Councillor update from Cr Blair Barker 

Welcome to spring – what a great time of year to be out in our parks, so a park focused update. 

Many will have noticed some parts of Box Hill Gardens have been fenced off. Thankfully, this is only temporary and enables the Suburban Rail Loop to build a new toilet and build some other improvements to the western side of the gardens prior to major long-term works on the western side. 

It was great to attend the 'Make the Brickworks a Park' rally. The huge turnout of locals and generous announcement by the coalition to help Council make it happen has filled me with optimism. Council has supported significant development in Box Hill, always balancing the need for housing supply while protecting the liveability of the area A new open space park is a sensible future proofing of the liveability of Box Hill. Locals overwhelming agree it is a lowrisk, common sense outcome compared to attempting to build apartment towers on a former toxic landfill. It will be a long journey, but I am certain it will be worth the effort. 

The new park being built on the old car park in Court Street and abandoned childcare centre on Watts Street is close to finished and it looks fabulous. It’s nearly 2,500 square metres of ‘nature based’ park with the old trees retained, some nice paths and terrific grassed areas. Set back from Whitehorse Road and visible to all near apartments, the site offers some serenity and relief from the noise and concrete. I know it will be treasured for generations to come. I am really proud of the Elgar locals who imagined the space and supported the project. In this case we have prioritised open space over more dense housing and revenue.