After a heavy schedule of summer events combined with a heatwave and a lack of rain, Footscray Park is getting some much needed maintenance and rehabilitation works.
Events such as New Year’s Eve celebrations on 31 December, Celebrating Epiphany on 18 and 19 January and the Dangerous Goods Festival on 24 January attracted tens of thousands of visitors to Footscray Park in the space of a few weeks, leaving some of its lawns and garden beds looking worse for wear.
As a result, some areas of the park have been closed to allow for recovery, while others are undergoing restoration works.
These include levelling across sections of the Eastern Lawn. liquid fertilising on the Western Lawn, irrigating areas along the perimeter of the temporary fencing surrounding the ponds and mulching garden beds around the toilet block and the trees located north of the pond.
Maribyrnong mayor Mohamed Semra said large heritage parks such as Footscray Park, require ongoing care, and seasonal condition do have an impact.
“Footscray Park matters deeply to our community, and we’re focused on keeping it thriving for the long term,” Cr Semra said, adding that the lawns at the park were already improving.
“We have also recently completed community engagement on a review of the 2011 Footscray Park Master Plan, which will help guide how the park is managed into the future as our population grows and use of these spaces continues to increase.”
