Darebin Council’s shameful neglect of a significant park in Northcote

Johnson Park is a vital Northcote hub, serving a huge cross section of the community. Unfortunately, for many years, the park has suffered from severe neglect. Its current condition is shameful – a dirt patch filled with weeds as the major ‘grassed’ area, sparce garden beds hosting a straggly assortment of plants that have seen better days, and tired amenities insufficient to the meet the needs of the volume of visitors the park receives each year.

Visit any number of parks managed by adjoining municipalities and you will see well-designed and maintained green spaces worthy of their community. By comparison, the state of Johnson Park should be an embarrassment for the City of Darebin. 

Sadly this is not the first time the community has noticed the shameful and shocking neglect of the southern and more leafy area under Darebin City Council. This masthead has received other submissions on the damage Darebin City Council is doing to the area with a large number of mature tree removals just because they are not native.

According to Wikipedia the story of the Johnson Park’s neglect is not new. Community campaigns in 2002, 2004 and 2014 have previously raised concerns about care and maintenance issues, to little apparent long-term effect…

From the Northcote Leader, 2003: 
“Friends of Johnson Park spokesman Ian Shepherd said the poor state of the park was due to systematic neglect by the Darebin Council over many years”. The spokesperson proceeded to claim that the park was like “a desert” and that its then state was “an outrage”. 

 From landscape consultants review, 2004: 
“The key design elements of the park have been significantly diminished by premature tree death, these deaths most likely attributable to inadequate moisture for the planted tree species.”

We recognise that there have been some minor improvements to the park since 2004. The recent indigenous planting initiative was positive, though unfortunately, weeds have taken over the western side due to a lack of maintenance. It is not a feasible strategy for Darebin Council to add plants to a park and then take no responsibility for their upkeep, especially during the crucial establishment period of one to two years. The southeast corner plantings in the park have only managed to survive because of the dedicated volunteer weeding efforts of residents. These efforts reflect the ongoing commitment of the community to Johnson Park, who wants to see the park reach its potential. This is evidenced by the fact that many of the plants in the park were donated and planted by locals who wanted to see something green rather than staring at dirt.

While the resident involvement is admirable, and building a sense of community ownership over public places is ideal, the ad-hoc efforts of concerned citizens is not a long-term solution to the abject neglect of the park. 

We recognise that, after receiving complaints from residents, Darebin Council has made some recent attempts at more regular watering, though it is baffling as to why it has taken so long for this to happen given that no plants thrive without water. Unfortunately for many of the areas currently being watered, this action is too little too late, as watering what is essentially weeds and dirt will not make grass appear.

Despite the fact Northcote residents pay a lot of money in rates, parklands are one of the most utilised public assets, and other municipal councils seem to manage to keep their parks flourishing, Darebin Council does not seem to be making the care of public spaces such as Johnson Park a priority. As the cost of living continues to rise and more and more people are forced to rent or buy homes with limited outdoor space, green zones such as Johnson Park are more heavily utilised than ever before. They serve a vital function in providing the room people need to play, exercise and connect. Improving this park will positively affect the lives of thousands of people each year.