At the Council Meeting on Tuesday 12 March 2024, Council unanimously adopted the Final Landscape Concept Plan for Smith Reserve.

Read the Minutes from the Council Meeting.

Purpose of the consultation

In late 2022, we asked you to share your ideas and tell us how you like to use the space at Smith Reserve in Fitzroy. We used your ideas to inform the development of a draft Landscape Concept Plan.

We then asked you for your feedback on the draft Landscape Concept Plan to ensure that the park can continue to support the needs of the local community, visitors and all park users into the future. This second stage of the consultation took place in May 2023.

Using your suggestions, we created a Final Landscape Concept Plan for Smith Reserve which was presented for consideration to Council and was endorsed on 12 March 2024.

What did we ask?

In the first stage of consultation, we asked you what you like about the reserve, how you would like to use the park and the top 4 improvements that you would like us to make to the space.

For the second stage, we asked whether the draft Landscape Concept Plan offers a space that can be used for a range of different purposes by the local community.

Who did we hear from?

What we heard and how it influenced the final plan

Most people who participated expressed how much they love the park and its location. Some of the improvements that were suggested included:

• Managing the grass surface better
• Improving fencing for the safety of dogs off lead
• Providing spaces where people can avoid dogs off lead
• Improving the shared path safety
• Improving accessibility into and through the park
• Upgrading the playground, including shade and options for more age groups
• Providing more shade and furniture in shade.

Your feedback was vital and helped inform the Final Landscape Concept Plan.

What comes next?

The Landscape Concept Plan (PDF) sets out a vision for this space and will help guide future works and improvements.

The delivery of improvements will be staged over a 5 year period and as budget funding becomes available.

One of the key elements of the Landscape Concept Plan is improving and expanding the existing play space. Based on your feedback, the play space upgrade will include the following:

• Play options for a broader range of age groups
• More shade over the playground
• A new entrance separated from the shared path
• Nature play options
• Space for picnics in the fenced area
• Items that can be used for exercise.

At the Council Meeting on 12 March, it was decided that the first stage of the Landscape Concept Plan to be implemented will be the Play Space Proposal 2024. This will focus on improving and expanding the existing play space.

Construction of the play space upgrade will begin in 2024.

Visit the project page

To read more about this consultation please visit the Smith Reserve page on Your Say Yarra.