Revamped Griffiths Park officially opens

The City of Fremantle celebrated the major upgrade to Griffiths Park in Hilton today with local primary school students and community members who helped shape the design.

A ribbon cutting ceremony with Fremantle Mayor Hannah Fitzhardinge and Federal Member for Fremantle Josh Wilson officially opened the new-look park. 

As part of the major upgrades, the ageing play equipment was replaced with a new nature-play playground complete with a climbing fort, slide, swings and the highly requested flying fox.

Other upgrades included the conversion of the unsightly drainage sump into a multi-use swale and waterwise garden beds to replace some turfed areas at the edges of the park. A new hydrozoned irrigation system was also installed and 24 trees planted, while a further 18 trees and over 7,000 native tube stock will be planted this winter.  

Fremantle Mayor Hannah Fitzhardinge said the new-look Griffiths Park is a great example of working with the community to improve our local areas.

“We called on our community to be part of shaping the new park and the end result is something that truly reflects what the community asked for,” she said. 

“As part of the consultation period, we held workshops with students at Hilton Primary School who shared their designs for the playground with the flying fox one of the top requests.

“Nature-play, a fort and climbing walls were also among the most requested features for kids. The new playground certainly delivers on these elements to provide endless hours of fun for our community.”

Community feedback was also gathered through the City’s My Say Freo website and through drop-in sessions held at the park to help form the final design.

“The project is a true local collaboration, right down to the contractors PHASE3 Landscape Construction who are based in O’Connor and did an incredible job bringing this project to life,” Mayor Fitzhardinge said.

The City of Fremantle contributed $273,168 to the project, while a further $247,000 was contributed by Federal Member for Fremantle Josh Wilson through the Local Roads and Community Infrastructure Program (LRCI) funding.

“We’re very thankful to Josh Wilson for helping to fund this upgrade to one of Hilton’s favourite parks,” Mayor Fitzhardinge said.

“The City’s 2022–23 annual budget has seen a real focus on sprucing up our suburbs and this is just one of the upgrades we’ve delivered."

Other upgrades include a $1.65 million investment into improving and maintaining the city’s roads, $1.26 million contribution to Hilton Underground Power, new cricket nets at Hilton Park and the highly anticipated mountain bike trails at Booyeembara Park which is set to open in June 2023.

Visit fremantle.wa.gov.au/budgethighlights to see over 100 projects the City is delivering across the 2022–23 financial year.

Image: Fremantle Mayor Hannah Fitzhardinge and Federal Member for Fremantle Josh Wilson are joined by local students to celebrate the opening of Griffiths Park.