A shady escape from concrete and asphalt

Published on 21 October 2020

* Council's Cultural Facilities Assistant Annette Herd at the pop-up arboretum today.

Locals are invited to escape the heat of the CBD and have a say on the city's future at the pop-up arboretum next to the Broken Hill Regional Art Gallery.

The temporary 'Stay and Play Arboretum' has been funded by the NSW Government through the Streets as Shared Spaces program and will be in place until Friday 30 October.

It features various furniture, shade from trees and umbrellas, and offers a green, restful environment using artificial grass and green colours and natural timbers in the furniture.

The wall facing the area features a major temporary artwork to bring bright colour and contemporary themes, and the immediate footpath area is chalked with hopscotch games for kids of all ages to play.

"We just want to provide a shaded and green place to sit and relax, and to provide some temporary respite from the concrete and asphalt of Argent Street," said Council's Community Development Officer, Dionne Devlin.

"It's something a bit different, and I think it will be interesting to see how it's utilised."

The arboretum will also host a range of engagement activities, and users will be asked for their feedback on the area and if they would like to see another arboretum activated elsewhere in the city in future.

CBD Masterplan design firm TCL will host an informal engagement between 2pm-4pm on Friday (October 23), and locals are invited to come along and meet the team and pass on what they'd like to see for the future of the CBD.

An art activation will take place on Saturday (October 24) between 2pm-4pm based on the 'Wish Tree' concept by Yoko Ono, and locals will be able to create a tag to be tied to a tree or umbrella stating their wish for the community and their feedback on the space.

Then on October 27 and 28 Council staff will be in attendance between 8am to 1pm to collect feedback for ongoing engagement around the city's new Community Strategic Plan.

"There's plenty of opportunities to people to give feedback on a range of issues or just relax in the shade," said Ms Devlin.

"Hopefully the space is well utilised and we get some great ideas from the community."

The area has hand sanitisation available and can hold a maximum of 18 people at any one time in accordance with COVID-19 regulations.