Year in pictures

We started upgrades to the pavilion and grandstand at Coburg City Oval. We are making it more accessible with a new lift and updates to amenities.

Our COVID-safe Brunswick Music Festival sold out in record time. Festival events were free or low cost. It supported hundreds of musicians and local music venues.

We ran a Plastic Free Sydney Road trial with the Boomerang Alliance. Twenty-seven food businesses joined the trial. The aim was to reduce and eliminate single-use plastic items from their businesses.

We successfully trialled the ‘Open Streets’ concept, a first in Australia. This increased active travel among students at a primary school in Brunswick East. It was a partnership with Bicycle Network.

We started construction of Gavin Park wetland. We also began design for the Somerlayton wetland. We started planning Brunswick Parklands. These are aspects of our Integrated Water Management Strategy 2040. Council endorsed the strategy in August 2020 to help protect our open spaces as the climate changes.

We launched a new website in June 2021. The new site helps the community access council services and information with ease. It also now meets international accessibility standards

We re-launched our SmartArt project. SmartArt allows the community to view art in Merri-bek using augmented reality on their smartphone.

We completed work on the revitalised grandstand at Fleming Park in Brunswick East. It is now open and accessible to the community. This was the start of a larger project to improve the park following community feedback. Construction will continue later in 2021-22 to add new amenities, sporting facilities and upgrade the park.

We progressed the redevelopment of the Coburg Square site. We started to transform the building into artists’ studios, a cafe and an event space.

We ran a 12-month inclusive traineeship program for 5 people with disability. And delivered a work experience program for people with disability.

Pascoe Vale Community Centre won the 2020 Singapore Institute of Architects Architectural Design Awards, Institutional Projects award.

The Russell Street Coburg Community Art Project was a finalist in the Communication Design category of the 2020 Victorian Premier’s Design Awards.