Last year we asked you to help us understand the priorities and needs for our planned upgrade of Edwardes Place. We used your feedback to inform the development of a Concept Design for this space.

Due to the minimal improvements requested in the feedback we received, we will be implementing minor upgrades at Edwardes Place with no further community consultation.

The Concept Design focuses on enhancing the park’s natural character with:

When will the upgrade take place?

Works are planned to start on the week commencing 4 May 2026, subject to weather.

Asphalt and seating works are expected to be complete in 3 weeks. Following this, irrigation works and infill garden bed plantings will be completed over June/July 2026, subject to weather.

Sections of the park paths will not be available from Monday 4 May 2026 during the asphalt and seating works, including the park entry and a section of footpath at the corner of Scotchmer and Falconer Streets.

The park will be available for use over June/July whilst plantings take place.

In August and September of 2025, we asked you to provide feedback on ways we could improve Edwardes Place. We heard from 86 people through our online survey and spoke to members of the community in-person at our pop-up event.

We have an exciting opportunity to upgrade Edwardes Place in Fitzroy North.

Before we began drafting a Concept Design, we asked for your help to understand the priorities and needs for this park. You shared your ideas on what you would like to see in the design for this improved space.

To meet the diverse needs of our growing local population, we are planning on upgrading this space. We want to improve user experience and ensure it accommodates the needs of everyone who uses it, including current and future residents, people who work or study nearby and visitors.

Project background

The Yarra Open Space Strategy (YOSS) identifies the opportunity to improve the function of the existing park and its layout, to meet the needs of current and future users. By 2031, Fitzroy North will grow by nearly 3,000 residents meaning that there will be a greater need for smaller open spaces when the larger Edinburgh Gardens, Darling Gardens and Linear Park in the wider area are at full capacity.

The YOSS defines Edwardes Place as a small local open space, catering for the local community within a 150m catchment. This means there are limitations to what can be incorporated in the upgrade and also set requirements for what types of facilities need to be retained from the existing park.

Although a traditional playground is out of scope for this upgrade, there is the opportunity to introduce informal play elements, such as natural landscaping, to encourage unstructured and imaginative play and support passive recreation in the space.