Yarra Council spent $200k on art to upgrade ‘Melbourne’s saddest playground’

Yarra Council spent $200,000 on artwork, but less than $40,000 on playground equipment as part of an upgrade to a Collingwood park some locals have dubbed “Melbourne’s saddest playground”.

Yarra Council spent nearly $200,000 on artwork and less than $40,000 on play equipment during a park upgrade which created “Melbourne’s saddest playground”.

Collingwood parents were shocked at the unveiling of the $2 million “upgrade” to Cambridge Street Reserve in October.

A full children’s playground which included a climbing frame, seesaw and slides had been replaced by a single swing and some exercise bars.

The reserve now contains open green space, some picnic tables and artwork — including sculptures of two flying jumpers – and came at a hefty price.

One of the flying jumpers sculptures in “Melbourne’s saddest playground”. Picture: Supplied

Documents seen by The Herald Sun reveal the council spent $191,600 on the “design, construction and installation of ‘Close Knit’ artwork” from contractor Dishboy Dreaming, otherwise known as sculptor William Eicholtz.

The flying jumpers are part of Close Knit, a work which “references the iconic ‘Aussie’ backyard, symbolized (sic) by washing on a Hills Hoist with strong themes of domesticity and handcrafts,” according to Yarra Council.

One resident said the council’s spending priorities had opened them up to ridicule.

“It’s completely irresponsible, that if they (the council) had reversed the spending and spent $200k on play equipment it would have passed by and nobody would have cared,” Yarra resident Alan Tse said.

Mr Eicholtz has been commissioned to work for many other Melbourne councils, including the City of Maroondah, City of Bayside and City of Port Phillip, according to the Dishboy Dreaming website.

The flying jumpers form part of the artwork which cost Yarra Council nearly $200,000. Picture: Supplied

The same documents reveal that council spent just $39,798 on play and exercise equipment.

An online petition to encourage the City of Yarra to reinstate suitable playground equipment has attracted over 1,600 signatures, and the support of Councillor Stephen Jolly.

“If the Council can spend almost $200,000 for an art piece in a park then surely they can find money for a swing and slide for our kids,” Cr Jolly said.

“That’s what I’ll be pushing for at the next Council meeting.”

The bulk of the playground spending was on “general construction and landscaping”, which cost the council $1,487,037. Other costs included $18,570 for “traffic studies” and $1,401 for “mailouts and communication”.

There is still confusion over the end costs of the Cambridge Street Reserve upgrade.

When Yarra Council announced the completion of the upgrade on social media, they said it had been paid for with $1.3 million of funding from the Victorian Government along with a contribution of $731,130 from the council.

This brought the total cost of the park to $2,031,130, according to the council. However, the documents viewed by the Herald Sun suggest a total cost of $1,779,602, over $250,000 less than the figure claimed by the council.

Yarra City Council was contacted for comment.