Park getting pretty

SWAN Hill’s Riverside Park continues to receive a makeover this week, with a number of projects underway.

On Monday, work began to build a three-metre concrete pathway along the river at Swan Hill’s Riverside Park.

New bins have been installed in both Swan Hill and Robinvale, while the pond at the heart of Riverside Park continues to be restored.

The “shared pathway” is one of the first projects from the Swan Hill Riverfront Masterplan to be implemented since it was endorsed in July last year.

It is a continuation of the path running alongside the Pioneer Settlement up to the park and will finish up at the Swan Hill bridge.

Mayor Les McPhee said it was great to see the project coming to fruition so soon after the masterplan’s adoption.

“When we were putting the masterplan together, the community told us very strongly that a quality walking and cycling path was a priority along the riverfront,” Cr McPhee said.

“This pathway is also a perfect fit for our recently adopted Active Transport Strategy, which is about encouraging walking and cycling, and providing the community facilities for that to happen,” he said. “We have received a terrific response from the community after the small section of wide concrete pathway was built near the caravan park.

“The next section of pathway will be the same as that, but extend all the way from the caravan park to the bridge. Further sections of the path will be built as funding becomes available.”

Council staff are completing the works along the riverside, disrupting traffic for the duration of the project.

“We appreciate this will be an inconvenience for people during construction, but what a fantastic asset we will have once it is complete,” Cr McPhee said.

The Masterplan outlines a host of potential developments, including a conference centre, apartments, cultural centre, water play park, tavern, providore and skate park.

While individual projects have not been costed, consultants estimated over 30 years a total of $40m to $55m would be required to realise the entire vision.

The project will also include lighting, signage, bins, seats and table improvements at the Pioneer Settlement entrance. A council spokesperson said these elements of the project will be rolled out after the path is completed.

Meanwhile, the pond at the centre of the park has been gutted, with brickwork to be upgraded and lights in the pond replaced this week.

The surrounding foliage will be rejuvenated with an overall aim of beautifying the area and removing weeds.

New waste and recycling bins in Swan Hill and Robinvale have been installed.

They are part of a council initiative to encourage people to recycle when they’re out and about.

Three new bin enclosures have just been installed in the Robinvale CBD, and one at Swan Hill’s Riverside Park. Six more will be installed at Riverside Park as the new pathway is built along the river.

Council’s director infrastructure David Leahy said the brightly-coloured bin enclosures were aimed at diverting waste from landfill through more recycling.

“People are becoming used to recycling at home, but we hope these new bins, with their bright red and yellow tops, will encourage people to recycle when they are going for a walk, shopping or taking the kids to the park,” he said.

“We want to divert items from the landfill that could be recycled, like cardboard packaging, cans and bottles.”