April provides a number of opportune moments to take stock and reflect on what we are grateful for, including the selflessness and sacrifices so many have made for our community. 

On Wednesday 22 April, we will honour the four police officers who tragically lost their lives on the Eastern Freeway in 2020: Constable Glen Humphris, Constable Josh Prestney, Leading Senior Constable Lynette Taylor and Senior Constable Kevin King.  

The clock tower at Hawthorn Arts Centre will be lit up in blue in the evening, as a mark of respect and to pay condolence to their families and friends, staff of Boroondara Police Complex and the wider Victoria Police community. We thank them for all the important work they do every day to keep our community safe.

On Anzac Day, we recognise and commemorate the sacrifices of our servicemen and women in the First World War and every conflict Australia has participated in since. Their efforts have created the freedoms we enjoy today. Lest we forget. I encourage you to consider attending one of the dawn services taking place across Boroondara.

In my own life, I am grateful for the quality time I get to spend with my family during the school holidays and the Easter break. There are lots of local family-friendly activities happening during April, including school holiday activities, and Australian Heritage Festival events across our libraries. The latter might inspire you to look into your own family story, or the history of your home. 

With Easter approaching, our many shopping strips will have an array of hot cross buns and chocolate eggs on offer, so remember to shop locally when you can. To those of you who celebrate Easter, I wish you a happy and safe break and hope you can enjoy some time with your loved ones.

Mayor of Boroondara

We’ve reached net carbon neutral as an organisation, and now it’s up to our community to act.

We’re committed to reducing emissions in Boroondara by delivering what we committed to in our Climate Action Plan. However, Council is responsible for less than one per cent of Boroondara’s greenhouse gas emissions. This means our greatest opportunity is with you, our community, to help Boroondara become fully carbon neutral by 2035 – a key Climate Action Plan aspirational target.

Climate action is everyone’s responsibility. But taking action doesn’t have to be difficult or expensive. There are meaningful steps (big and small) each of us can take to reduce our carbon footprint, and in each edition of the Bulletin for the rest of 2023, we’ll show you how.

From switching to renewable energy and avoiding fast consumption, to getting off gas, improving your home’s thermal performance and reducing your transport emissions – we’ll provide tips and resources to help you make real and impactful changes towards living more sustainably.

You’ll find some initial resources and ideas for change on this page. Access more and track progress on our Climate Action Plan page.

As we make space to improve this popular shopping strip for the community, we’re asking you to consider some options.

The first and biggest step towards revitalising the area is for us to upgrade the Glenferrie Road streetscape.

To create the street you’ve asked for – attractive, green, easy to move around – we need to find space. We’re also planning ahead for tram-stop upgrades, which will require on-road spaces.

We’ve explored the options and researched feasibility, so the question is: what would our community prefer us to do about moving on-road car-park spaces for these 2 phases of upgrades? 

See the options for how we could approach this, along with opportunities to discuss these plans with Council’s Placemaking Team, and have your say at our Glenferrie Road consultation page on the Engage Boroondara website by Friday 2 May.

It’s time to play again at our redeveloped Freeway Golf Course in Balwyn North, where brand-new fairways meet biodiverse surrounds, and everyone is welcome.

The revitalised 18-hole championship course boasts superior playing surfaces in a parkland setting, making it an ideal choice for golfers of all ages, abilities and skill levels.

With the North East Link Program set to acquire land from the course to build the new North East Link ramps, we needed to reconfigure the course within a smaller footprint of land.

Sustainability focus

Based on feedback from our community, and with support from leading golf architects Pacific Coast Design, the new course design has a strong focus on environmental sustainability and biodiversity. It includes the addition of more than 5,000 native plants, 104 new trees and 3.1 hectares of Santa Ana turf.

You’ll also find unique timber-faced sand bunkers and 2.8 km of new pathways. Some sections of the path surface are made from 60% recycled vehicle tyres, thanks to a grant from Tyre Stewardship Australia.

New management 

Matt Doran, the on-site golf-shop manager from our new management partner, GreenSpace Management, is enjoying welcoming both returning and new players to the course. 

'We want everyone to feel like they can come and play. Whether you’re a veteran or new to the game, you will love the new Freeway Golf Course,' he says.

'We have an on-site PGA team of coaches to provide lessons, tuition and clinics for both groups and individuals, so we encourage you to come down and give it a go. 

'Golf is a great way to keep active and healthy, to connect with others in your community, and to have fun.'

The course is open to all members of the public. It’s also home to Camberwell Women’s Golf Club, Camberwell Men’s Golf Club and Harp Social Golf Club.

Bookings for tee times can now be made conveniently online at the Freeway Golf Course website.

We’re always on the lookout for different ways to tackle weeds in Boroondara’s open spaces. 

That’s why you may have noticed our new 4-legged weed-management machines in sections of the Koonung Creek Reserve in Balwyn North recently.

A small herd of 11 South African Boer goats has been introduced here as part of a trial to help keep weeds at a minimum.

Goats are known to target woody weeds and exotic grasses over native grasses, and using them to manage weeds is considered a sustainable alternative to brush cutting and herbicides. At Koonung Creek they are tackling kikuyu grass and panic veldtgrass.

Goats can also get to hard-to-reach areas that are unsafe for humans to access, such as creek and river banks, and steep embankments.

Our resident goats will be strategically moved on and off site until June, and if the trial is successful, you may find weed-munching goats in other areas of Boroondara in the future.

Tread lightly

While you are welcome to watch and take photos of the goats, please don’t feed, pat or touch them. Be sure to also keep dogs on leads around the goats’ fenced area.

Find out more on our Weed management program page. 

A master plan for Koonung Creek Reserve

The Koonung Creek Reserve is also the focus for a new master plan being developed by the North East Link Program in collaboration with Council. 

This master plan will guide the restoration of the reserve after they build the North East Link interchange at Bulleen Road and widen the adjacent Eastern Freeway. It will also ensure the reserve is enhanced for our community to enjoy well into the future.

Stay up to date about opportunities to have your say on the Koonung Creek Reserve in April, by visiting our Koonung Creek Reserve Master Plan page on the Engage Boroondara website.

This autumn we’re making some changes to our bulk leaf collection and street sweeping services. Here's what you need to know.

Autumn bulk leaf collection

Some streets in Boroondara have significantly higher leaf fall than others. Our additional bulk leaf collection service helps keep them safe and tidy. 

We recently used a consultant to calculate the volume of leaf fall in streets throughout Boroondara. This data has been used to decide how many bulk leaf collections each included street receives between April and July this year. 

Street sweeping 

We’ve increased the frequency of street sweeping from every 4 weeks to every fortnight, only during autumn for streets without bulk leaf collections. This is part of a trial to provide a better service across all Boroondara streets. 

How you can help us

So we can provide the best possible service, we encourage you to sweep leaves from the footpath and nature strip into the gutter before street sweeping days. 

Please also remember to keep cars parked off the road on your scheduled bulk leaf collection and street sweeping days. This ensures our machinery can clear as many leaves as possible.

You can find your autumn bulk leaf collection or street sweeping dates using our interactive maps on our Street cleaning page. 

Our interactive maps are just part of our efforts at Transforming Boroondara  – making it easier to find the information you need, when you need it. You can find out more about this work on our Transforming Boroondara page.

Reminder to book a bundled green waste collection

Bookings for our free bundled green waste collections are open. If your property is eligible and you’re yet to book an April collection, you can find out more about what we collect and how you can prepare by visiting our Bundled green waste collections page.

Bookings will close at 2 pm on Friday 5 May. Collections begin on Monday 3 April and will end on Friday 12 May.

To book, visit our Bundled green waste collections page or call (03) 9278 4444.

Do we normally collect your bins on a Friday?

Due to the Good Friday public holiday, all FOGO, recycling and household waste bins normally collected on a Friday will be collected on Saturday 8 April instead.

Significant and unusual periods of wet weather throughout 2022 have led to some turf maintenance problems with many outdoor playing surfaces across metropolitan Melbourne, including in Boroondara. 

Excessive rainfall and a cooler than usual start to summer 2022-23 made turf maintenance challenging, as the grounds were often too wet to use equipment and growing conditions were very poor. This, combined with the high demand for community sport use across our sportsgrounds and fields, has unfortunately hampered turf growth and recovery. 

Many of our grounds are located in floodplains, near creek corridors, and have poor soil profiles. This means the impact of excessive rain is often amplified in these areas.  

We know how much our community values high-quality parks and open spaces. That’s why we are carrying out additional maintenance and fertilisation across many of our sportsgrounds and fields to help address the issue. We are also being mindful with how we allocate grounds to local sporting clubs, to allow for better recovery.

This issue is not limited to Boroondara and we are consulting with other Councils facing the same challenges. 

If you’ve heard the saying 'it’s like watching grass grow', you will understand it’s a slow process and it may be some time before we see significant improvements. In the meantime, we thank our community for their patience as we work to rectify the issue.

We’re committed to creating a welcoming and inclusive community where everyone feels a sense of connection and belonging. 

That’s why we’re updating our Multicultural Action Plan. This plan guides Council’s work to celebrate our multiculturalism and enable people from all backgrounds to participate in community life.   

We want to hear from all members of the community to help us ensure everyone feels welcome in Boroondara and can participate in Council services, programs, activities and community life.

You told us in the development of the Boroondara Community Plan (BCP) 2021-31 that a sense of belonging and connection to community is important to you. You can read more about this on our Boroondara Community Plan 2021-2031 page.

You can share your feedback with us through a short survey on our Multicultural Action Plan page on the Engage Boroondara website. You can complete the survey in your chosen language or use a telephone interpreter by calling (03) 9278 4002. Feedback closes on Sunday 7 May.

At home in multicultural Boroondara

According to Census 2021 data for Boroondara:

• 32.6% of households use a language other than English. Of the more than 120 languages spoken, Mandarin, Cantonese, Greek, Italian and Vietnamese are the most common.
• 32.5% of residents were born overseas, with more than 150 countries named as place of birth.
• 43.6% of Boroondara residents had both parents born overseas, compared with 41.3% of Victorians, and 36.7% of Australians.

Our Sports Club Accreditation program recognises and rewards clubs across Boroondara that provide a safe, inclusive and welcoming environment for all players, spectators and volunteers.

Congratulations to the clubs that achieved accreditation for the 2023–24 season.

Gold accreditation: Burwood Cricket Club and Camberwell Hockey Club.

Silver accreditation: Old Scotch Football Club.

Bronze accreditation: A further 7 clubs were awarded Bronze accreditation.

Each club was given the opportunity to respond to questions under 7 categories: inclusion, promotion, partnerships, volunteer/committee, learning, safe environment and nutrition. 

In particular, through policy and proactivity, Burwood Cricket Club and Camberwell Hockey Club demonstrated their leadership and a significant ability to provide a safe and inclusive environment where everyone is welcome.

Successful clubs will retain their accreditation for 2 years. Applications for the 2024–25 program will reopen in September. 

For more information, visit our Sports Club Accreditation program page.

Boroondara Police have arrested multiple offenders recently for car thefts resulting from home burglaries. 

'We are seeing a trend of home owners leaving the doors of their homes unlocked, which leads to easily accessible car keys, and cars being stolen,' says Inspector Craig Pearson.

Boroondara Police are working closely with neighbouring regions to combat this issue, with Operation Fortress providing a highly visible police presence overnight.  

You can keep your car safe by:

• locking all doors and closing the windows of both your home and vehicle, even when you’re at home 
• parking in a well-lit and secure area
• never hiding keys on your property or in your vehicle 
• installing anti-theft devices and ensuring they work.

'We also urge residents to consider CCTV. It acts as a great deterrent and investigative tool and supports early interception and arrest of offenders,' says Inspector Pearson. 

For the latest updates from Boroondara Police, visit the Eyewatch - Boroondara Police Service Area Facebook page.

Health authorities are preparing for the upcoming flu season. Vaccination is the best way to protect yourself and others. 

We’re running dedicated flu vaccination sessions in April and May.

Free flu vaccinations are available to:

• children aged from 6 months to 4 years and 11 months
• Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people aged 6 months and older
• pregnant women (at any stage of pregnancy)
• people aged 65 years and older
• people aged 6 months and older with medical conditions that put them at a higher risk of severe influenza.

If you don’t qualify for a free vaccine, the cost is $25, payable when you book.

Book an appointment on our Flu immunisation page or call our immunisation team on (03) 9278 4711.

Time for a COVID-19 booster?

Getting your COVID-19 booster is still the best way to prevent severe illness or hospitalisation, especially in people over 65 and those at higher risk of severe illness. Book your next dose if your last dose or COVID-19 infection was more than 6 months ago. 

Visit the Australian Department of Health and Aged Care website to find a local clinic or pharmacy where you can get your COVID-19 vaccine.

For information on COVID-19 vaccines, visit the Victorian Government's Coronavirus website.

The Victorian Department of Health advises it is safe to receive a flu vaccine within the same time period as a COVID-19 vaccine.

Forty-six community organisations, clubs and groups shared in more than $232,000 in our last round of Annual Community Strengthening Grants.

They included Little Stars Playgroup (pictured above), which received funding to buy sensory and educational toys for children and families attending the playgroup at Camberwell Community Centre.

Each year Council provides this funding for new and one-off projects and activities that help strengthen our community.  

If you’re involved with a not-for profit community organisation or group with an idea you’d like help to kick-start, you can apply for grants of up to $10,000 under 6 streams. 

To help you put your best application forward, we’re hosting information sessions in late-April and May. Applications open on 24 April and close on 28 May.

For more information and to apply, visit our Annual Community Strengthening Grants page. 

This is a special year for the Boroondara Literary Awards, as they celebrate 25 years of inspiring creative writing in our community. 

From Anzac Day commemorations to heritage workshops and an all-ages gig at Hawthorn Arts Centre, there’s plenty going on in Boroondara.

For a searchable listing of hundreds of events in the City of Boroondara, visit our Events page.

Commemorating Anzac Day in Boroondara

On Tuesday 25 April, we mark 108 years since the First World War Gallipoli landings that gave rise to Anzac Day. War memorials can be found in 4 locations in Boroondara, and a number of commemorative services are held in recognition of Anzac Day each year. Find local services on our Commemorating Anzac Day in Boroondara page.

School holidays: what’s on

The school holidays are upon us again, and we’ve put together an exciting, creative and cost-effective program to keep your children entertained.

Explore local parks and gardens, or try a creative workshop. Older children can drop into the Boroondara Youth Hub for cooking classes, pool and table tennis tournaments and a trivia night. Our school-holiday sustainability program runs at CERES Community Environment Park in Brunswick East.

For more information about all the activities on offer, visit our School holiday activities page or call (03) 9278 4444.

World Autism Awareness Day 

World Autism Awareness Day is celebrated on 2 April each year. It gives an opportunity to build understanding, promote acceptance and celebrate people with autism.

To mark the day, families with children and young people with autism are invited to join sensory-friendly events across our community, including the following.

These events have been designed with children and young people with autism in mind.

You can further your understanding by borrowing a book from the list of resources curated by Boroondara Libraries.

Visit our Celebrating World Autism Awareness Day 2023 news item for more information.

Australian Heritage Festival

The Australian Heritage Festival begins in April. As part of the festival, Boroondara Library Service will host events that explore the history and heritage of our local area.

Highlights include a presentation on Boroondara’s many architectural styles, a local history workshop where you can learn how to research the history of your home, and a seminar on the National Library of Australia’s Trove database and how you can use it for your own research.

These events are just the beginning – find out more on our Library events page. 

The Push All-Ages Tour is back

On Friday 19 May the All-Ages Tour will take over Hawthorn Arts Centre, with performances from Cub Sport and Cry Club, and the winner of the All-Ages Tour competition. The event is fully supervised, all-ages, drug, alcohol, smoke and vape-free. Tickets are $30.

The Push All-Ages Tour is delivered with support from the City of Boroondara, Solar Productions and the Victorian Government as part of the On The Road Again program.

To find out more and book, visit the Moshtix website.

What’s happening at Boroondara Arts

All Day Fritz bring school-holiday fun to Kew Court House in April, and at the same venue in May Ajak Kwai's performance will draw on South Sudanese traditional music alongside funk and blues influences. 

Look out for our new major exhibition Light Sensitive, which showcases the narrative potential of light and its innovative application in art. Out of Reach by Amy Cohen explores form, materiality and texture to emulate natural objects and landscapes. Light Years is a community exhibition showcasing the work of the Camberwell Camera Club. 

Visit our Boroondara Arts page for more about these events and many more.

Neighbourhood house classes and workshops

This month you can try your hand at Nordic walking, sewing, tai chi or belly dancing... Read about these classes and many more below, or download a copy of our new Live & Learn guide at our Community and Neighbourhood Houses page.

Our consultations website invites you to take part in decisions made by Council. The following community consultations are open for your feedback.

Glenferrie Oval precinct revitalisation

What it’s about

The Glenferrie Oval precinct is one of the community’s most loved sporting and community facilities. Over the coming years, we’ll make several improvements to allow for better community use of this historic precinct, including:

• demolishing the dilapidated Ferguson Stand
• creating a new public open space (replacing the Ferguson Stand)
• planning to refurbish the Michael Tuck Stand.

We’re currently seeking your feedback on the draft landscape concept plan for the new open space that will be created by the demolition of the Ferguson Stand.

View the plan and give your feedback on our Glenferrie Oval precinct revitalisation page on the Engage Boroondara website.

Closes on Sunday 16 April.

Glenferrie Road streetscape improvements

What it’s about

Have your say on the next stage in this revitalisation as we make space to improve the Glenferrie Road streetscape.
To widen the footpaths and make improvements, we need to use some of the space currently designated as on-road parking spaces. Of the 180 parking spaces along Glenferrie Road, 30 to 40 will become new public spaces for people. We also anticipate that, at a later date, the Victorian Government will remove an additional 40 to 50 car-parking spaces for tram-stop upgrades.

Now we’re asking the community to consider how we approach this relocation of spaces and how parking could be accommodated on Park Street.

Consider the 3 options and share your feedback on our Glenferrie Road placemaking consultation page on the Engage Boroondara website. 

Closes on Tuesday 2 May.

Updating Boroondara’s Multicultural Action Plan

What it’s about

We’re updating our Multicultural Action Plan. We want to hear from all members of the community to help us ensure everyone feels welcome in Boroondara and can participate in Council services, programs, activities and community life.

Share your feedback with us in a short survey on our Multicultural Action Plan page on the Engage Boroondara website. You can complete the survey in your chosen language or use a telephone interpreter by calling (03) 9278 4002.

Closes on Sunday 7 May.

Stay up to date

To stay informed about consultations that matter to you, register for updates by clicking the ‘Join’ button on the Engage Boroondara website.

How we consult with you

Our Community Engagement Policy guides how we ask for your views on a range of topics and areas. You can find out more on our Community Engagement Policy page.