Student's Plea Prompts Park Reno
Published on 24 July 2019
A heart-felt letter from 10-year-old Wembley student Stephanie De Muri, appealing to Maribyrnong Council to ‘makeover’ her local playground, has led to an upgrade of Angliss Reserve in Yarraville.
In 2017, Stephanie penned a letter to the then Mayor of Maribyrnong, Cr Catherine Cumming, asking for her local park to be upgraded as she felt it hadn’t had much attention in recent years, especially compared to other parks in Yarraville such as the Dinosaur Park.
“I wrote to the Mayor requesting a makeover of the park to include more swings, slides and shade. I particularly wanted there to be a swing that could be used by children with a disability, as everyone should be able to have fun at their local playground no matter what their ability.
“I am really proud of myself for writing a letter to Council and so excited they acknowledged my letter and acted on my suggestions. I love the new basket swing as it’s suitable for everyone to use – and I love that Council kept the older equipment and built on this instead of starting from scratch as that’s good for the environment,” she said.
Based on Stephanie’s input, Council created a draft design for the upgrade which was used for community consultation. From there, Council drafted the final design for the play space and started construction earlier this year.
The recently completed upgrade includes a number of elements to enhance the play space: a new rope climbing equipment catering for a range of ages; a grouping of timber steppers, boulders and garden bed for nature- based play; and an extension of the playground towards the existing lawn area to encourage use of the adjacent oval.
Angliss Reserve is located at Drew and Roberts streets in Yarraville. In addition to the playground, the reserve offers a range of sporting facilities for cricket and lacrosse.
A word from the Mayor:
“We love to receive feedback from community members of all ages about ways that we can improve our City. Thanks to Stephanie’s suggestions, which prompted our City Design team to commence an upgrade of the Angliss Reserve playground, locals now have a beautifully-appointed play space which will be enjoyed by families for decades to come. Well done Stephanie!”
Maribyrnong News
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