The Friends of Melrose Park and other Katoomba residents are delighted with the new picnic tables and park seating in Melrose Park.
In November 2015, the Friends of Melrose Park were awarded $24,100 as a community building partnerships grant to upgrade park facilities and bring the local community together.
Katoomba Neighbourhood Centre and Blue Mountains City Council have been active partners in this project.
On Easter Saturday, park care volunteers ate their first lunch at the picnic tables.
“It was wonderful to have seating with a view over the park,” said spokeswoman Meredith Brownhill. “These are the park’s first picnic tables and residents in this area have put in a lot of effort to achieve their installation.”
Local residents came together in 2015 seeking to enhance, enjoy and advocate for this recreational community resource. As well as achieving the completion of this project, the Friends sought daily open toilets and have contributed to Meet Your Street Festivals in the park.
“We now have a park care group of local volunteers who meet on the first Sunday of each month,” Ms Brownhill said.
“Local volunteers have put in many hours of time cleaning up rubbish, weeding and planting to improve the appearance of the park as well as to provide habitat for local wildlife.
“Saturday morning we planted 80 trees including Eucalyptus oreades, which used to grow across this Katoomba ridge. They will provide shade for us in summer and habitat for several species of Insectivorous bats and birds. This is a great community achievement.”
Residents can join the Friends by coming along to morning tea at 10.30am on park care day or find us on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/FriendsofMelrosePark/.