Helen Bodycomb and René Schaefer
The Harvest and The Unswept Floor
2004
Hand-painted fused glass, travertine marble and un-glazed ceramic
Dimensions variable

In 1997, Helen Bodycomb and Enver Camdal were commissioned to create several murals for the Camberwell Fresh Food Market to improve the profile of the market.

The market has undergone numerous renovations since that time. In 2004, Helen Bodycomb was again commissioned to create two new mosaics using hand-painted glass recovered from the mosaics on the exterior wall of the market, which had been destroyed during renovations. With the assistance of René Schaefer, Helen created The Unswept Floor and The Harvest.

The Unswept Floor follows the genre of Roman mosaic known as Asaroton, first created by the Greek mosaicist artist Sosos in the 2nd century BC and made popular during Roman times. Items of food, typical of Camberwell Fresh Food Market produce are depicted here in a trompe l'oeil manner as if strewn across a floor.

The Harvest pays homage to the cultural practice of food gathering and to the historic style of Roman mosaic, typically found in North Africa, which includes this tessellated fan patterning.

Artwork location

These artworks are located inside the Camberwell Fresh Food Market at 519-523 Riversdale Road, Camberwell. 

Closure of Reserve Road in Camberwell

A section of Reserve Road is currently temporarily closed to vehicles.

Have your say on the proposal to permanently restrict vehicle access

In accordance with section 223 of the Local Government Act (1989), we invite you to share your written submissions on the proposal to permanently restrict vehicle access on part of Reserve Road, Camberwell. See the public notice for details. 

We recently made some adjustments to the proposal so we invite your written submissions on the new proposal.

As we have now commenced a fresh consultation period on a new proposal, we are not able to consider previous submissions received during the 30 July to 31 August 2026 consultation.

We encourage you to share your written submission during the current consultation period for the new proposal so your feedback is considered. We thank you for your previous submissions and understanding the need to consult on the adjusted proposal.

All written submissions must be received by 9 am Monday 2 November 2026.

Find out how to submit your submissions on the Reserve Road consultation page

Background

In December 2024, Council made the decision to temporarily close a section of Reserve Road due to safety concerns for children crossing to access the 2 campuses of Camberwell Primary School. (You can view the minutes from the Council meeting at the bottom of this page.) In November 2024 there had been a near miss between a vehicle and a student outside the school and, in a separate incident, a vehicle hit the school fence. 

Council decided to temporarily close Reserve Road before community consultation to immediately address the safety risks raised by the school. Once closed, council officers met with impacted stakeholders and community groups to discuss their concerns and reviewed their submissions. 

Modifications to the temporary road closure were implemented on 4 April 2025 to address access issues for Our Lady of Victories Basilica Catholic church. More parking bays were provided in Reserve Road. 

Parking surveys were undertaken in August 2025, which showed there was adequate parking capacity within the precinct with the closed section of the road in place.

After considering community feedback and an 8-month trial period, Council at its meeting of 8 September 2025, decided to keep Reserve Road in Camberwell temporarily closed.

Parking changes

The closure of this section of road removed 43 parking bays. There are now 36 parking spaces on Reserve Road, including 13 bays at the Camberwell Road end and 23 at the Burke Road end (inclusive of disability parking). 

Access to the rear car parks of the Uniting Church and Our Lady of Victories Basilica remain, along with the school’s maintenance access. 

When the section of the road was temporarily closed in early 2025, changes to parking restrictions were made along sections of Camberwell Road, Burke Road and Inglesby Road to provide alternate parking options. These changes involved:

Camberwell Road

• On the school side of Camberwell Road introduced 3-hour parking (previously 1 hour and all-day parking) with 5-minute and 10-minute parking during school drop-off and pick-up periods.
•  We removed the fees that previously applied to parking here. 

Burke Road

• We removed fees from the 2-hour zone on the east side of Burke Road, between St John’s Anglican Church and Reserve Road.
• We introduced three 10-minute parking bays north of Reserve Road that operate between 3:00 and 7:00 pm, Monday to Friday.  
• Between Reserve Road and Inglesby Road, the all-day ticket parking on the east side of Burke Road along the Church has been converted to 3-hour parking. We've removed the fees that previously applied to parking here.
• We introduced an additional 4 spaces (three 3-hour and one 10-minute space) where the former tram stop was located.

Inglesby Road

• During morning drop-off and afternoon pick-up times, we introduced 5-minute parking in the 2-hour parking zone on the school side of Inglesby Road, from the school pedestrian crossing to the Council offices.
• Parking along the south side of Inglesby Road has not changed. It remains a 1-hour parking zone during the week.

We redeveloped the pavilion at Highfield Park in Camberwell to provide a high-quality facility for our community and sports clubs. 

We’ve done this because the original pavilion building was in poor condition and did not have female-friendly change rooms, toilets and showers.

We’ve invested $6.67 million into this pavilion redevelopment.

We’ve also upgraded the lighting next to the pavilion and sportsground.

Project status

Community consultation

From mid-February to mid-March 2024, we asked you for feedback on a draft design for the pavilion. Thank you to everyone who had their say. We received 46 responses, 72% of which were supportive of the draft design.

You can find out what our community told us, how their feedback shaped the final concept design, and view the final design on our Highfield Park pavilion redevelopment consultation page. 

Our final design

We’ve developed a new split-level building design which:

• is accessible
• has improved functionality
• creates a better connection between the north and south ovals. 

The lower level sits in line with the southern oval, and the upper level sits at road level with Wyclif Drive, facing the northern oval. The height of the split-level building is about 3.5m above car park level. This is an increase of about 2m above the current building height.

The new changerooms provide better facilities for women and girls to encourage more female participation in sport. 

These upgrades are in line with our Development and Funding of Community Pavilions – Sport and Recreation Policy and our Boroondara Community Plan. 

Key features of the new pavilion include:

• 4 unisex change rooms with toilets and showers
• 2 umpires’ rooms
• an accessible public toilet that can be accessed externally by the community
• an internal lift and stairwell
• a first aid room
• external building and path lighting to improve safety
• flexible social room/multi-purpose space with storage
• kitchen/kiosk with internal and external counter for serving food
• an extended sheltered viewing area at the front of the pavilion
• glazing on the west-facing windows which meets best practice standards to limit sun impact
• drinking fountains and dog water tap, bicycle hoops, bench seat and marked pedestrian pathway in front of the upper-level change rooms
• a ramp to improve external access to the pavilion
• accessible car parks
• solar PV system.

We updated the design in late 2025 to improve spectator viewing. It now includes: 

• extra viewing platforms
• more seating
• improved safety lighting
• accessible ramps and stairs.

These changes fit within the current project budget and will not delay the project.

Tree works

We’ve worked closely with our architect to minimise any impact the new building would have on the surrounding trees, particularly the 4 significant trees within close proximity. 

However, to accommodate the larger pavilion and provide an accessible ramp down to the southern oval, 6 other trees deemed to be of low to moderate value need to be removed. 

We will offset these by planting new trees on-site.

Timeline

More information

To receive updates about this project, visit our Highfield Park pavilion redevelopment consultation page and select 'Follow' at the top of the page.

Venue accessibility

• Accessible toilets are available at the Trumper Street end of the sportsground.
• Accessible parking is available in the sportsground pavilion car park located off Camberwell Road.

Summer sports schedule

The summer season runs from 1 October 2026 to 30 March 2027. 

Major planning changes proposed to meet housing targets

The Victorian Government has introduced major changes to planning in Victoria to deliver its Housing Statement and housing targets.

City of Boroondara recognises the need for more housing and some simplification of the planning system. We will continue our attempts to shape positive change and housing growth to best support our current and future community.

We are calling for an immediate pause to the State Government’s Development Facilitation Program (DFP) so that issues with the fast-track process can be reviewed. Read the news article for more information.

Council Officer reports at Council meetings

Since the Victorian Government began its Planning Reform Program, Council Officers have provided regular updates for Boroondara community members at public meetings that you can read below.

Since the Victorian Government began its Planning Reform Program, Council Officers have provided regular updates for Boroondara community members at public meetings that you can read below.