Royal Park, Melbourne - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Royal Park is the largest of Melbourne's inner city parks (181 hectares). It is located 4 kilometres (2.5 mi) north of the Melbourne Central Business District, Victoria

Victoria (Australia)

Victoria is the second most populous state in Australia. Geographically the smallest mainland state, Victoria is bordered by New South Wales, South Australia, and Tasmania on Boundary Islet to the north, west and south respectively....

, Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

, in the suburb of Parkville

Parkville, Victoria

Parkville is an inner city suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 3 km north from Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area is the City of Melbourne. At the 2006 Census, the population was 4,980....

.

Many sporting facilities are provided including the North Park Tennis Club, Royal Park Golf Course, football and soccer ovals, baseball and cricket pitches, State Netball

Netball

Netball is a ball sport played between two teams of seven players. Its development, derived from early versions of basketball, began in England in the 1890s. By 1960 international playing rules had been standardised for the game, and the International Federation of Netball and Women's Basketball ...

and Hockey Centre, and cycling and walking paths. On the corner of Gatehouse street and Royal Parade there is a native garden. There are wide vistas of grassland and lightly timbered areas with eucalypt

Eucalypt

Eucalypts are woody plants belonging to three closely related genera:Eucalyptus, Corymbia and Angophora.In 1995 new evidence, largely genetic, indicated that some prominent Eucalyptus species were actually more closely related to Angophora than to the other eucalypts; they were split off into the...

s, casuarina

Casuarinaceae

Casuarinaceae is a family of dicotyledonous flowering plants placed in the order Fagales, consisting of 3 or 4 genera and approximately 70 species of trees and shrubs native to the Old World tropics , Australia, and the Pacific Islands...

and acacia

Acacia

Acacia is a genus of shrubs and trees belonging to the subfamily Mimosoideae of the family Fabaceae, first described in Africa by the Swedish botanist Carl Linnaeus in 1773. Many non-Australian species tend to be thorny, whereas the majority of Australian acacias are not...

s. The Melbourne City Council administers the park and instituted in 1984 a park management plan. A wetlands area is being developed in 2005.

The grassy hill between the Royal Children's Hospital

Royal Children's Hospital, Melbourne

The Royal Children's Hospital is a major children's hospital in Melbourne, Australia.As the major paediatric hospital in Victoria, the Royal Children's Hospital and offers a full range of clinical services, tertiary care and health promotion and prevention programs for children and adolescents...

and the Native Garden is ideal for kite flying during the day. Over the summer months members of the Astronomical Society of Victoria set up telescopes and conduct evening talks and tours of the night sky from this vantage point.

Wildlife

The park is home to many native animals such as possum

Possum

A possum is any of about 70 small to medium-sized arboreal marsupial species native to Australia, New Guinea, and Sulawesi .Possums are quadrupedal diprotodont marsupials with long tails...

s, and a rich variety of birdlife which includes: Flame Robin

Flame Robin

The Flame Robin is a small passerine bird native to Australia. It is a moderately common resident of the coolest parts of south-eastern Australia, including Tasmania. Like the other two red-breasted Petroica robins—the Scarlet Robin and the Red-capped Robin—it is often simply but...

s, Horsfield's Bronze Cuckoos, Red-rumped Parrot

Red-rumped Parrot

The Red-rumped Parrot , also known as the Red-backed Parrot or Grass Parrot, is a common bird of south-eastern Australia, particularly in the Murray-Darling Basin.-Description:...

s, Eastern

Eastern Rosella

The Eastern Rosella is a rosella native to southeast of the Australian continent and to Tasmania. It has been introduced to New Zealand where feral populations are found in the North Island and in the hills around Dunedin in the South Island.-Taxonomy:The Eastern Rosella was named by...

and Pale-headed Rosella

Pale-headed Rosella

The Pale-headed Rosella , is a broad-tailed parrot of the genus Platycercus native to northeastern Australia. It is a moderate-size parrot with a pale yellow head, predominantly white cheeks, scalloped black and gold back and pale blue underparts...

s, White-browed Scrubwren

White-browed Scrubwren

The White-browed Scrubwren is a passerine bird found in coastal areas of Australia. Placed in the family Pardalotidae in the Sibley-Ahlquist taxonomy, this has met with opposition and indeed is now known to be wrong; they rather belong to the independent family Acanthizidae.It is insectivorous and...

, Brown Goshawk

Brown Goshawk

The Brown Goshawk is a medium-sized bird of prey in the family Accipitridae found in Australia and surrounding islands.- Description:...

, Little Falcon, Black-shouldered Kite

Black-shouldered Kite

The Black-shouldered Kite or Australian Black-shouldered Kite is a small raptor found in open habitat throughout Australia and resembles similar species found in Eurasia and North America, which have in the past also been named as Black-shouldered Kites...

, Kestrel

Kestrel

The name kestrel, is given to several different members of the falcon genus, Falco. Kestrels are most easily distinguished by their typical hunting behaviour which is to hover at a height of around over open country and swoop down on prey, usually small mammals, lizards or large insects...

, Brown Falcon

Brown Falcon

The Brown Falcon , also known as the Brown Hawk, is a member of the falcon genus found in the drier regions of Australia. Its specific name berigora is derived from an aboriginal name for the bird....

, Little Eagle

Little Eagle

The Little Eagle is a very small eagle native to Australasia, measuring 45–55 cm in length and weighing 815 g – roughly the size of a Peregrine Falcon. It tends to inhabit open woodland, grassland and arid regions, shunning dense forest...

, Black-faced Cuckoo-shrike

Black-faced Cuckoo-shrike

The Black-faced Cuckoo-shrike is a common omnivorous passerine bird native to Australia, New Guinea and the Solomon Islands. It has a protected status in Australia, under the National Parks and Wildlife Act, 1974....

, Grey Fantail

Grey Fantail

The Grey Fantail is a small insectivorous bird. A common fantail found in Australia , New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, Vanuatu and New Caledonia...

, Superb Fairy-wren

Superb Fairy-wren

The Superb Fairywren , also known as the Superb Blue-wren or colloquially as the Blue Wren, is a passerine bird of the Maluridae family, common and familiar across south-eastern Australia...

, Spotted and Striated Pardalote

Striated Pardalote

The Striated Pardalote is the least colourful and most common of the four pardalote species. Other common names include Pickwick, Wittachew and Chip-Chip...

, Scarlet Robin

Scarlet Robin

The Scarlet Robin is a common red-breasted Australasian robin in the passerine bird genus Petroica. The species is found on continental Australia and its offshore islands, including Tasmania...

, and Red-browed Firetails.

History

In the early years of European settlement Wurundjeri

Wurundjeri

The Wurundjeri are a people of the Indigenous Australian nation of the Woiwurrung language group, in the Kulin alliance, who occupy the Birrarung Valley, its tributaries and the present location of Melbourne, Australia...

camp fires were sometimes seen in the vicinity of Royal Park, although the Yarra people generally preferred camping beside the Yarra River or Merri Creek.

Governor Charles La Trobe

Charles La Trobe

Charles Joseph La Trobe was the first lieutenant-governor of the colony of Victoria .-Early life:La Trobe was born in London, the son of Christian Ignatius Latrobe, a family of Huguenot origin...

set aside in 1845 a reservation of 10.36 square kilometres (4 sq mi) for parkland and open space, however, by the time of its proclamation in 1854 this had been reduced to a reserve of 6.25 km² (2.4 sq mi). This was further reduced to 2.83 km² (1.1 sq mi) with the rapid increase of population from the Victorian gold rush

Victorian gold rush

The Victorian gold rush was a period in the history of Victoria, Australia approximately between 1851 and the late 1860s. In 10 years the Australian population nearly tripled.- Overview :During this era Victoria dominated the world's gold output...

, to form the suburb of Parkville from three new residential areas, Parkville North, South and West. In 1861 the Royal Melbourne Zoological Gardens

Melbourne Zoo

The Royal Melbourne Zoological Gardens, commonly known as the Melbourne Zoo, contains more than 320 animal species from Australia and around the world. The zoo is north of the centre of Melbourne. It is accessible via Royal Park station on the Upfield railway line, and is also accessible via tram...

was allocated 0.2 km² (0.077220431718507 sq mi). Further excisions followed for roads, tramline and the Upfield railway line; University High School

University High School, Melbourne

The University High School is a public, co-educational high school, located in the Melbourne suburb of Parkville.-History:...

(1929), Royal Melbourne Hospital

Royal Melbourne Hospital

The Royal Melbourne Hospital , located in Parkville, Victoria an inner suburb of Melbourne is one of Australia’s leading public hospitals. It is a major teaching hospital for tertiary health care with a reputation in clinical research...

(1944), Royal Children's Hospital

Royal Children's Hospital, Melbourne

(1957), Royal Dental Hospital (1963).

In 1860 the Burke and Wills expedition

Burke and Wills expedition

In 1860–61, Robert O'Hara Burke and William John Wills led an expedition of 19 men with the intention of crossing Australia from Melbourne in the south to the Gulf of Carpentaria in the north, a distance of around 3,250 kilometres...

set out from Royal Park to cross Australia from south to north. They perished on the return journey. A cairn now marks the departure point of their expedition in Royal Park.

The park was used for military encampments during World War One and Two, with Camp Pell being used by United States forces during the Second World War. After the war the permanent buildings of Camp Pell were used for emergency housing accommodation until 1960. As of 2005, the one existing building from Camp Pell is used as an 'Urban Camp' to provide accommodation for rural school children and other groups when visiting Melbourne.

The Royal Park Master Plan Design Competition

Following many years of agitation by resident groups and various failed planning attempts, the Melbourne City Council held a design competition in 1984, judged by representatives of the Australian Institute of Landscape Architects

Australian Institute of Landscape Architects

The Australian Institute of Landscape Architects is the Australian non-profit professional institute formed to serve the mutual interests of its members and the wider profession of landscape architecture throughout Australia.-AILA Vision Statement:...

, Royal Australian Institute of Parks and Recreation, Melbourne University's School of Environmental Planning, and the Melbourne City Council.

The winning entry by landscape architects Brian Stafford and Ronald Jones expressed a philosophy that the character of the Park was inherent in its form – 'a place where the earth swells, the dome of the sky soars overhead and the horizon beckons'. A sense of the landscape at the time of Europeans’ first encounter with it was to be evoked by planting indigenous species and enhancing the park’s spacious quality, principally through a process of 'editing' rather than adding new features. The aim was 'to provide a park for persons rather than machinery, for individual public activity rather than restricted private institutions, and for psychological recreation as well as physical activity'.

The plan proposed extensive planting of indigenous trees, while the expansive hilltop in the Park’s south-east was to be cleared and planted with native grasses. A network of walking and cycle paths was proposed, along with works to reduce the impact of traffic and parking, including closing through roads, rebuilding a large section of Macarthur Road as a tunnel, and reorganising car parks.

The plan was greeted with consternation. Sporting groups were concerned with a potential loss of facilities; the Zoo administration wanted more parking rather than any attempt at control; there was concern for maintenance of motor routes; and The Age

The Age

The Age is a daily broadsheet newspaper, which has been published in Melbourne, Australia since 1854. Owned and published by Fairfax Media, The Age primarily serves Victoria, but is also available for purchase in Tasmania, the Australian Capital Territory and border regions of South Australia and...

highlighted the intent to 'rip out' exotic trees. Council adopted the Master Plan – in principle and subject to various qualifications – after three years of debate.

The first works to implement the plan were completed in the early 1990s. Two new ovals were graded near Flemington Road to allow removal of the sports grounds, changing room and car park perched on the hilltop in the Park’s south-east, which now offers spectacular uncluttered views of Melbourne’s skyline. A new pond was formed, featuring rockwork by the landscape designer Gordon Ford.

A new layout for access and parking around the Zoo was finally agreed upon after a decade of negotiation between the Council and Zoo. Reorganization of the car parks, closure of various roads, development of forecourts to the Zoo’s main entry and extensive new plantings were completed in 1997.

A formal review of the Master Plan commenced in 1996. This included extensive public consultation that identified overwhelming support for the principles established by the winning entry in the 1984 Royal Park Master Plan Design Competition. The Master Plan as reviewed endorsed the objectives of the 1984 document and introduced proposals such as a major wetland water recycling project west of the railway line. It was approved by Council in November 1997.

Commonwealth Games Village

In 2003 the Labor Government of Steve Bracks

Steve Bracks

Stephen Philip Bracks AC is a former Australian politician and the 44th Premier of Victoria. He first won the electoral district of Williamstown in 1994 for the Australian Labor Party, and was party leader and Premier from 1999 to 2007....

selected the 0.2 km² (0.077220431718507 sq mi) former Royal Park Psychiatric Hospital

Royal Park Hospital

Royal Park Psychiatric Hospital, commonly known as Royal Park is a former Receiving House and Psychiatric Hospital located in Parkville. Operating for over 90 years, Royal Park Hospital was the first psychiatric hospital established in Victoria after the Lunacy Act of 1903, and was intended for...

site bordering on Moonee Ponds Creek

Moonee Ponds Creek

The Moonee Ponds Creek is a creek and major tributary of the Yarra River running through urban Melbourne, Victoria, Australia from northern to inner suburbs...

, for the athletes village for the 2006 Commonwealth Games

2006 Commonwealth Games

The 2006 Commonwealth Games were held in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia between 15 March and 26 March 2006. It was the largest sporting event to be staged in Melbourne, eclipsing the 1956 Summer Olympics in terms of the number of teams competing, athletes competing, and events being held.The site...

. After the games, the site developers, Australand and Citta Property Group, sold the housing. Opponents of the village criticised the building of the village citing the destruction of more than 1000 trees, demolition of 4 of the hospital buildings pending a heritage listing, and denigration of the heritage value of the remaining buildings, a lost opportunity to return a development back to public parkland, and privatisation of public lands.

Sporting groups criticised security arrangements for the athletes village with large sections of the park and sporting grounds having security fencing erected for the exclusive use of athletes. This disrupted many community sporting associations from their regular use of sporting facilities.

Royal Children's Hospital extension

In 2005 the Bracks Labor Government selected an adjacent site in Royal Park to build a new Royal Children's Hospital

Royal Children's Hospital, Melbourne

. Most sections of the old hospital will be demolished and restored to parklands.

While the move attracted some opposition from green groups, it will result in no net loss of parkland at Royal Park.

Transport

The Upfield railway line travels through Royal Park with Royal Park Station

Royal Park railway station, Melbourne

Royal Park is a railway station in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, located in the suburb of Parkville, on the Upfield railway line. Royal Park is unmanned and in Metcard Zone 1.-Facilities:...

being a convenient stop for the Melbourne Zoo.

Tram route 19 to North Coburg up Royal Parade.
Tram route 55 to West Coburg through the middle of the park.
Tram route 57 to West Maribyrnong up Flemington Road
Flemington Road, Melbourne
Flemington Road is a major thoroughfare in the inner suburbs of North Melbourne and Parkville in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It runs from the north end of Elizabeth Street to the south end of Mount Alexander Road, Flemington, and provides a main connection between the Melbourne CBD and the...

.
Tram route 59 to Airport West up Flemington Road.

The Capital City Trail

Capital City Trail

The Capital City Trail is a shared use path for cyclists and pedestrians, which circles the Melbourne city centre and some inner eastern and northern suburbs of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia....

for cyclists follows the train line through Royal Park from the Moonee Ponds Creek Trail

Moonee Ponds Creek Trail

The Moonee Ponds Creek Trail is a shared use path for cyclists and pedestrians, which follows the Moonee Ponds Creek through the northern suburbs of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.-Following the path:...

at Flemington Bridge, past Melbourne Zoo, and under Royal Parade along the converted Inner Circle railway line to Princes Park

Princes Park, Carlton

Princes Park is a 38.6 hectare park in the inner-Melbourne suburb of Carlton North, Victoria. It is located directly north of the University of Melbourne and bounded on its eastern and western sides by Melbourne General Cemetery and Royal Parade respectively...

External links

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