Park management plan adopted

This is an image of the Kangaroo Ground War Memorial Tower

Following extensive community engagement, Council has adopted a management plan for the Kangaroo Ground War Memorial Park.

An endorsed concept for the park was pared back by Council earlier in the year and replaced by a draft management plan.

The purpose of the management plan is to provide a practical road map for maintaining and enhancing the existing functions and character of the park with minimum change and moderate investment over a seven-year timeframe. It will enable Council to plan budget allocations and seek grant funding opportunities for the delivery of works outlined in the plan.

The draft management plan was unanimously endorsed at this month’s Council meeting with a number of changes, including incorporating improvements to help visually integrate the caretaker’s residence within the park.

Mayor Frances Eyre said the drafting and amending of the management plan was aided by extensive community input.

“Community members and stakeholder groups had the opportunity to put forth their views in a number of consultation periods this year,” Cr Eyre said.

“We have worked very closely with the community, particularly key park stakeholders, through the process.

“The draft management plan strikes the right balance for the community and user groups with an interest in the park,” she said.

Sugarloaf Ward Councillor Ben Ramcharan praised the collaborative effort that went into creating and refining the draft management plan.

“I’m really pleased to see that the community has been listened to,” Cr Ramcharan said.

“There are many different stakeholders who want to use the parks in many different ways. We put them all in the same room and they’ve worked incredibly well together to help create a plan that will guide the park in a direction they can all be happy with.

“It’s a fantastic start to a long project that will bring the park into the condition it deserves to be in.”

The adopted plan will be able to be viewed early in the new year at Participate Nillumbik.

/Public Release. View in full here.