Tara Murray
Sunshine’s H.V. McKay Memorial Gardens are in full bloom.
The gardens were built in the early 1900s as a community garden, but a lack of maintenance over the years left the gardens in a state of disrepair.
That is until the Friends of H.V. McKay Memorial Gardens got to work restoring the gardens to their former glory.
Friends of the H.V. McKay Memorial Garden president Melissa Mockridge said the gardens were looking really beautiful at this time of the year.
It’s the first spring since the completion of works on the northern end.
“We’re very pleased with the area, not just the new planting, but also the reinstatement of the original parts of the path from the original garden back in 1909,” she said.
“Everyone including the council has put a lot more effort into the gardens including employing a curator.
“Many people used to consider the gardens unsafe, we want everyone to feel comfortable and want to come and visit them.”
The group, which has been together since 2007, holds occasional walking tours and is hoping to hold a festival next year.
Ms Mockridge said they were keen to get people back out in the gardens and using them more.
“It’s about getting it back to what it was in the beginning.”
