 to the project.
The Monbulk Recreation Reserve Development Group has welcomed the upgrades.
“We’re already noticing it’s a fantastic place for mums for school and kinder pick up and drop off,” Monbulk Recreation Reserve Development Group president Paul Utting said.
“We’ll see young families hanging around while they wait for the kids to come in and out of school at the kindergarten and the primary school.
We hosted the junior finals (on Sunday 7 August), that was a pretty pleasant day and there were plenty of young kids floating down in the playground and were otherwise entertained while mums and dads were watching the footy.”
Prior to the 2019 federal election, the Monbulk Recreation Reserve Development Group lobbied to have the existing playspace relocated and parking services improved.
Mr Utting said the increase from 30 to 50 parking spaces is now catering not only to cricket, football and netball players but to Monbulk Primary School and Monbulk Living and Learning Centre visitors.
“We had parking problems after the construction of the pavilion (in that it was relocated) – the social rooms were further away from that car park, so we wanted to get a car park in to access the social rooms, but also there was a car park between the primary school and the community hub, which struggled to cater for both of those places,” he said.
“And now the community hub and the primary school generally use that car park during the day.”
Yarra Ranges Council’s Director of Environment and Infrastructure, Mark Varmalis, said the equipment and design of the playspace was influenced by the Monbulk community during two rounds of public consultation in 2021. “
“We look forward to community members and visitors enjoying this space for years to come.”
The Monbulk Recreation Reserve Development Group is currently lobbying for the redevelopment of the Monbulk Recreation Reserve soccer pitch.
