Melton Botanic Garden playspace wins landscape design award
Published on 12 June 2025
Melton City Council has received a Landscape Architecture Award for its innovative nature-based playspace in the Melton Botanic Garden.
The award was won in the Play Spaces category at the 2025 Australian Institute of Landscape Architects (AILA) Victoria Awards held last week.
The judges were impressed with the ‘resourcefulness and imagination at the heart of the community-focused playspace’, with Council demonstrating that thoughtful design can deliver high-quality play spaces for local children.
The playspace, which opened in 2023 and features a range of natural play elements for children to explore and enjoy, was designed following community feedback from park users, residents and the Friends of Melton Botanic Garden.
It was jointly funded by Melton City Council and the Growing Victoria’s Botanic Gardens Grants program.
Since opening, the playspace has provided a place where families and children can visit to experience their connection to the environment and nature through play.
Residents are also reminded that the Melton Botanic Garden Master Plan is currently open for community consultation until 30 June. The revised master plan will help guide the continued development of the gardens as a whole and ensure it’s well maintained into the future. For information, visit the City of Melton Conversations page.
Quotes attributable to City of Melton Mayor Cr Steve Abboushi:
“The Melton Botanic Garden is such a treasured place for our community, offering a tranquil open space for residents of all ages to enjoy and attracting visitors from all over, and it’s great to see it getting this much-deserved recognition.”
“This fantastic nature-based playspace has given residents another reason to visit the botanic garden, enjoy the great outdoors and connect with family and friends.”
“This playspace is testament to what can be achieved by working closely with the community to develop a vision and deliver a project that everyone can enjoy.”