Has anyone noticed? Yarra Park has gone the way of James James Morrison's Mother. She has disappeared! One wonders, was it despite or because of repeated warnings from the National Trust (commonly known as Jim) about green wedgies at the end of Town? In any case, Yarra Park donned her golden gown this autumn - and promptly disappeared from the City of Melbourne's records.

King Robert
Put up a notice:
"Lost, Stolen or Strayed!
James James Morrison's Y.P.
Seems to have been mislaid.
Last seen wandering vaguely,
Quite of her own accord,
She tried to get down to the end of the Town.
Forty Shillings Reward."

James James
Morrison's YP
Hasn't been heard of since.
King Robert said he was sorry,
So did the Queen and Prince.
King Robert
(Somebody told me)
Said to a man he knew:
"If people go down to the end of the town, well,
what can anyone do?"

Check for yourself. The City of Melbourne parks list and locations does not even show Yarra Park under "other." Having transferred management of Yarra Park to the MCG, the City has washed its hands of it. Yarra Park is no longer green space for the people of Melbourne. It is no more than a footnote to history as far as the City of Melbourne is concerned.

And the MCG? Their "management" of the park has seen this year the worst deterioration for many seasons: the whole south eastern sector is bare clay, rapidly eroding; the central paddocks are nothing but churned up mud; and the promised buffer zones along Vale Street and Jolimont Terrace have now been turned back to cars with the grass disappearing before our eyes.

And the green wedgies? See the National Trust Heritage at Risk 2009. The National Trust says that the lungs of Melbourne, the green wedges at the edge of town, are at "imminent risk of destruction" through government intervention in planning, pushing through inappropriate developments.

J.J. M.'s YP has gone out in sympathy.

Apologies to A.A. Milne.