The controversial rose garden project has been canned for good, after several years of work into developing the idea and ongoing feedback from the community.
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The $300,000 project was planned to turn the currently empty lot next to the Griffith Visitor's Centre into a garden including trees, seating, and of course, roses.
The proposal faced significant criticism from the community, with many saying that the money would be better spent on revamping the Memorial Park Gardens or building a new gallery.
Mayor John Dal Broi proposed ending the garden for good at Tuesday night's council meeting, in a mayoral minute. The minute proposed amending the most recent capital works program to eliminate the rose garden project entirely and put the money towards Memorial Park Gardens.
The amendment was unanimously voted upon, with one key change. While $200,000 of the money to be spent will now be devoted to upgrading Memorial Park Gardens, the remaining $100,000 will go to the art gallery project.
The current members of the rose garden working group will be invited to join the Memorial Park Gardens group to continue their dedicated work over the past years.
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Councillor Doug Curran suggested that the $200,000 will not be enough to significantly improve the gardens, with Councillor Simon Croce agreeing.
"If we're going to spend $300,000, spend it all there," Cr Croce said.
Councillor Dino Zappacosta has been at the helm of the project since it's inception, and was disappointed in the cancellation.
"I am a little disappointed in council's decision, in that we had a committee working had for three years," he said.
"I want to thank the committee members ... the group worked very well."
He added that the cancellation meant money that had already been spent on the project would now be considered wasted - around $22,000 on consultants hired for the project.
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