Child’s play

By Monique Ebrington
ROTARY Club of Upper Yarra (RCUY) members are confident that, with the help of the Shire of Yarra Ranges, the rebuild of the Yarra Junction public playground will be child’s play.
RCUY members will meet with shire landscape architect Rob Hamilton on Monday, 19 April to get a sneak peek at the plans for the new outdoor play structure.
RCUY members worked in consultation with the council during the planning process of the playground and built it in 2001.
Former RCUY president and current member, Tim Stewart, said the club even won a Rotary District Community Service Award that year, for their work towards the playground.
The new play structure for the outdoor playground, near the Yarra Junction Football Oval, will replace the one that was set alight by vandals last September.
The wooden structure comprised three connecting play areas, with tunnels, ramps and a climbing wall leading from them.
Mr Stewart said he was saddened and frustrated by the fire that caused more than $40,000 worth of damage, and that the destruction to the playground was devastating for many children and parents in the community.
“We get so many people stopping at the park to have a barbecue or so the kids can run around,” Mr Stewart said.
“There’s plenty of room to play and it’s a very important asset to the community.
“It’s hard to understand why someone would want to take it away, when you see the kids who use it.”
He said that while Rotary had a hands-on approach to the build of the first structure, they had left its replacement mainly with the shire, for the sake of speedier replacement.
“We have still raised funds towards the project through sausage sizzles and raffles at community events and on a Saturday morning at the local shopping centre,” he said.
“We have also received $5000 from the Upper Yarra Community Bank.
“The council wanted to get it up and going as quickly as possible and so did we. We want to get it back as quickly as possible for the kids.”
He said the recent approval of the shire’s insurance claim on the play structure had helped push the project along.
Mr Stewart said the new play equipment would retain its timber frame, but be more modern than its predecessor.
“Playground equipment has really changed so much so we’re just leaving the new design up to the experts,” he said.
“We’re really open-minded and excited about seeing what the shire have come up with.”