Edith McCallum Reserve Playground, Emerald Hill Place, South Melbourne
A beautifully shaded area ringed by large trees. But is this really a playground? There's a table tennis table, table and seats with Snakes and Ladders board, table and seats with chess board, sound stage, lots of lovely seating, artificial grass, round table with an "office" type seat (great for working from home) and water tap.
This reserve is named in honour of Edythe McCallum (1917-2011) in recognition of her contribution to the local community. In almost 20 years as municipal social worker for the City of South Melbourne (1962-1981), Edythe made an outstanding contribution as a pioneer in social planning and community development. She was an early proponent and strong advocate of the importance of planning for people in order to create vibrant and healthy, communities. She played a significant role in ensuring the Emerald Hill Estate was restored and retained as affordable housing for local people. South Melbourne now has the most diverse range of social housing of any inner city area, in large part due to her collaborative work and advocacy with the State Housing Authority on behalf of council and the community.
Edythe was appointed to the position of municipal social worker at a time when very few councils employed qualified social workers, or women with professional qualifications and only a small number of councils delivered community services to their local community. Edythe, in her position at council, worked closely with state and federal governments to influence the models and funding for those community services, particularly services to elderly residents, later delivered by local government across Victoria.
Following her retirement in 1981, Edythe continued on the Crawford Court Committee of Management, a local program providing affordable housing for older people (1979-1994) and the Committee of Management of South Port Community Nursing Home, now CASPACare (1980-1994).
Photos:
Location
26 Emerald Hill Place, South Melbourne 3205 Map
