Royal Park is the City of Melbourne’s largest park. It is a 169 hectare reserve in the north of the municipality. There are roads, a rail line and a tram line through the park. The park is on the Victorian Heritage Register.

The park contains key destinations of Natureplay, Native Grass Circle, Australian Native Garden, Urban Camp, Trin Warren Tam-boore Wetlands, 12 sporting ovals, 7 pavilions, a 9-hole golf course and club house, 3 caretaker dwellings, 2 tennis clubs, 1 park maintenance depot and the heritage listed structures of Women’s Pavilion, Walmsley House and Anzac Hall. It also contains remnant vegetation that is unique to Melbourne and supports diverse array of flora and fauna, including the White’s Skink. It is used for a range of recreation pursuits from dog walking to Swordcraft.

The master plan study area does not include Melbourne Zoo or the Royal Children’s Hospital, which have different reservations and are managed as separate entities to the park. The Melbourne Sports Centres Parkville (formerly named the State Netball Hockey Centre) is within the Royal Park reservation but is also managed separately.

The name ‘Royal Park’ was first used in 1854 when the site was reserved for public purposes.

The City of Melbourne is refreshing the master plan to guide the management, protection and enhancement of Royal Park over the next 20 years.

A master plan sets out the long-term vision and guides the future management of a park. The principles and recommendations of a master plan act as the roadmap to the vision from the here and now. A master plan protects what’s important as well as allowing council to consider appropriate supporting infrastructure including but not limited to toilets, shade, paths and improvements to sporting infrastructure.

Royal Park only looks the way it does by following the 2 previous master plans. The park is not in the original shape and form from 1934 when Council first started to manage the park. It has been through many changes in that time.

The park is now a carefully planned, considered and managed landscape. What you see today has taken place with incremental changes over time. The previous master plans will be the foundation for the revised master plan. A master plan needs to be updated regularly to ensure the intent of the plan is what is needed to support the park and its surrounding community into the future.

Developing the master plan requires a combination of research, analysis, planning and key stakeholder and community engagement. The analysis will include research into community use, heritage, landscape characters, traffic and parking, horticulture, and other social and environmental values of the park.

The master plan will have a vision for the future and seek to guide Councils works in the park where the City of Melbourne has management responsibility.

We are working with the organisations that manage Crown land within or adjacent to Royal Park to develop the Discussion Paper. These include Melbourne Zoo and the Melbourne Sports Centre, Parkville.

Additionally, we have regular discussions with sports clubs, Friends of Royal Park, Royal Park Protection Group, Residents Group and others.

We have undertaken a range of studies on key issues that have given us insights to help inform the refresh of the master plan. These include a conservation management plan, ecological assessment, parking demand assessment and safety audit.

A conservation management plan outlines the historic heritage and Aboriginal cultural values for Royal Park. This will be the first Conservation Management Plan Council has undertaken for the park. Traditional Owners are currently reviewing the Aboriginal cultural values statements prior to sharing this plan with the wider community.

The ecological assessment provides an understanding all of the plants and animals that call Royal Park home. This allows us to understand what might be impacted if we make a change in the park, or the areas we might want to protect from change.

A parking demand assessment is an evaluation of the number of parking spaces required to service a particular use.

For some sport uses, the minimum number is set by the planning scheme. For parks, there is no minimum number and therefore we have to do a demand assessment to determine how many we might need. Any changes are based on patron numbers or parking surveys.

An assessment is then conducted to analyse whether the park provides adequate car parking spaces for short and long term visitors to the park.

Royal Park will be partially affected by the Brunswick Level Crossing Removal.

Council has already developed a Position Paper on the issues related to Royal Park and the revised Master Plan will help us to advocate for good outcomes for the park as a result of the project.

Yes, earlier this year we undertook engagement and safety audits of Royal Park. This work, which helped identify safety issues and hotspots in the park, will also help inform the development of the draft Royal Park Masterplan. Visit this page for more information on this project.

Disc golf was trialled in the park in 2022. The appropriateness and/or location for disc golf (and other casual sport uses) will be considered in the draft master plan.