McAdam Reserve, Northcote, Victoria

This is almost certainly an ad-hoc space created by the demolition of some building or other – probably, given the space’s onetime working class status, a small backlane business – I’m thinking a dairy or something similar. In any case, it is not a ‘classic’ internal reserve given that it has access by one footpath from Stanley Street, but then also by two laneways which could technically allow vehicle access (though there’s nowhere for a vehicle to actually stop). It was almost certainly not a part of the original plan for the area.

The playground is very well stocked. Barbeque, climbing equipment, etc. What is most interesting from our point of view is that on the Saturday morning I visited, it was occupied by the perfect users: five children, four adults, the adults almost certainly being parents to the children. Two backyard gates were open into the space, suggesting that these users were very local (I should have asked them. I didn’t want to intrude on families enjoying a shared and semi-private resource).

I’ll go back at another time and see what other uses it might have. All surrounding properties have high fences, suggesting there is no particular surveillance going on here. But otherwise, a very fine example – the kind of IR we’d like to see.

See it on google maps here

Update 15 Feb 2016: Much to my surprise I see from this site that the above surmise about the reserve being created by an absence might well be quite wrong, or at least: it was a space in 1945. Then, the reserve was twice the size and had an entrance on Westgarth Avenue which has since been filled with housing. Thanks to Robert Freestone for alerting me to Melbourne, 1945 - if ever there was an argument for a user-friendly interface this is it.