2021 Testimonials

Below are 1114 testimonials we have received so far, highlighting the importance of the grounds to the University community. Please continue to share the petition to save the grounds!
Possibly the best thing about studying on campus were the beautiful gardens and well maintained trees. The quiet sanctuaries for thinking and meeting with friends. Shame on the University Admin for treating skilled grounds staff with such contempt.
Beautiful grounds, clearly would take a lot of hard work, care and expertise to maintain. The Grounds Team deserves respect!
While a student and more recently as a frequent visitor to the Parkville Campus, I have enjoyed the many nooks and corners in the gardens which enable quiet contemplation in the midst of a bustling campus, the beautiful integration of gardens with architecture and art, and the amazing variety of flora that can be found. Your gardens are the work of master craftsmen and women. They set the University apart as a place for serious thought where people can imagine a better world and then set about building it.
They were always incredibly kind and brightened up my day. Such a shame to see them losing job security
The grounds staff are a dedicated team that take pride in their work. It is disgusting that management are destroying their jobs all in the name of profit. It just reflects the whole rotten corporate nature of the higher 'education' system. There needs to be strike action.
The gardens of Melbourne Uni are magnificent- the careful horticultural artistry of the grounds team. How dare unimelb consider outsourcing to some private monster firm.
Many hours spent relaxing, studying and talking in those beautiful spaces.
The Melbourne University grounds are currently so beautifully cared for. I walk through from royal parade to swanston st each week, and the grounds are calming, cared for and obviously loved. At my apartment complex we have suffered from gardening maintenance being outsourced to 'garden maintenance' contractors. The garden went down hill fast. People who don't have the knowledge, skills or interest in actual gardening have no place in these grounds! Please keep your loyal, skilled, garden loving gardeners.
These well cared for grounds have brought decades of joy with the changing of the seasons. Just like the buildings around, these grounds require long term knowledge of the quirks and specifics that a short term contractor cannot provide. A very short sighted decision University of Melbourne management!
The groundskeepers do more worthwhile work than Duncan in his million dollar mansion. Trim the top
The grounds of the University are very beautiful and part of the reason I chose to study at Melbourne uni. The plants and lawns always look immaculately kept. The grounds team do a fantastic job and should feel proud. The University should appreciate this good work and not outsource it. If the University outsources this work is will be a disgrace. Well done and thank you to the grounds team.
The grounds team is what makes untimely such an astounding place to thrive in at university!
The grounds team will continue to be so important as we return to campus! They do a great job
The gardens around the University are what makes the place such a joy to visit. Looking after such complex vegetation is a highly skilled job and requires specialist knowledge.
Just employ people properly please. Don’t outsource.
All I can say is that the work of the grounds team significantly contributed to my mental health while a student and the University grounds live always in a special corner of my heart. Please rethink this bullshit proposal. FFS Melb Uni can't you keep ANYTHING good???
Spend time here enjoying the garden. The members of ground team by always take time to answer any questions I have about the plants. They take such a pride in their work.
Many years there and now working in the immediate precinct, wandering the grounds has brought solace and joy in the subtle beauty and majesty that can be found from the hard work they do. Such a short-sighted policy decision
I fell in love with Melbourne Uni the very first time I went to South Lawn. The grounds team are an essential part to Melbourne Uni and seeing them move around campus creates a sense of safety. I loved watching the grounds team work as they cleared leaves off the cobblestones in Autumn or tidyied up the path on south lawn they’re part of the community at Melbourne Uni and I could not imagine them not being there. When I think of the campus - they are there as part of it. During my first year on campus they helped with directions to different buildings and on my graduation day 2 different grounds staff called out congratulations as I walked past in my gown. You cannot replace that.
The gardens and ponds are my favourite parts of the physical campus. They are a respite from the soullessness of the built environment and, like Old Arts and the Quad, they provide beauty and personality. I once covered the pond next to the Asia Centre in origami boats and it emphasised just how important the university's outdoor spaces are for people to relax, explore, play and socialise. The Grounds Team's hard work is essential to maintaining them. If money needs to be saved, maybe it could be on construction work, since there always seems to be a renovation happening on campus for no good reason.
I met my now husband on south lawn, don't do anything to jeopardise the chance that future students will have that experience.
The grounds provide an exceptional resource for horticultural students to learn about plants, cultural techniques and requires specialist management. As a previous student I know how invaluable it was to have this high quality space available. As the Manager of an outsourcing organisation I know that the quality and outputs your will receive will not be in line with what is required to maintain such a specialist resource. You should consider more inventive ways to supplement income to support in house delivery. The gardens are a hidden gem, and could be utilised commercially for a range of things that would supplement the cost to maintain them. The gradual changes made by the UOM of the last 10 years to the management of Burnely have severely impacted on the quality and ongoing future of the horticulture industry. This is the premiere horticultrual institution in Australia and should be treated as such.
The Melbourne Uni grounds are a beautiful, peaceful oasis in the middle of a city. The campus buildings would not be half as stunning without the incredible garden backdrop they have, maintained by hard working staff. All of my best memories at uni are when I was outdoors, enjoying the grounds. Stop sacking staff members!
Wonderfully restorative and aesthetically pleasing.
I used to eat lunch every day in System Gardens and the hard work of the Grounds Team in keeping them beautiful and well maintained helped maintain my own sanity during my PhD
The grounds provide a beautiful oasis and the Grounds Team are absolute professionals who know the university's grounds inside and out.
The University of Melbourne's grounds were the reason I came to the university. I saw them on a school trip when I was young, and from that moment knew I had to go there. Through seven years of study and more working as a tutor there, the grounds provided great solace to me. When things were hard, there was always a quiet space to relax in the gardens, or in a courtyard. Please do not put these grounds in jeopardy. Outsourcing always sees a drop in quality, for next to no savings on price.
It’s a disgrace that the university is planning to get rid of the staff who maintain these stunning and historically important grounds. I haven’t been to the campus since I was a student many years ago but I’d happily come to a picket line, protest, occupation or whatever action gets called in support of these staff. Count me in!
As an Horticultural lecturer have taken many students around these grounds. The Information imparted by the so knowledgeable staff has been invaluable to our n ext generation of Horticulturist. Their work in these gardens is invaluable. The loss to University of Melbourne cannot be put in $ terms.
The skills needed to care for the gardens and their unique collection necessitate a high level of botanical knowledge and expertise. The 'Grounds Team' are thinkers, artists, philosophers and scientists - their collective knowledge and professionalism is first class and irreplaceable. One of the last and truly unique gardens in Melbourne's history. Let's not allow another loss.
The university is still a joy to walk around, not because of the buildings but because of the beautiful gardens. This is another of those stupid cost savings that will cost the university for years.
Beautiful grounds are what gives the university value and historical significance
The grounds have always been such a beautiful part of the University as a student & later working for the University I always admired the work of the Grounds team.
I studied my undergraduate degree (with honors) at Melbourne University. The grounds were always beautiful, and despite the stresses of study, coming onto campus was always an enjoyable experience. Studying, writing, discussing and attending class surrounded by well maintained gardens, flourishing trees and lovely wildlife (more noticeable in the evening!) was a huge part of making my undergraduate experience at Melbourne University a good one. As the pandemic and economic crisis of 2020 demonstrates, the cost cutting inherent in outsourcing always erodes both the service in question and the rights and conditions of workers. Moreover, a dedicated grounds team at Melbourne University is in a position to gain long term experience and familiarity with the university's grounds. An out-sourced maintenance team will not have this ability — and in all likelihood, the business that manages them will have no interest in cultivating it. And compared to the vast amounts that are spent on advertising, new buildings and executive remuneration, the money saved in outsourcing grounds maintenance will be paltry. This move seems petty, miserly, short-sighted and narrow-minded.
The Unimelb grounds were always looking pristine. All the groundskeepers were super friendly and do an amazing job!
The grounds are exceptional at University of Melbourne. It is partly what the university is revered for. Don't outsource.
Through my years of study and work at UniMelb Parkville campus, I’ve always loved and admired the flora and landscaping. It is one of the most beautiful University campuses I have ever seen.
The grounds of UniMelb are magnificent and I know the Grounds team have been diligent in keeping them so!
I love the UniMelb grounds and appreciate that they have been well-maintained. As a student, it was so enjoyable, having a lawn to sit on and take a break from study.
When I was choosing where to study my bachelors degree, I choose Melbourne Uni largely for the on campus experience. Attending the open days, I fell in love with the grounds and feel of the campus. Please don't discount how important a role they play in the University's legacy
Many years of appreciating wonderful heritage trees and plantings, open lawns that are places to think and relax, all well kept and maintained in good order, and part of the essence of university of Melbourne.
One of the major appeals of the University of Melbourne grounds is the long-standing team that backs it. They have always been careful in their approach, were always very kind to students when interacting, and their knowledge has clearly created an environment where students feel comfortable. For the six years I attended Melbourne University, I regularly used the green spaces on campus to clear my head, sit with professors on what felt like 'neutral ground', and get back to nature which is hard to do when you're living in student housing.
The incredible grounds and flora on campus in Parkville are in my mind, one of the most valuable aspects of the campus experience. The dedicated gardens are important learning tools for botany students, amazing examples of diverse and culturally important flora and (importantly) peaceful places on campus - which are few.
I love the University of Melbourne grounds and it is fabulously kept. It's part of Unimelb's character. Outsourcing always leads to more complications and workers don't get to have the same security or connection with the place they work. The University could instead save money by reducing the Vice Chancellor's wages just a tad.
A very experienced and skilled team who have contributed a great deal to the campus' achievements and culture through their garden work. They have showcased original plants of this continent, provided spaces of respite for students as well as providing plants for botany subjects and other areas of learning and research.
Always look good!
The grounds are what made the university so appealing to attend each day through my 6 years there. Truly magical thanks to those that care for it
Always lovely staff, so much shared knowledge of the grounds, so much dedication, why lose these assets?
The grounds are unique to the identity and wellbeing experience of studying at UniMelb. It is vital we support the ground staff with permanent ongoing employment, labour rights which are essential to a strong social fabric.
The best thing about the University and the most beautiful campus in Victoria. I loved being outside at uni when I went there in the early nineties. Would hate to see the grounds and those that maintain them jeopardised by a shitty decision.
The grounds of Melbourne University are spectacular and draw prospective and past students to the campus. It is honestly one of the key things I remember of my two degrees completed there. It would be awful to lose the prestige the grounds staff have created and developed over many years.
As a former staff member and alumni, I have the utmost respect and appreciation for the grounds team. Without them the University grounds aesthetic and functioning would be compromised as they ensure safety, systems and biodiversity are taken care of.
As a horticultural alumni, I had the pleasure of learning in both the grounds of burnley and parkville campus. Without people who have the knowledge and expertise these grounds that we know them as will not continue in the same manner.
The grounds and gardens of the university are truly beautiful and should be protected. I really don't think I would have done as well in my degree had I not taken respite from my studies by wandering around uni.
The Burnley Gardens are a benchmark of horticultural quality and a 100 year old legacy.
The grounds are beautiful and the current grounds team should be appreciated for their great work.
The quality of the outdoor environment was an integral part of my experience as a student at the University of Melbourne. The value of the spaces created and maintained by the Grounds Team must not be under estimated. I worry that the care and dedication of the Grounds Team can not be matched by parties with a commercial interest and that the community will lose many wonderful spaces.
One of the highlights of working at the Uni of Melbourne was the beautiful grounds, lovingly maintained by expert staff.
The tranquil gardens are part of the attraction of attending Melbourne university and offer much retreat when the workload gets too much.
These world renowned grounds were such an important part of my learning experience at UniMelb. Their richness and the attention to care deserve to be protected and not risked via outsourcing.
One of the reasons I chose unimelb as an undergrad was the beautiful grounds - it would be such a shame to lose the people who worked so hard to make it this way.
The University gardens, esp the Systems gardens are superb, with such a diversity of plants. I have always been impressed with the amazing care and respect for the heritage trees and garden and providing habitat for native animals. It creates a wonderful peaceful environment for all to enjoy.
The grounds are immaculately kept, outsourcing staff will be the beginning of the end.
I found the grounds to be an integral part of what made the University of Melbourne the special place it was during some of my most formative years. By all accounts the dedicated staff responsible for the maintenance and upkeep of these grounds have done a fantastic job and the decision to make them all redundant is appalling given the countless lives they enriched with their dedicated and expert work.
The University of Melbourne grounds are a rare moment of peace and order in a dysfunctional world. As you walk through to your building of interest, the variety of fauns and flora, the historic links to community, the spaces of tranquility, create many moments to reflect on life. And now it's threatened by yet another outsourcing effort. As a graduate of MtEliza Business School I've done my fair share of outsourcing. But you have to understand the difference between "services" which support an institution and "fabric" which is at the heart of and is the essence of the institution's community. Shame on you management who devalue the skill of the gardening team to a "service specification" which you know will be given mere lipservice. I'll bet none of you will bother to check if the fabric of the institution's community, which has been built up and nurtured over many years, is properly maintained. It's not too late to stop this damaging action. It just takes foresight and courage.
I love walking through these historic well designed grounds that are important and compliment this fine institution
The gardens at the University of Melbourne are really botanically significant, containing rare and endangered species from around the world. No outsourced contract company can do what the grounds staff do. What a disaster. I am disgusted
My uni fees paid for these beautiful gardens, how dare the university put my garden heritage, and the well-being of future students and staff at risk, as well as the life's work and legacy of generations of grounds keepers. What a shameful decision.
The Melbourne University grounds are beautifully maintained by a team who have a long-term vision of what the University should look like now and in the future.
Walking into Melbourne Uni for the first time through those immaculately tended gardens made me feel special. The leaves on the trees turning orange in autumn outside the library, the plush lawns that we lay on in summer ... it was exactly how I imagined a great university to be and it was all the work of the skilled grounds staff who worked unobtrusively through all seasons.
You won’t find their expertise once you out source. The grounds team are an essential part of the University and its operations and must be kept.
Amazing grounds and friendly ground staff who were more than happy to help us with events and enjoy uni life
Incredibly important grounds, incredibly important and passionate grounds team
The grounds addd to the character of the campus / keep traditional alive
Outsourcing must be opposed in every instance because it exists to undermine the wages and conditions of the workforce as a whole. And the Grounds team deserve much more than they get currently for the amazing work they do making the Parkville campus one of the most beautiful spots in Melbourne. The attacks on higher education from profit-hungry university administrations are relentless, and we need to keep fighting back!
The gardens are beautiful and the people who have created and maintained them deserve reliable employment.
Amazing resource and culture should not be sacked for money, cut bureaucracy first
Lovely people. Always had time for a chat with students. An integral part of the community
I have always admired the grounds and landscaping at Melbourne Uni, it’s one of the first things I notice upon entry.
I have so many wonderful memories enjoying the University of Melbourne ground and chatting to the Grounds Team. While I understand that the University is first a place for education and learning, the fabulous grounds that the team have made the University of Melbourne a destination, attraction for culture and community, and stand out amongst other institutions. It's incredibly disappointing to see the Grounds Team be discontinued in a full time manner and speaks to an abhorrent trend of increases in part time work. Do better UoM.
Melb Uni has the most beautiful, inspiring grounds and gardens of significance. They need continuity of care with experienced and dedicated horticultural staff. Not cheap fly by night contractors, who know not of the significance or history of the grounds. Shame on you Melbourne Uni for even thinking of this short sighted move.
The garden is magical and a reflection of the creativity, plant knowledge and high technical skill level of the groundstaff. Invest in them. Gardens will only become more important to the student experience over time.
Unbelievable knowledgeable staff that have creativity that cannot be replaced by “mower men” The plant collection at burnley garden and Melb unii require specialist care. It is like asking St. John s ambo to do brain surgery. Years and years of knowledge that has been passed down. You cannot replace with contractors. That knowledge cannot be outsourced.
I often walk around the University and have found the gardens, particularly those around the car park area, an unfailing pleasure. The staff are doing an excellent job.
Keep the people who know what the garden needs!!!
As a journalist specialising in horticulture I have interviewed a number of garden staff and written about the grounds, even filmed TV segments there. The interest is due to the professional skilful way the grounds are managed.
Extraordinary collection of very special trees and shrubs always well maintained and protected as a collection into the future.
Studying in the 80s at the Parkville campus and the 00s at Burnley, I always enjoyed the serene and calming garden environments that these institutes of learning are surrounded by. Places to sit quietly, to walk through, to meet in groups, to learn from and within. Beautifully maintained and curated, a result of decades of professional attention. The garden settings are an irreplaceable part of the university, which could well be dissipated and disregarded by contract maintenance with no ongoing attention to detail and expertise for these special places.
I suffered anxiety during my time as a student at The University of Melbourne, and the beautiful grounds were some of the only solace for me. Please keep the hardworking and knowledgeable groundskeeping staff in house!
I can't imagine why this would be happening. The University grounds were my haven as a student and the grounds staff should be celbrated and not tossed out for some temporary contracted work. Shame on you UoM management.
As a former student of both the Parkville and Burnley campuses the importance of the gardens can’t be overstated. As a landscaping industry professional i know it is inevitable that outsourcing these jobs will lead to a lowering of the quality of the gardens.
The grounds are part of the bricks and mortar charm of the University. The University is failing to invest adequately in so many things that make a University a desirable place of work and study ... perhaps the executive will ultimately find it has put itself out of a job too?
They do fantastic work, people are more valuable than money
Strong memories of hanging out on the South lawn under the trees, the Botany lawns and lovely shaded spaces. Recent walks through reminded me how beautiful and well managed it is.
The beauty of the gardens and grounds were an integral part of my university experience, superbly maintained by the grounds team.
Terrible decision. The grounds and landscaping are so unique. Keep the in-house team please.
Very disappointing decision. Those grounds belong to us all especially those who lovingly care for them
The grounds at Melbourne uni have always provided an integral backdrop and nurturing space for the greater uni life and culture to take place within. It sets the feeling of a healthy well cared for and understood space, that shows what can flourish when a place/thing is brought to its full potential. It is highly symbolic.
the groundskeepers always would greet me with a smile around campus. you can tell their passion and love for their work is so genuine. it’s simply the wrong decision to cut such a vibrant, talented team from the university for the sake of profits
The well manicured grounds of Melbourne University played a major role in providing me with the peace and tranquility I so needed whilst completing my studies. A garden is nurtured by someone who loves it, and is committed to its care. Please don’t outsource the groundskeeping to an external group who may not have the same connection to Melbourne University, or passion to manage the gardens as well as they have been managed.
Glorious gardens that were an important part of my University of Melbourne experience and memories. This is a cruel and short sighted decision.
Made my studies so much better!!!
The grounds at Melbourne Uni are beautiful. The people who maintain it deserve to be paid good wages with good benefits. Yet another ridiculous cheapskate move from bosses who pay themselves absurd salaries while skinting off the workers and students.
Solace and solitude found in the University’s beautiful grounds. Horticultural history and knowledge is important to retain.
As a former student I enjoyed the marvellous grounds of Melbourne University and recognised the care and commitment of the Grounds Team. More recently while working in Parkville I would visit the campus occasionally just to admire how beautiful the grounds remained. To disregard the deep knowledge and expertise of the Grounds Team gained over many years in this way would be both a travesty and a false economy.
the grounds of Melbourne Uni are a showcase for the talent of the people that keep them. The University can afford to keep them in house and should do so. this move is terrible
As an alumna and former staff member I have such fond memories of the University of Melbourne grounds. It was such a beautiful work and study environment. Please don’t jeopardise it!
Unimelb stands for excellence and the grounds have always telegraphed that. The plantings are rich, diverse and experimental. You can tell there’s ‘a voice’ behind them; you can feel the love. Outsourcing = safety, homogeneity and broken hearts.
Outsourcing is really not a good idea for anyone except companies that wish to exploit workers.
I studied at Melb Uni and continue to visit as a parent of a student playing football and I often walk through the grounds w a friend w hi lives nearby, the grounds are beautiful and need to be protected as they are. I disagree w outsourcing their cate. The grounds are loved by those who have a relationship w the University. They should not be jeopardised by contracting, given the known dangers of contracting in various fields. Respect and relationship are important.
The gardens helped me through my course, especially the serene Botany gardens (System Garden, but too beautiful for that name) which became my safe place and escape from the intensity of campus life. It’s been 50 years but I recall the the gardens, the trees, the open spaces with such fondness.
The grounds are amazing and create a positive learning space so close tot he city. The specialist plants and gardens also contribute to the learning of students.
It's really the grounds - the gardens and landscaping - that make the whole campus work - it's such a hodge podge of buildings, but the grounds team somehow make it all come together, and create little pockets of calm as well.
The University gardens are magic, but they don't happen by magic. They are the result of an experienced and dedicated team who have consistently curated the space to build the University's appeal and heighten the experience of all visitors to the grounds.
I spent many times walking and sitting in the gardens as I lived at Newman College for 6 years from 1944 to 1950, it would be a great tragedy for these staff to be made redundant and their knowledge and expertise lost form the future care of these gardens. Thank you Anna McGoldrick (daughter of John McGoldrick, 93 years young).
I walked the grounds in 2019 pre COVID. It was the first time I had been back in decades. I was stunned by the beauty of the grounds. I worked as an educator and Assistant Principal in a state secondary school pioneering the creation of green spaces by students to nurture physical and emotional wellbeing. There is a plethora of research about the importance of green space and the co creation and care of these spaces by a team of dedicated stakeholders. Outsourcing is as anathema in so many ways. It smacks of cost saving and expediency, and diminishes them by ignoring an integral relationship between these spaces and the people who have cared for and tended them.
I spent 6 years at the university and deeply appreciated the beauty of the grounds.
The beautiful and prestigious Melb Uni gardens add to the campus by complimenting historical building and new modern areas. Only a dedicated ground team with experience, will care and maintain the grounds for generations to come to the highest standard - without trying to make a profit. The ground staff also have knowledge of all the systems and working of the gardens and understand the uni students.
An in house grounds team is ESSENTIAL to ensure the heritage and the quality of the gardens are maintained. The Melb university grounds are as important as the buildings and must be recognised as such. Outsourcing always leads to higher costs for less in the long term.
Beautiful grounds , well cared for
Carefully tended, calming and beautiful. I’ve loved studying and walking through these grounds over the past 40 years.
I have spent many years as a student and staff member at Melbourne University . These grounds and gardens must be maintained and preserved for current and future generations
The environment maketh the place.
I spent a good deal of my life at Melbourne university firstly as my father was a staff member in the architecture faculty and I would spend time with him when my brother was born prematurely. I then attended childcare at the university. I went to university high school and would walk through the university to get to and from school. And I loved the student union band nights as a teenager. I then studied at the university and got my double degree as the degree in architecture was then. My father died in 2007 and his large funeral was held at the chapel at Newman College. There is a plaque with his name on it at the university. The grounds at Melbourne university are such an integral part of my life. My memories of them go back to 1970 when I would accompany my father to work. My current partner is a sculptor and one of his works is located near the union building. The university has always been so beautifully maintained and is such a special place for me and so many people. I can’t imagine why anyone would want to risk changing the way the university is cared for by the grounds team. Sometimes tou don’t really appreciate something until it’s gone.
The amazing historical gardens have been maintained brilliantly by university grounds staff
The Melbourne Uni grounds are an integral part of the University. I love walking through campus and always admire how beautiful all the gardens are, year round. Aside from beauty, worker rights are key. Retain staff on proper contracts that pay well.
Although my degree studies were based at Burnley Campus, I have attended workshops and field trips to the Parkville. As a provider of Tertiary courses in Horticulture (through Burnley) and as a world renown Institution for education, it’s bizarre that Melbourne University is considering outsourcing the horticultural department. It must be due to extreme ignorance on behalf of the administration - what an embarrassment! It is obvious that in order to maintain a high standard of horticulture currently enjoyed by the Parkville campus, including the highly specialised educational gardens, an in house dedicated team of qualified horticulturalists is mandatory. Outsourcing to contractors is a slippery slope and to think it will save money is false economy. It will not be cheaper and will result in mediocrity. It’s frustrating to see the profession of Horticulture being treated so shabbily by an institution.
The University of Melbourne grounds increases its appeal and the well being of staff and students. Only a dedicated staff who also are invested in the grounds can be its tenders.
former student and staff member ... these grounds are still the place I return to often
Walking through the gardens with their carefully curated and seasonal variety of plantings has always pbeen a pleasure and an uplifting experience every time
As a student and staff member at the university the grounds and gardens were a vital element of my experience of being in campus. The grounds staff were knowledgeable and committed and always happy to share their wisdom. The grounds and architecture are inextricably linked and form a unique whole.
Back in 1998, I chose to attend Melbourne Uni based on the beautiful campus. I have fond memories of lunchtime and breaks between classes sitting in the incredible gardens. I’m sad that the workers that cared for this place will be replaced.
My memories of The University of Melbourne grounds are many and varied. I was there back in the ‘80s and again at The Burnley Campus a few years ago. My son is currently studying there so there have been visits over the years. The gardens have been the highlight. Not only the magnificent trees and lawns, but the lovely secret nooks and crannies. The places that make you stop, think, appreciate, smile, spark a conversation. Decades of experience cannot be thrown out the window.
The grounds are beautiful and we’re always immaculate making the University a ver special place.
World class. Another idiotic decision by the fuckwits ruining the uni.
I studied under those beautiful shady trees in the 90s.
As a student, graduate, practioner and teacher of Landscape Architecture, the University grounds provided an essential teaching and learning tool. The grounds staff were always generous with profound horticultural expertise, as well as planting and design advice. Gardens take a long time to create and cultivate and their maintenance is an expert endeavour requiring detailed familiarity and care. For many decades the University Grounds staff have done an excellent job in maintaining the recreational and research amenity, historic character, and design excellence of the campus grounds. This expertise is irreplaceable.
The specialised care, knowledge and passion they have for the garden was absolutely paramount and the results show.
The green grounds was influential in my decision to attend Uni of melb, always managed and lived well. Outsourced grounds work will not have the same care and commitment compared to dedicated grounds staff.
The high-quality landscapes at Unimelb are what set it apart from other universities, and makes it an appealing place to be. Don't jeapordise that for a modest saving - once lost, those green assets are hard to replace/restore.
The University community prides itself on the quality of the facilities, buildings and history of the campus built environment - the landscaping and grounds are absolutely no different and are a critical part to the university’s history and experience of the campus. To suggest the maintenance of these historical grounds can be outsourced and does not require a dedicated team I find quite insulting to the experience of the grounds team and the University needs to urgently reconsider this decision
The Grounds Team does an incredible job of maintaining the campus. Everyone I have spoken to has remarked about how clean and green the campus is. Please do not put this at risk by outsourcing the work of an incredibly hard working team.
The ground of the university are a haven and support biodiversity unseen elsewhere in the city.
The Grounds Team is essential and their being sacked on mass is completely unacceptable to the University community. Alumni will pull funding en masse. Reverse this decision immediately and apologise.
The beautiful presentation of the grounds what what first drew me to UoM. The immaculate gardens is what adds to the ‘prestige’ of Melbourne uni. DO NOT outsource this work.
Knowledge retention is so important to maintain the grounds for their environmental, aesthetic, cultural and historical value. The grounds team have the experience and the specialist knowledge necessary. Outsourcing will likely result in a reduction in quality and diversity and maintenance of historical features in favour of cheaper alternatives.
My strongest memories of my time at Melbourne Uni (1973-1979) are held against the backdrop of the wonderful gardens. I remember the first time I saw the Old Quad camellias in full bloom. The glory of these shrubs took my breath away. So much of my time as a student was spent outside in the grounds - meeting friends, studying on the lawns, gathering thoughts and simply enjoying quiet time away from study deadlines. As a student who had to adjust to living in the city, the gardens provided a great deal of joy and were a source of much solace when times got tough. The Melbourne Uni gardens are a significant recreational, botanical and historical asset and the grounds have occupied an important place in the lives of so many students. The University Grounds staff have nurtured and maintained these beautiful gardens for many decades and their expertise is irreplaceable. Please don't outsource this role.
A University of Melbourne degree is worth so much more for time spent in those grounds. They are the ever-changing product of time, care and intimate knowledge, and offloading their management to a presumably cheap/convenient option risks the immeasurable value they add to the university.
I studied a BA at The University of Melbourne and worked there.
The beautiful grounds of The University of Melbourne are one of the things that makes studying and working there a prized position. They recharge intellectual batteries, whether one sits on a wide lawn or quietly in one of the more secluded areas. As a student I would often arrive early just to sit in a ferny corner of the garden near John Medley and read. Keeping these wonderful grounds in good condition takes love, care and commitment. And the staff who do that should receive care and commitment in return. The pandemic has cast the perils of continually outsourcing, casualising and fragmenting work into sharper relief than ever before. The University should be fighting to retain and reintegrate workers if it wants to be a force for positive change in the world, not contributing further to this problem.
Loved being amongst the beautiful grounds during my time at Melbourne uni. As a landscape architecture student, the care and detail of the Grounds Team looking after the gardens really supported my learning in horticulture, heritage and design. As a practitioner I still visit the campus grounds as a reference for planting design on projects. The grounds are an invaluable resource for the University and broader community; the expertise and experience of the Grounds Team is essential to their survival.
The Uni Melb grounds, the beauty and diversity of the trees and landscaping played a major role in my positive campus experience when I attended the University, and the Grounds Team were responsible for that. They have done outstanding doing work, contribute significantly to the Uni's positive public image and their jobs should be retained
Systems Gardens in particular are one of the most beautiful spots in Melbourne, and the team of people responsible do not deserve to face job insecurity or unemployment.
I was an undergrad and graduate student at Uni Melbourne from 2000-09. The grounds were always beautiful and are part of what made the campus experience exceptional
To be able to maintain high quality gardens and Expectional Trees there must be a level of understanding of best practise.
I studied an Associate Degree in horticulture at UniMelb, and the grounds were a key focus for our studies. As a Melbournian, I would regularly visit the university grounds for their calm and tranquility, and their beautiful plant specimens. To see them treated in this way, as something disposable that does not need to be cared for properly, by skilled and experienced. Such established and specialised grounds require the care of a skilled, professional and experienced team which cares personally for the grounds, not a detached outsourced contractor, for whom the grounds and its biodiversity mean little more than propping up their bottom line, and whom are not trained properly in the care of such biodiversity.
Fantastic to walk through and great atmosphere. My graduation photos were taken on the grounds
As a landscape architect who both briefly studied at the University of Melbourne and a design consultant to the University who has recently completed a master plan for Monash Road I have spent a lot of time studying and experiencing the campus grounds. The landscapes of Melbourne University are unique in the richness of the botanical collection combined with the ongoing detailed care, horticultural skill and experienced maintenance that can only be provided by a dedicated on the ground team. This is what sets the campus experience apart from other public landscapes. The grounds are a place of learning, and many of the gardens at Melbourne Uni are a source of knowledge in themselves- for example the Systems Garden, the Rainforest Walk, Ellis Stones garden amongst many other planted spaces. Gardening in itself is an art- and the quality of the campus is a testament to the abilities of the current mode of grounds management. Outsourced maintenance will not have access to the history of the development of the campus landscape and botanical collections and diversity of planting. What will be the performance criteria? How will the University ensure an equivalence of skill and care of the current staff? The aspiration of the University of Melbourne should surely aim higher than a base municipal model of maintenance . Especially if aspiring the be a world class facility.
I have always loved the grounds of Melbourne university and the planting decisions made there which have also provided inspiration for my own garden.
Wandering the gardens was a highlight of my time as a student and later staff member of Melbourne Uni. The grounds staff do an amazing job.
It was so wonderful to study in beautiful surroundings instead of the concrete jungle offered by most other local universities. Some of my most cherished memories involve the small hidden garden nooks and South Lawn.
I was a student at UoM 30 years ago, and have worked their off and on ever since. I consider the UoM grounds a haven for anybody working or otherwise in the area,including many patients and their families at local hospitals. Part of what makes UoM grounds so special is the collections of plants that have been accrues and expanded over the decades, and nurturing them requires the accrued knowledge of the ground staff. It would be an irreparable loss if they were made redundant.
Melb Uni gardens is one of the most beautiful in Melbourne
The grounds at the University of Melbourne are one of its prime assets, and set it apart from other institutions which don't have the space or the tradition of maintaining beautiful gardens for staff and students. The care of these treasures should be kept in house, and the work of the grounds team acknowledged!
I did my PhD in the botany school at UoM and always loved the gardens, particularly the systems gardens. They are a joy to be in and also an amazing resource with plants you don’t often find in public gardens. I love the Virbirnum collection and also the new gardens behind Agriculture. I always visit the systems garden when I visit the University. The grounds team clearly have great expertise that will be hard to replicate by outsourcing. Don’t let the grounds at UoM turn into some boring gardens with no diversity that is simple to look after. Keep the Grounds team and their expertise!
I lived at a residential college for 2 years and very much appreciated the beauty of the college grounds and the value it adds to what Universities are meant to represent - the pursuit of knowledge and striving for a better world. I would hate to see quite achievers and those who have minimal avenues to advocate for the value of their role be under appreciated in a system that could more effectively cut costs in other areas. From a personal perspective my brother works maintenance at a school and the value he brings to that community is not easily measurable.
As a previous student, the parks, lawns and hidden little corners of the university were what kept me sane during the stressful periods of uni and life. None of these places would have been as special as they were without the hard work of the knowledgeable groundskeepers. Getting rid of these workers seems completely insane to me
The grounds are like a fountain, providing comfort and solace to the intellectually weary.
Don’t do this. Don’t always do this to the people who have worked for you for years and are a valued part of your community.
The grounds create a calm place to unwind, to restore the stressed student mind, and to enjoy with friends. They are in many places, heritage, always meticulously cared for, and development of new areas is mindful, beautiful and smart.
The grounds were a large part of my UoM experience and a key reason why I remember the place so fondly.
I studied and worked at the University for over 10 years and the grounds were always wonderful. Heartbreaking to see the grounds team not given the appreciation they deserve.
The University of Melbourne 's grounds are an essential part of the university, an environment of beauty and peace for students and staff. They should not be sacrificed to save a small amount of money. At a time like this, students and staff need stability in their surroundings as well as their teaching, and to feel that the university cares for the WHOLE university - students, staff, learning & teaching, and its buildings and grounds.
The grounds are beautiful and their dedication shows.
I work across the road as the Head of the Humanities Faculty at the University High School, and have a Bachelor of Arts with first class Honours from the University of Melbourne. I have walked through the University of Melbourne grounds almost every day for the past 28 years, and have always appreciated the incredible attention to detail of the grounds staff, the depth and quality of the botanical collection and historic trees on site. Gardens are not just the sum of their parts, however - they form part of a living culture that evolves and develops over long periods of time. The loss of the grounds team and its connection with and knowledge of this important heritage place is unfathomable, and if it goes ahead, will stand as testament to the loss of culture more generally in the university sector.
Campus always looks amazing thanks to this great team. Why outsource this team, which won’t save UoM any money, other than sham accounting practice.
The beautiful grounds were often a place of solace for me while experiencing distress and hardship during my honours degree. The gardens were so much more therapeutic than any other interventions provided by the uni to be frank!
The grounds are an integral part of the University and I can not imagine a successful University of Melbourne without the brilliant and hardworking Grounds team!
The University of Melbourne's garden are an important community resource, that do not only benefit current students and staff but the wider community and future staff and students.
The grounds have always been amazing, testament to dedicated people who care. You won't get that from contracting and making even more uni jobs insecure.
They do a consistently excellent job and are very friendly.
As a landscape gardener, the high quality of the groundskeeping at University of Melbourne has always stood out whenever I’ve been on the campus. Let it remain so.
I was at unimelb for 6 years. The grounds were so incredibly lovely and evidently extremely well cared for. It would be such a shame to see them taken over by outside contractors that may not have the experience to deal with very specific needs of heritage plants. The botany garden in particular has very fond memories associated with it.
I love the gardens, the variety of plantings, the sense of calm they convey and their beauty through the seasons. Over many decades as a staff member they constantly inspired my own home gardening efforts.
There is so much that I could say here. I have been an employee (a few times), a student and just a Melburnian who enjoys wandering through this stunning Carlton campus. Deliberately picking different ways to go to get coffee so I could see the changes. Knowing that my graduation photos would be gorgeous if outside. In public health we are taught and we teach the value of green spaces. It is a privilege to have such beautiful ones on the campus for so many to enjoy. You can tell that this is about staff who are part of the university family. The care shows a long term relationship. A science and at art.
If the maintenance of the grounds slip, so will the prestige of our degrees.
The beautiful grounds of the university are invaluable for providing a mental refresher.
I studied horticulture at Burnley. I know the care that these people take and the experience and knowledge they have.
Helpful enthusiastic and knowledgeable - doing away with this team would be a huge loss
Among my fondest memories of my PhD are those which involved a stroll down Professor’s Walk or lunch in the Systems Garden. It would be very disappointing to see these iconic parts of campus decline in the wake of the invariable neglect that would occur should the Grounds Team be made redundant and their specialist knowledge lost.
The grounds are an essential part of the ethos of the campus.
From my undergraduate days in 1970's, through to most recent masters studies & research ethics committee membership, the MU grounds have always brought joy, sanctuary & many wonderful meeting spots for intense & relaxing conversations. The passion of the grounds team & staff is palpable, & fundamental to the grounds enjoyment.
I can see now what a privilege it was to be able to study onsite and walk, relax and have fun on the lawns and under the trees of the south lawn. You can tell when grounds are cared for by people who have a real investment in what they nurture.
In my time as a landscape architecture student, the grounds were a source of inspiration. I always marvelled at how well they were kept.
Years of horticultural experience and commitment that can never be replaced Is this how skill and knowledge is to be treated?
As someone who worked at the University for more than decade, in a role that had me representing and advancing the brand publicly, the grounds held a special place in my heart. Not only are they an inspiring and calming place to work and study within, they were also a point of immense pride, something that helped our University stand head and shoulders above the rest. All of this was due to the hard work of the passionate grounds staff, who’s knowledge and know how exemplified the breadth and depth that the University’s curriculum aspired to. That they are being scrapped is a dreadful stain on the University’s legacy. I hope the executive take pause to consider what such a move will mean.
The best thing about campus is tbr grounds. Covid proved I could study from home but I missed the gorgeous gardens a lot. It is a big draw for choosing unimelb and should not be overlooked.
Having attended Queen’s College, I spent a lot of my time walking through the University of Melbourne. Although I didn’t attend Melbourne University (I am an RMIT student), I have performed and played sport at Melbourne University. Often I would meet friends, do exercise or just walk through and observe the beautiful gardens. I imagine the grounds team put in a lot of work around the clock to keep it as clean as it is. I would like to thank them for contributing to my positive outlook of the University of Melbourne.
As a student of Botany, with a then very recently acquired love of gardening, I was intensely interested in the grounds of the Uni while studying between 1982-1984. Having since made a career in horticulture, and both writing and hosting TV shows about garden design, I think back on my time in the Uni grounds as both formative and inspiring. The trees alone deserve ongoing specialist and continuous care. The largely plant-defined spaces, always in danger of being devalued, need to be celebrated and nurtured by a dedicated, specific team
The grounds at the University of Melbourne are so beautiful and such an asset to the university and Melbourne in general. As an alumni, being able to return and walk through the large variety of plants is so soothing. It would be an absolute shame for the University to cut these valuable staff members and would continue to evidence their disregard for the culture and community of the University.
The scenic nature of the grounds provided me with a sense of calm and serenity while studying at the University of Melbourne. To undermine the quality and biodiversity on display for the sake of negligibly reducing costs is regrettable and counter-productive.
The gardens provide beauty and tranquility to the MelbUni Communities, providing crucial inspiration and reconnection for people with quite stressful schedule s in the inner city. Moments of repreve under a shady tree or reading on the grass beside a glorious flower bed. These are the times we refill our cup and push forward. The groundskeeping staff and their breadth of specific knowledge with regards to these grounds is irreplaceable.
As a country student moving to Melbourne the grounds were a critical component of my wellbeing and were a source of peacefulness and contentment - these need to be maintained at the standard they are for current and future students.
As a former research student and former member of biology teaching staff at the University of Melbourne, I know how important the wonderful grounds staff are in maintaining the system garden and beyond on campus. The expertise and passion of staff including Tim Ubergang and Virginia McNally is so valuable, pleasure reconsider outsourcing grounds staff.
I've had casual conversations with grounds staff about plants I was photographing. The gardener volunteered information about plant names and characteristics without me even asking. I could see there was a lot of passion and knowledge involved in the care of the grounds.
I loved the beautiful grounds when I was there.
The grounds are just stunning, and honestly part of the reason why I chose to apply to Melbourne University. The Grounds Team are truly underrated and do an impeccable job.
The valuable contributions these expert Gardner's make add to the many qualities of U of Melb. And the overall appeal of this fine intitution. The well-being of the staff and students can not be underestimated and the quality of the out door University environs impacts greatly on this.
The University has arguably the best grounds team of any public institution in Australia, and sure you MIGHT be able to outsource it to competent people, but what do you do if it goes at all wrong and you've lost control over the process. The grounds are central to the University's brand, and so this decision is just stupidly risking brand damage for the sake of maybe saving a few cheap bucks. But I bet the savings wind up being visible. The University has an appalling record on heritage, and this is simply part of that continuum.
I completed my honours and PhD in the School of Botany, which backs onto the Systems Garden. I always loved that space and how the Grounds Team have modified it over time. My current job includes attending an annual workshop in the botany building, where we all have lunch and tea in this garden and I continue to enjoy its thoughtful evolution. As a student, I recall seeing undergraduates being shown through and herbarium staff collecting samples for practical classes. I know one of my supervisors had discussions with members of the Team about the Garden (and mushrooms, our speciality) so I believe they really care about their work. The Grounds Team really have done a fantastic job over many years and I would like them to stay, for all our benefit.
They do an incredible job and are an important part of the uniMelb community.
During my time at University of Melbourne I found peace quiet of the beautiful University grounds are very important aspect of my whole education experience. I feel this experience for current and future students and staff would be impoverished without the amazing team that looks after the grounds. They must be retained to continue their work!
Walking through the University on a spring or summer day, seeing all the diverse plant life just brings a smile to your face
I spent 7 years on campus, love the magnificent and individualist gardens everywhere. I always admire the quality of the care the from the ground staff, how they manage to maintain such a diverse collection of plants. They must worth their weight in gold.
The space to reflect and recover that the UniMelb grounds provide is a unique asset. Downgrading it is distressingly short-sighted.
The collection of research that is the Burnley Gardens is the one of the most special amd unique garden environments in Australia that should be maintained for future generations. Thus inarguably will occur to a lessened degree under contract
The systematics garden was always my favourite place. So beautiful.
The university of Melb are a place people visit even when they’re not directly involved with the university. They are a stunning example of architecture and landscaped horticultural beauty create the perfect setting to learn, contemplate and wander. The grounds staff LOVE the grounds and have so many collective years of love and care for them. Contractors have no connection, no history with the landscapes and plants and, tbh, will simply clip, blow and mow. A tragedy unfolding before our eyes.
Burnley Gardens are not simply campus grounds, but a botanical garden. Bespoke care with a team who can take pride of ownership is crucial to the upkeep of these gardens.
The gardens are a beautiful tradition and the grounds staff marvellous ambassadors for the uni. They are an integral part of the whole university community. Please let’s conserve some traditions. We could outsource lectures and much more also with current technology - what would be left? Administrators
If for no other reason, the University should take a peak at its own social media feeds - all of that positive promotion is down to the hard work of the Grounds Team. Outsourcing these amazing spaces to an "Uber Eats" supplier using underpaid and unqualified gig economy workers would be a disaster.
I have very fond memories of studying, playing and chatting under the many large and beautiful trees on site. While I studied a BSc, I was also very interested in horticulture and used to wander the grounds looking at plants and took interest in how they always looked so stunning!
One of the main things that makes the experience of the University so special are the stunning grounds. These beautiful gardens we are so lucky to enjoy don't happen by accident and are the result of the dedication and deep care of the grounds teams. It is a tragedy to lose all the specialised knowledge developed over decades and is not something that can be replaced. Outsourcing the care of our grounds is a huge mistake that will be a source of regret.
Fond memories of well-kept lawns and gardens which added to our feelings of well-being. So important that they have continuous attention by expert staff.
I love the grounds of this University and think it one of Melbourne’s greatest assets in terms of heritage, a city that welcomes students, a creative city and the significant impact it has on the neighbourhood.
Almost everyday whilst studying at Melb Uni I sat on the lawn in some part of the grounds. Regular walks around the gardens with a Parkville resident prior to going to Uni helped plant a seed that my dream would come true. Without those beautiful walks I may not have ever got there as a mature age student.
As member of Melbourne Uni Alumni and over 40 year's experience in Horticulture and tertiary education I'm appalled at UoM decision to cut the Grounds Team. Burnley and Parkville campus have always set the standard for the industry and the cuts will have far-reaching effects on Horticulture Education.
While studying and working at UoM, the grounds were one of my favourite things. Always a way to wind down and enjoy nature. Hate to see that compromised!
The gardens cheered me up.
These grounds were and remain a source of solace and delight for me from my time as an undergraduate to now in my old age
Many hours of lounging on the grass/ hacks sac, making life friends as a Med student. Thanks ground staff. Common Melb Uni. We are better than this.
There is something special about these grounds, the magnificent trees and beautifully manicured lawns that always feted breathing space between classes
The University of Melbourne grounds are of state significance, and one of the treasures of Melbourne. I have been fortunate to enjoy the huge amenity they provide as a student in the 1980s and since then my appreciation of their importance has grown steadily through my professional life an architect/ urban designer. In the projhects I have worked on at UoM campus, the custodianship, ongoing care and expertise of the Grounds Staff team (including their intimate historical knowledge of the place) have been vital, and instrumental to quality outcomes.
When i graduated from Burnley, one of the goal jobs in the horticultural industry in Victoria was to work for the University of Melbourne Grounds Staff.
I have worked with the Grounds team on several projects at the University. There is an extremely diverse range of plants and open spaces throughout the Parkville campus that they continuously improve and maintain to a high standard. The University needs to retain the grounds team.
Being able to learn to be a Landscape Architect within these magnificent grounds was a central part to the quality and uniqueness of the professional degree. The outsourcing of its care concerns me as the connection to place of those who manage the grounds is lost.
Excellent, highly knowledgeable ground staff that provide an excellent level of care, which could not be replicated by outsourcing.
The grounds were one of the delights of campus, especially the unexpected gardens that beautified pathways and strange corners between buildings. The plants were always beautifully maintained and flourished under the care, making walking between classes a refreshing experience. Also trees were appropriately placed for shaded seating in many places. The whole of the campus gardens were beautifully designed, executed and maintained.
The grounds at Melbourne University were always exceptionally beautiful, and it was always a treat to see grounds staff bustling through and working. They had great care and attention to their work, and one could tell they were heavily invested in the dignity of their vocation.
It doesn't work, the Kennett outsourcing in this area showed that money saved on deskilling and dumbing down horticulturists is spent on administrators specifying and supervising the contracts.
As an architect I have professionally worked with ground staff on building projects. Their knowledge, built up over time and through their own personal attachment to the place, is essential for the university. The grounds are the heart of the university, nurturing the students. The grounds need to be nurtured in return by people who care. Permanent ground staff employed by the university are the people in the best position to do this, not outsourced contractors.
Excellent teaching and learning resource (gardens and gardeners at Burnley) please do not outsource, and loose a wonderful depth of expertise and experience.
I studied for 6 years at University of Melbourne. The Systems Gardens were a vital, precious space for the remainder of my time at uni once I discovered them in my second year. They are truly beautiful, peaceful and cared for. I would walk through them for a short break and sit there alone when I needed a reset. I read the botanical signage many, many times. I was a member of Melbourne Unicycling Juggling Club. We performed at multiple events on campus. I once lost a prop after a gig, and left a notice in that space. A member of the grounds team found it, rang me, and went out of his way to meet up with me, return it and have a chat. Surely the money saved by reducing and outsourcing grounds work cannot be worth risking what the University has, I expect this is one of those "don't know what you've got til it's gone" moments. Please keep the whole grounds team on.
Having been a student there for 5 years, I always enjoy walking along the tree avenue through the Ian Potter Museum and Peter Hall Building's gateway, as well as spaces between buildings. The trees and landscape setting are so picturesque, and they just sits harmony in the scene.
The work of the grounds team is based on deep engagement with the university ideals and culture. Their results are stunning. Even if contractors can maintain these standards in the short term it is unlikely that they can long term. This is a false economy.
The grounds provided me with quiet paces to reflect and re-energise as well as places to meet, discuss and celebrate achievements and friendships. The Grounds team have been and continue to do a fantastic job in understanding these sorts of needs as well as connecting with research needs and providing exemplars of habitat that meet contemporary values and needs. History tells us that outsourcing jobs like this will result in something far less.
The wonderful grounds at Melbourne University are a treasure too valuable to outsource.
The University of Melbourne grounds are one of its most outstanding public goods. The workers who shape and maintain them deserve to have their expertise treated with respect, not like interchangeable and disposable units of labour.
The heritage of the grounds is as important as the buildings and the institution. To preserve this, you must employ and retain ongoing staff who can maintain continuous and enduring, in house care of the landscapes.
The grounds team keep Melb Uni beautiful, and it was these beautiful grounds that made that my experience as an undergraduate at Melb Uni so memorable. And Melb Uni knows this: that's why the grounds feature so prominently in the alumni material I continue to receive from the University's marketers. Keep the team that keeps your University picture-perfect.
The grounds at the University are so beautiful and well cared for. I think it's terrible that the University would outsource that kind of skill and knowledge
One of the most special parts of my uni experience was the chance to study, read and write in the grounds, and as a Creative Writing student, they were often used in class to generate writing exercises.
The grounds at Parkville are what set Melbourne apart
Just stop making the university a shittier more commercialised place. It should be run as a piblic good for the public. Disgraceful, but given the rampant casualisation and job insecurity at unimelb - unsurprisingl.
The grounds staff at Melbourne contribute so much to the campus, to it's beauty and interest, as well as it's accessibility. They create mini oases when so much of the culture of the campus is toxic and competitive.
After the Black Saturday fires, I organised an event to commemorate two who had died in the conflagration. Over 400 attended and the ground staff filled the hall with eucalyptus and rosemary. It was an extraordinary afternoon and the families were deeply touched by the University's response. It forged an enduring link between me, Tim and Virginia, who were remarkably dedicated to their work.
Having a deep interest in growing rare plants, the amazing plant collections at the University of Melbourne that I saw when I was a student on orientation when I was in secondary school impressed me and was the final deciding factor that made me sure that the University of Melbourne was where I would like to study at. There are several important plant collections (e.g. Ceroxylon and many other rare palms species, Encephalartos and other rare cycads to mention a few) that need specialist care that can be only provided by trained horticulturalists and in particular the staff currently working there that are aware of their growing preferences from taking care of them for the last few decades. I deeply fear that untrained and unaware outsourced groups will not be able to provide the appropriate care for these plants. The current staff also know the plant species that are required for botany practical classes. Botany staff will need to unnecessarily re-establish new relationships with new gardens staff to achieve the same relationship that have been forged over many years and so redundancies in one group will have flow on effects to other sectors of the university. While completing my PhD in botany at the University of Melbourne I was employed part time to work with the ground staff to care for the gardens. I now first hand the love and hard work the current staff provide for these gardens and that the gardens or the university as a whole will not be the same if the current grounds staff are made redundant.
I used to teach Biology of Australian Flora and Fauna, and the gardens were an important part of teaching resources that I developed.
Every day I have been on campus over many years, I have noticed the quality of the green spaces. The team involved is clearly working at a level above and beyond the more generic spaces found around other institutions. And this matters - universities are supposed to be contemplative spaces, and the grounds contribute materially to the flow of ideas, to offering opportunities for calm that promote productivity. Additionally, given the global challenges we face with the mismanagement of the global environment, retaining excellence in care for the physical campus environment sends an important message about the university’s values and its commitment to a holistic vision of education.
The Uni grounds are truly unique and historical. Specialist and qualified staff are essential. Clearly the grounds staff who take care of your unique grounds, and espy the systems garden, are both of these things. At my uni contractors have taken over the grounds and are unqualified and unmanageable. They don’t know plants, and cannot even prune properly and have weeded out endangered native species. . Damage that such contractors can cause will not easily be undone.
You can’t put a price on the experience and care long term staff members provide.
Amazing work and care of these precious grounds. Knowledge that can't be replaced.
During the lockdown the university has been an absolute haven for myself and friends to walk. There are so many beautiful plants that have been so carefully looked after for decades. It is absolutely criminal to outsource this work - perhaps they can sell the Vice-Chancellors house with its tended gardens overlooking the golf course and parks and use the money to keep the grounds team. Much more value for money. I've got so many photos - I'll upload one. It has been such a joy to go through the grounds. One of the people I walk with has been at Melbourne Uni for decades - he will be devastated.
I spent ten many happy years enjoying the gardens of the University in the 1970s especially the Systems Garden behind Botany. My daughter now enjoys them also as a member of staff. The Grounds team should be retained for their knowledge and experience of these very special gardens; they are much appreciated
Melbourne uni grounds are so important to students to take time out in from classes
A wonderful and exotic refuge.
These gardens are such a beautiful escape, I used to love going here on a break when I worked in the city. The grounds team who look after them are responsible for such joy!
As a local I get the utmost joy from walking through the unimelb grounds. The diversity of flora is truly special clearly cultivated by dedicated and passionate ground staff. I despair at the thought of this being compromised due to ham fisted cost-cutting. It must be opposed at all costs.
The depth of knowledge held by this dedicated team cannot be replicated by a couple of blokes with a mower and a blower. Have respect for skills and knowledge that are outside of academia
I love walking through Melbourne University and seeing the diversity of plant life and the wonderful gardens and trees. Shame Melbourne Uni!
30 years of pleasure. I studied botany and the beautiful grounds inspired me when I was young. They inspire my children now.
I lived at Janet Clarke Hall for 3 years with my husband and young child. She learnt to ride her bike in the Melbourne Uni grounds. Please continue to respect and take care of these historic grounds and those who care for them.
I have had many causes to visit the university from time to time and have always been impressed with the grounds design and maintenance. They have been a significant part of my impression of the university and it is foolish to risk them for small-time penny pinching.
Always a delight to walk around and admire the buildings and grounds
I spent so much of my early adult life around the grounds of Melbourne uni, the Systems garden was a special place. Thank you Grounds Team
The team should remain doing the fantastic job they do. Saving a buck is not worth outsourcing vital work.
I have loved the University of Melbourne grounds for nearly 40 years and have always greatly appreciate the wonderful work of the Grounds Team.
Beautiful experience seeing theatre and music
Have always admired the historic and beautiful grounds of Melbourne Uni.
The grounds at Melbourne Uni appreciated by all Melbournians and need to be cared for by the staff who know and understand them the best. If there's no love then the grounds will reflect that. The lawns and big trees need expert care in these changing climate times.
It was my first feel of Australia and the love of gardens grew from there.
The plants are in beautiful condition and make such a contribution to the university grounds. Thank you Grounds Team for your decades of work. We all know that getting something so beautiful takes an ongoing commitment and attention.
I have wandered. Unserious times through the grounds and sat to take in the beautiful gardens. Please done let this happen. They are highly skilled employees who’s value & skills need to be acknowledged & appreciated
I visit Melbourne Uni a few times a year, and the well-kept grounds are a significant part of the reason. Contracting out the work will lead to a poorer outcome.
I have walked through the grounds many times and always admired the beauty.
These beautiful ground deserve to be protected
For locals like me it’s a beautiful and tranquil place to go for a walk
Absolutely beautiful and so ridiculous they would even consider outsourcing this.
the grounds at the University are a state treasure and should be treated as such - it is something you should market and use to fund it’s upkeep - and keep the staff that have intimately nurtured its creation.....we all know what outsourcing leads to - no point of difference.
These grounds are important as a historical, diverse and nurturing environment for students and staff to be valued for the asset they are. The Grounds Team bring with them the knowledge and long term commitment to the task of keeping them. Do not outsource this valuable task.
When visiting Melbourne I have gone to the University grounds and have admired the beautiful trees, gardens and lawn. People's livelihoods are at stake here. In a time of global pandemic, have some compassion!
The grounds team are essential. The gardens are the heart of the campus.
My parents and the rest of the grounds team are some of the hardest working individuals who genuinely care so much about making the University a beautiful place to study and work. They have dedicated so much of their careers to the betterment of the grounds and have such a positive impact on University life.
The grounds are always so beautiful and the people that maintain them are clearly so passionate. My good friends mother and father both maintain the grounds at Melbourne Uni and they LOVE their job. It’s what they live and breathe! Outsourcing them is not the solution!
I visit and love the grounds
Beautiful hard working team
Whenever I have visited Melbourne University, I have been impressed by the care and love for the grounds, that is provided by the grounds workers. Outsourcing is always false economy. To maintain control, the work needs to be done by the existing team who have a huge amount of knowledge of the grounds. The Covid pandemic has shown us that outsourcing is not the way to go.
the most loveliest grounds in melbourne CBD, to stroll through, i just love those gardens,they shine because of their constant care and obvious dedication of the staff who work there
We were privileged to visit the University of Melbourne grounds and saw the wonderful and hard work that has been put into them by the grounds staff. The students are very lucky to have first class learning from these gardens. Please stop the outsourcing of these beautiful gounds.
The gardens provide a lovely oasis in the midst of a busy inner city location. I especially appreciate the euphorbia garden, the boabab trees, the fragrant plants and old trees, and shady places to safely walk in. The gardeners/grounds team obviously intricately know and appreciate the gardens as they nurture and preserve the space. An outsourced and privatised service is primarily about making profit for wealthy corporations and shareholders. They do not care about the amenity or the people who use it. The worst scenario would be engaging a corporation such as Serco which profits directly from human rights abuses globally. Please keep the grounds team, retain their jobs and keep their knowledge, skills and experience.
I make use of these grounds for recreation and relaxation frequently, as do many people I know. These spaces are an invaluable addition to Melbourne's park space and should be left in the caring hands of people who love and tend them, not a bunch of hacks with no investment in their sensitive upkeep. The universities decision just doesn't make sense.
I have visited the university over many years when visiting Melbourne and always admired the grounds and thought how well looked after they were. I would hate them to be jeopardised in any way. Surely keeping the people who have achieved this should remain.
The current team do an amazing job to keep the grounds immaculate. All credit to them.
I used to work on campus and enjoyed having my lunch in any number of beautiful grassy spots. I continue to take my children there to explore the lovely nooks and crannies and show them the huge variety of plants that are so well kept. Please don't outsource the grounds keeping, it needs a dedicated team who know and love the gardens as much as we do
The gardens at the university are appreciated not only by the students but the broader community. It is essential that such an important and old garden is maintained by qualified and experienced GARDENERS to ensure this precious resource is around for generations to come
I have known one of your highly trained horticulturalists for nearly twenty years. This person is so dedicated and talented and passionate about creating and caring for beautiful outdoor spaces, I can’t believe that redundancy is a possible outcome, what a waste????
Have always enjoyed walking through the beautiful grounds with my young family on weekends
I have spent many hours enjoying the System Garden (Parkville) and Burnley Gardens (Burnley). They are treasures to be cherished!
The grounds team have done an extraordinary job over the years keeping the grounds immaculate. This is devastating news.
I admire the work on the uni grounds. It is an oasis.
I love the grounds, walk through almost daily and respect that people work hard to care for them. This is about community, heritage, nature, and people’s livelihoods.
The University of Melbourne grounds are some of the most beautiful around the whole of Melbourne, the ground staff do an incredible job of maintaining the beautiful environment.
Go many years I have visited the university for guest lectures and just to walk through on my commute. I’ve always admired the work of the grounds staff and the care they take which can only come from being well acquainted and connected to the site.
I used to work as admin staff for the Deparment of Civil and Environmental Engineering, but I have oved and used the grounds since I was a teenager, four decades ago. The knowledge, the care with which each bed, each tree, each zone was tended always moved me. It was part of what was so wonderful moving through the campus. The gorunds team did more than just care for things, I loved how they would make small mindful zones in which to reflect and sit amindst the madness of one's daily existence, small peaceful places. The gift they give is beyond words.
I used to work at Oxfam Australia and walked there from my home in Carlton- passing through the Parkville grounds everyday. They were really unique and special and added a lot to the feel of the university.
Absolutely need these amazing grounds for peaceful restorative time around the University. Incredible place to enjoy nature and destress.
After its outsourced youloose the pride and spef just as much ensuring the contractors are doing what you ask and are paying them for
Visiting the campus as a child and since, kept so well
Priceless work
These tranquil gardens surrounding the beautiful architecture of the grounds compliment each other, and are so well maintained and cared for by people who are passionate about not only their work, but the gardens themselves, that they have been involved in for years. Another prime example of big multi-million dollar institutions making cheap cuts at the expense of dedicated workers
There are botanically significant and rare plants in the grounds. Contract staff will not have the sam care and expert knowledge as do the current grounds staff.
I remember going to the university grounds as a child & being utterly entranced by the gardens. They, more than anything, inspired me to seek a university education. Please treasure & preserve them, & retain the people who have kept them beautiful for so long.
The gardens on this campus are magical and require the continued care of the skilled grounds team to continue to thrive, so that they may continue to serve as a place of harmony to students, staff, and members of the surrounding community. This garden is as important as the Royal Botanical Gardens in Melbourne and deserves the same level of care. Green spaces are more important than ever in our cities, contributing greatly to the wellbeing of the community and providing habitat for urban wildlife.
Though not a student of Melb Uni myself, I have enjoyed visiting student friends over the past 30 years in the beautiful grounds. A calming and relaxing space for staff and students alike. A jewel in Melbourne's academic landscape - thanks to the tireless and expert work of the grounds staff.
They are a beautiful public horticultural wonder. You can really see the love and dedication of the long serving and passionate staff.
its the fabric of melbourne uni and adds to the beauty of melbourne city itself. its an institution
I know a couple of the grounds staff and they are so proud of the work they do and care they take to look after all aspects of the grounds. We all know that the grounds won’t be the same with outsourcing. There are so much evidence of this at many parks and grounds around Melbourne.
The Grounds Team know and care for and about the Uni grounds. I don't think you'd find a team more passionate about and good at their jobs - and it shows in the stunning grounds presently at the University.
Beautiful grounds.
Most passionate, dedicated staff who know the grounds better than any contractor would.
Such a stunning space to walk but also take students to as an educator.
Melbourne Uni’s beautiful and historic gardens are hugely important to all community members and the expert and committed grounds team provide everyone joy, particularly in these times when our outside spaces are so important to us all.
I worked at the uni for 12 years, one of the best parts of my job was enjoying the grounds, which I showcased at events I organised at the uni including orientation, open day, and even public lectures.
I love passing the gardens around the university. Can't bear the thought they will no longer flourish as they do by staff who respect and and put their love into the gardens but just be 'maintained' by external contractors
Walked through many times. So beautiful and precious. The team do an incomparable job.
I walk thru these grounds regularly for enjoyment
The exceptional and iconic quality of the Melbourne Uni grounds generates respect, wonder and pride in the university community and greater Melbourne. It also indicates the grounds staff have a deep understanding and go above and beyond their roles in nurturing and maintaining the grounds, By its nature, contracting diminishes the sense of commitment and ownership of the people doing the work compared to if they are working in-house, fully employed. The grounds will suffer in the long term without permanent staff, and this will incur costs much greater than the perceived short term financial benefits. The costs won't just be in dollar terms, they will be related to the university's appeal to future students. and its reputation across the sector and. the community.
As one of the only universities in Melbourne with the original gardens in the grounds it would be a shame to lose them from poor maintenance.
I admire the gardens each time I take students to Melbourne University for an excursion, lecture, presentation. The gardens and grounds of Melbourne University are beautiful and I believe will be ruined by outsourcing.
A hard working team keeping a beautiful garden.
Melbourne University is by far the most beautiful university in Melbourne and this is largely due to the beautiful gardens that surround the buildings. Keep the gardening in house so the planning and effort remains centralised.
They are beautiful grounds and getting rid of these people's jobs is cruel and unnecessary.
I implore you to keep your wonderful Melb. Uni grounds staff. I regularly cycle, walk, bring o/seas and interstate visitors to enjoy the ambience of Melb. Uni. The grounds, the magnificent trees, the unusual and indigeous plantings are vital. Outsourcing in my experience will employ unengaged staff whose primary task is 'leaf-blowing' and cutting plants up with whipper snippers. You need the expertise in your team of gardeners. I have so many moments of awe in these grounds. It's such a valuable community and global resource. Please do not be so short-sighted in your management. All future generatiins will regret this!
One of the most beautiful places to work in Melbourne
beautiful legacy and tradition of horticulture with deep respect for the environment and care they have tended.
As a former staff member I am concerned about the loss of specific knowledge of UoM's diverse gardens, including historic plants and sites.
My mum worked for Melbourne Uni for 25 years and growing up, all through my childhood and my teens, I would visit her on campus. The grounds and gardens were always maintained so beautifully, even when I have visited campus in more recent times, I’ve become more aware of how much the landscaping and grounds keeping helps to create such a magical environment. It’s devastating to hear that the wonderful people who’ve helped to maintain such a special environment are all losing their jobs.
It's University of MELBOURNE.
Although not alumni I was for many years a staff member of other unis and attended many meetings at Melbourne. Walking through the beautiful peaceful well kept places was often restorative. The outsourcing of roles like this has been proven many times over in recent decades to be false economy and to reduce quality of outcomes. Add this to the personal impact on the wellbeing of the staff and there is just no sense in it. Please think again.
I was seeking an amazing horticulture and landscape design work experience for my son, which came through the wonderful Curator of the Systems Garden, Tim and in place with the Grounds Team who were all supportive, caring people that were very dedicated to the care of the unique plants and grounds at the University of Melbourne. Having completed a contract with a large outsourcing service provider that would be the kind of replacement for those people, I can honestly say the University of Melbourne will not save money nor replicate the care and knowledge from an outsourced team. This is very short-sighted decision and will result in the slow decimation of the grounds and loss of unique plants.
Idyllic settibg to read, to all through and observe the grounds team activating such beauty
This is the best part of Melbourne Uni, they would be shooting themselves in the foot to not fund it
Stupid false economy that will see the destruction of historically and aesthetically important heritage.
UoM grounds are a valuable teaching and learning resource full of historic assets that the uni has a duty if care to maintain, as well as providing beautiful spaces for everyone to enjoy PARTICULARLY in times of stress.
This is absolutely ridiculous and a travesty! Please rethink this decision, so many years of care and attention by so many long-term staffers will go down the drain. This will impact on many dedicated people's lives negatively.
Beautiful gardens, expertly cared for. To outsource is a short-sighted, destructive move, at ultimately a huge cost to the grounds, and those who work them, and those who enjoy them, from staff, students, alumni, and the wider community, wildlife included.
I always dreamed of attending the prestigious Melbourne University...part of the appeal was the beauty of the campus. Without the wonderful, and thoughtful work of the gardening and landscaping team, a lot of that beauty would be lost. I live in country Victoria, and when I visit Melbourne I take the opportunity to walk in the ambience that so many great minds have done before me. Please do not replace the grounds staff, with drones who don’t love their work place...and preserve the wonderful grounds for future generations.
These gardens provide an important green area in the city area as well as being an significant resource for the university and community.
Melbourne Uni has some beautiful places to sit and read and I do. These spaces are all about the garden and a peaceful spot in the city.
I just visited the university gardens today, to show my partner the plantings and mature trees. They are a beautiful and important feature of the university, which adds to its value as much as the historic buildings.
I have none...but have experienced University culture as a former sessional teacher and frankly this sounds like more Corporate borax.
I have been a student and staff member over the past 40+ and the ink resort from us have been an essential part of my daily interaction on campus. It has helped my well being during many stressful days. Sitting in the System garden at Parkville, gazing at the gums from the Bailleu, sitting in the Wilin garden at Southbank: essential to feeling a part of this great university. And all looked after by people who care. It will no longer be a great university if their care is outsourced. Bland plantings, shoddy maintenance schedules pared to the bone, all done by people who do not care.
Spent many hours at the athletics track and doing various courses at the Uni. Always admired the grounds.
It is a major factor in why the university is special.
Yes I have enjoyed these beautifuly maintained gardens for many years
I was at a conference at U of M last February and the grounds were spectacular. The work of the Grounds Team speaks to the care and expertise they bring to their work.
The gardens at the University of Melbourne are beautiful. Please do not commodify them, but outsourcing this work to the lowest bidder and disembedding this vocation from those who take pride and security in their work.
Appreciate the beauty and hard work that goes into the grounds
The most beautiful campus, walk through everyday with my daughter. Please keep the Grounds Team
These gardens are pristine and enhance the grounds. To have any deep in quality would be a tragedy. You can see the great pride and attention to detail that the groundsmen take in their role. To outsource this for little-to-no gain seems insulting to both the gardens and the men & women who have cared for them for sure long.
The Melbourne University grounds provide inspiration and an oasis of calm. I have utilised and enjoyed them since living in Parkville as an undergraduate in the 70s and continue to do so. The University grounds provide an oasis of magnificent green space in an area that is being obliterated by high rise density building.
Absolutely stunning garden, appalled to here the current gardeners are to be sacked and replaced.
I walk through it everyday to get to and from work and it is a delightful oasis with many unexpected plants that pop up through the year. A dedicated site team makes the garden vibrant diverse and thoughtful rather than the orderly similarity in gardens by company directed groundskeeping
I often walk through (get a coffee) and the UoM grounds just to enjoy the amazing environment that has been created. It is plainly obvious that the grounds receive specialised care, it would be an absolute disgrace to see this workforce be let go and I have no doubt the university will suffer long term consequences as a result.
Amazing gardens and the loss of all this knowledge is tragic.... purely greed related I am sure.
The grounds at beautiful and well kept. No reason to outsource new people when the current employees are doing it well.
The university is proud of its history and prestige- please support and back the people who have truly made it so.
I walk through the university when I can, to admire the beautiful grounds. I go out of my way to either visit or to walk through the grounds, rather than around, on my journey to my destination.
Expertise is everything & will be lost if outsourced ... 🌻
The Grounds Team look after so many significant plants and trees, you make the campus a unique and special place. I hope your valuable work can continue. The very old Rhododendron on the west side of the campus has long been a favourite.
Every time I have been at the Melbourne uni grounds I have been in awe of the focus on nature and greenery.
I went to the high school opposite Melbourne University and they were my play grounds for a long time. the grounds also gave me a huge sense of peace when I walked through them everyday to get to and from school. Very fond memories and very beautiful grounds
Beautiful grounds that are looked after professionally by the grounds team
The Grounds team has the accumulated experience of care taking this area of green space and has proven their ability and quality of work. Cheap labour is no match to the expertise gained from firsthand experience. Our native flora and fauna need specific care and the current staff have the knowledge that only comes with experience.
I wander through regularly and always admire the perfectly manicured gardens
During 2010 - 2014 I was an undergraduate student at Central Queensland University. At times I had reason to visit my sister who lives in Melbourne however this did impact on my studies. Fortunately through the recognition between universities I was able to make use of the fine facilities at the University of Melbourne. This included spending time in the university’s grounds which were not only a place of calming reflection but also of beauty. This could only result from a dedicated team with the passion and expertise to design and maintain what is as much a part of the culture of Melbourne University as it smog Melbourne itself. To think this may be affected by a changing of circumstances such as that proposed, simply as a cost saving measure is appalling. Please reconsider this proposal and retain the groundstaff to ensure that the legacy of the grounds may continue for future students, alumni and the people of Melbourne.
Highly experienced and capable team
As a striden student at the uni for over 7 years and now as a community member that still visits the uni, I appreciated the work the ground staff did to keep the campus looking great. Their specialist knowledge is not something that can be found in an office outsourced provider.
I am an interstate academic who in the past has frequently visited Uni of Melbourne. Its grounds are an important place in Melbourne, they offer a diverse and historically significant set of places that require more than a contract-approach. In the era of landscaping coming into play in ameliorating against climate change and its effects, it's foolish to replace a dedicated team with people who will be unable to deliver long-term strategies and commitment.
The University of Melbourne grounds are one of the things that drew me across the country to Melbourne in the first place. The Grounds Team's work must be respected and they must be kept on to continue it.
The rose garden
As an academic from another institution, I have always been delighted by how beautiful the University of Melbourne gardens and outdoor campus spaces are. These spaces deserve to be kept in pristine condition by dedicated, in-house grounds workers who know the landscape and understand the value of the gardens to the university and broader community.
Michele’ Adler ( Friends of Burnley)
My Sister has given the better part of her life for decades to nurture your grounds. There will be serious consequences if your short-term mismanagement 'plans' are implemented and we hope and pray that you listen to all the sensible voices protesting against this cynical mistake
The diversity in these grounds is an enduring asset and supports enrollment on campus. The research that the diverse grounds support are crtical in shared learnings and resoutces beyond this campus alone. Campus life, culture , expression and experience is driven in part by the experience with the gardens and also with the knowledgeable staff. Contracting unfortunately does not proffer the same commitment, nurture and future focus that experienced and attached staff provide. It will cost more in the future chasing disease management, plant replacement and research specimens. Staff turnover will naturally be high and knowledge lost. Attachment and care is never the same.
The beautiful gardens of Melbourne University are a testament to the quality horticulture that the grounds team deliver. The members of the grounds department hold so much knowledge and site history between them... to lose all of that would be a terrible shame, for the landscape quality but also for the University community. I hope that this decision is reconsidered and that the grounds department can continue to care for the magnificent gardens that are such a big part of this prestigious University.
Whenever I visit colleagues at Melbourne Uni I'm impressed by how neat and clean are the grounds and how much greenery has been carefully manicured to fill every conceivable space where plants could grow. It makes the campus feel relaxed and comforting. Contracting out the grounds work to private contractors is a retrograde step and inconsistent with the workplace and ethical standards that Australian public universities should be upholding. Unfortunately, when bean counters take over our universities, standards across the board slide significantly, which is exactly what appears to be happening in this instance.
The grounds at MU are an incredible resource to not only the uni but also the City of Melb and its biodiversity. . Don’t let the standards drop through contracting out!
Enjoyed many splendid years relaxing in the System gardens, the south lawns and the garden adjacent to the concrete lawn just east of union house.
This is a public university and the grounds belong to the public. Having worked and studied at this university many years ago, in the days when Vice-Chancellor salaries were humble and proportionate, the grounds were magnificent. It is not possible to outsource this type of work and expect quality, care or pride in a job well done. The University of Melbourne is a magnificent institution more so because of the Grounds team than because of the vastly overpaid Executives and VC's.
The gardens are beautiful and the team so knowledgeable and irreplaceable. The assistance provided to staff and students from the gardens team is absolutely necessary and can't be replaced by ad-hoc contractors. The expertise provided to Botany staff and students is essential.
Quite simply, the grounds staff do an excellent job. Why replace them? This is just plain wrong!!
I studied at the University of Melbourne and most recently during the pandemic have obtained a great deal of solace from walking in the gardens and grounds. Plantings have modified due to climate change but the sense of being in a safe haven was never more acutely felt than during the last 12 months. Whilst much of the city became increasingly derelict - the University grounds have been well cared for and trees nurtured through hard seasons. The sacking of ground staff is a poor reward for caring for the environment by one of Australia’s wealthiest educational institutions.
I am a resident of Carlton and studied at Melbourne University. I visit the grounds multiple times each week to walk and take in the beauty of the special gardens. You can tell when a place is cared for with wisdom and love. I believe this decision means the grounds will become just like any other university—may aswell be Monash or RMIT as they will lose their charm, which I believe is part of the Melbourne University brand.
As a Melbourne uni alumni and local community member, I take great pleasure in walking through the grounds of the university. Caring for these diverse plants and gardens isn't a straightforward job and the skill of the gardeners cannot be underestimated. .
Our experience with outsourcing is that the newcomers do not have the history and dedication of those replaced to nurture and develop such places as gardens. The grounds of U of M have always been cared for by great dedicated workers and are too important to be replaced by contractors.
They've always done a wonderful job and there's no reason to experiment with outsourcing such quality efficient work. Why risk it?
I love the University of Melbourne grounds - it's one of the prettiest universities in the country, and the grounds team does an amazing job. I don't go to the uni anymore but I love cycling through it and attending events there.
I appreciate this petition
I have worked with the Grounds Team for over 10 years, providing design advice. Their knowledge of the unique conditions, flora and fauna of the campus is extensive, and as landscape designers we have relied heavily on their knowledge of the site in our designs. If you lose the staff, that embedded knowledge will be lost forever and the beautiful green campus will never recover. Melbourne University markets itself on the quality of the campus landscape, the quality of these assets will be significantly reduced if the grounds management is outsourced. In the long term, the University's global standing will suffer.
When working at city of Melbourne I would often use examples of the amazing grounds and examples of well maintained greenery. I used the uni as an example of a good model of maintenance. We used your staff to interview when doing an audit of green infrastructure around city of Melbourne and various maintenance techniques to model how it should be done. Building up knowledge and capacity building in-house is the way forward... not the opposite. Shame- you teach your students about green infrastructure and the importance of good maintenance models yet you don’t practice what you preach.
I have visited the Melbourne University grounds each time I am in Melbourne for conferences and have found them to be a welcome relief and sanctuary from busy days. The grounds team should be rewarded and commended for their efforts in keeping such a serene area alive. Shame on Melbourne Uni for trying to outsource the few sources of loveliness on campus.
The grounds were always special and clearly much pride was taken by those keeping them maintained. I worked at UoM from 1978 to 2020 and witnessed the continuous evolution and commitment. It was a shared source of pride that this was something the University did well.
The high quality care which is evident on any visit to the University of Melbourne grounds should not be endangered, through outsourcing of care to a commercial third party. Victoria’s public sector experience with contracting out is that generally it degrades the performance of the subject work.
I have spent many years within these gardens, studying, catching up with friends who are students of university of Melb. Enjoying the slice of serenity on the cities fridge of these beautiful well manicured gardens are culturally important tree's and plants that allow anyone to learn and enjoy these gardens and on occasion and chat or two with the grounds keepers as they are always working with a smile and happy to show the beauty of the surroundings to those who are interested or have any Q's. This is a huge disappointment and pointless idea if it has to do with cost cutting as it never works and contractors will come along with no expertise and destroy/remove plants they have no idea or care for after many years of the complete opposite. I am saddened this has been considered and what a huge devalue to all the students, present, past and future who love and understand the importance of horticulture!!!
I regularly walk in these gardens, they rejuvenate my energy, rest my mind and generally improve my life. The staff are obviously dedicated, creative and skilled designers and gardeners. They maintain a beautiful oasis in an increasingly concrete area. The university must be mad to think of contracting out to companies who will care about nothing but profit, only salaried, valued staff do the kind of work so evident in these grounds.
The University of Melbourne's substantial grounds house one of Australia's most diverse urban gardens, showcasing a rich tapestry of exotic and native plants. The complexity of species within the grounds, including many rare and unusual plants, exists and thrives due to the expert maintenance they receive from a team led by expert horticulturalists. The campus grounds contribute greatly to the City's Urban Forest; in turn, they provide much needed urban habitat, mitigate urban microclimate and, as is evidenced in the work of the University's own world-leading green infrastructure research team, play a key role in the mental and physical wellbeing of students, staff and residents of the campus. The grounds are a major asset and differentiator for Melbourne University on a global scale. They are a key attractor for local and international students to come to the UoM. There is no doubt that in a COVID environment, the University will be challenged to find operational cost reductions, but I would compel those responsible to consider all other avenues. Outsourcing the grounds maintenance will be 'death by a thousand cuts'. My 20+ years of professional experience in the design of urban landscapes has shown that general landscape maintenance providers lack horticultural expertise and their lower cost models are based on minimising effort and reducing the complexity of maintenance tasks. The University's grounds are special because of the long standing investment in maintenance and without ongoing specialist horticultural expertise, passion and commitment to the grounds, it will undoubtedly fall from its world renowned status, to being another mediocre series of municipal urban spaces managed to a budget. Save the team, this remarkable landscape must be retained for future generations of Melbourne and the University to experience!!
The grounds of the university are as much a part of what draws students as the actual rankings. Sitting in the grounds, drinking coffee, talking through new and exciting ideas are some of my favourite memories of university at Melbourne. And when the excitement of new concepts gave way to anxiety and overwhelm, sitting in the gardens and taking deep breaths was incredibly important to me.
The accumulative knowledge of the grounds team is crucial to the success of the ongoing landscaping and maintenance at the campus.
These gardens need to be cared for and are a sanctuary that can't be measured by the "bottom line". As a former staff, I spent breaks and lunches away from the busy-ness of work on campus as a recharge.
The ground staff are and have always been world class!! Please respect and protect them
As a lecturer who lives in North Melbourne I spent much of my week on campus and even now often visit the library and walk through the campus on my way to Lygon St. That might be two times a week, most weeks. The grounds staff have been an invaluable asset for the campus culture, showing decades of diligence and care in generating and maintaining the growth and gardens, etc. To dismiss these staff members demonstrates appalling corporate contempt. This is the thanks they get? Is this ethical? I have no doubt this is being done to employ casuals and so save money. How bloody petty. This from the wealthiest University in Australia. It is surely in breach of ethical employment.
I walk through Melb Uni to be amongst beautiful architecture and gardens. The gardens are beautiful. The staff are passionate.
I was caring for a teenage girl who had lost her mother only hours before and was early for a medical appointment at RMH. I had to find a distraction but shopping was insensitive at this time and she was fasting so a cafe was out of the question. We walked around UoM for two hours. Please keep the grounds staff as you have no idea of the importance of the grounds to Melburnians.
University of Melbourne is a cultural institution in Melbourne and the beauty of the environment is a big part of that. Adequate staffing and staff who are invested in the grounds are essential to this.
This green space is an Oasis in the city, valued and enjoyed by the community. Those that care for the grounds also deserve to keep their jobs! Outsourcing is not the answer
The grounds at Unimelb are exceptional. i spent a lot of time in the system garden in particular, which requires an understanding of horticulture, history and science to maintain and cultivate. I do not think it is worth risking a jewel of Unimelb for a few bucks on external contractors. Mistakes here will not be easily if ever rectified. Outsourcing the curators of University of melbourne living heritage is a shortsighted and foolhardy move.
The University of Melbourne grounds are essentially in the city but contain so many varied, beautiful views. They’ve helped me develop so many of my research ideas.
This feels like the behaviour of a corporate University culture ripping the heart out of campus life. The grounds are beautiful and benefit from permanent ground staff. Grounds need continuity and soul. As does a University. The more services that get contracted out the less culture remains. As a University that trades on quality and tradition this move is off brand. Not to mention unfair to the Grounds team. Have a heart Uni Melb, don't rip out the this part of the soul of the University.
The University grounds are marvellous and the grounds team has always done a fantastic job in maintaining them. Why on earth would you think that outsourcing this job is going to result in savings substantial enough to leave so many staff unemployed?
Worked at the university for almost four decades and found great pleasure and solace in its gardens so well cared for by dedicated gardening staff
The grounds team at UniMelb is incredibly valuable, not just as individuals with great knowledge and expertise on plants and biodiversity- but their love and passion for what they do and for making the campus a beautiful place to experience. I saw first-hand this dedication as both a student and a staff member and am deeply saddened that this team could be made redundant, and that such such talent and skill could be outsourced. Please please consider the importance of their invaluable work.
Exquisite respite in the middle of a metropolis.
integral part of the look and feel of the university
I have witnessed the dedication and effort the grounds staff put into their work. They clearly have expertise and a passion for their work.
Kene and his co-workers tend to these grounds with a love, care and attention that just can’t be matched by a simple “outsourced crew”. Replace these committed souls with a few slightly cheaper ring-ins is a bad plan, that will ultimately leave the gardens worse off.
Keep the team !
The Grounds are fundamental to the culture and esteem of the university. The manner in which the staff care for the ground is unprecedented in universities across Australia. This level of care and professional craft should be respected and honoured, as is is the gardens of the university.
Wonderful to be in and walk through if going to a specific building
An inviting and restful space, complementing perfectly the intellectual pursuits within the university.
My wife worked at Queens College for 16 years as the gardener, and am a user of the Baillieu Library. The gardens at Melbourne University are a heritage asset in my mind, and outsourcing will not result in the same level of care as that garnered from familiarity, love, and respect.
Such a magnificent array of flora
Always enjoyed lunchtime strolls through the campus, often seeing grounds staff keeping paths clear, pruning, planting, watering etc they work hard, i can't understand this decision
Over the years I have visited Melbourne uni grounds as a teen during work experience (which I undertook at the uni), visitor at the colleges, visitor to the library, a staff member at events, and as a member of the public. The campus is an extraordinary and beautiful patch of gardens - always coherent, beautiful, and well tended. To undermine the care of the gardens by outsourcing is cruel to the staff, careless to the gardens, and privatisation offers no long-term cost benefit. Staff security leads to investment in the space and its beauty.
The university grounds are unique. The gardens are full of unusual and interesting plants. No external organisation would have the experience and knowledge to maintain such a diverse collection. Over the more than 20 years I worked at the uni I was always impressed with the ground staff - their knowledge, their pride in their work and their very real contribution to creating an exciting and memorable environment. Let us not settle for second best.
I worked at Unimelb for 15 years in the Library and loved the peace and serenity of the grounds, especially early in the morning. The Grounds staff were creative and so professional at keeping the gardens around the small Sciences Branch Libraries looking beautiful. This is not a good place to be "saving" money!
As a biologist I worked extensively with the grounds team over a period of over 30 years. I always found the team to be helpful to our teaching efforts, knowledgeable, and caring of valuable botanical assets.
RMIT City Campus has no green spaces at all, so on my occasional visits to UniMelb up the road the gardens have always been a highlight. Stop your money grubbing and keep the Grounds Team!
They are beautiful and in need of saving! Students and staff wouldn't be able to enjoy them without the hard work of the Grounds Staff.
The Gardens are an essential historic training area for future Horticulture professionals. They are currently maintained and loved by dedicated and skilled staff.
It’s such a beautiful and passionately cared for ground. It’s a shame money has to come ahead of experience working, loving and caring in the spaces.
The University of Melbourne grounds constitute an important component of University life and history. As an historian of botany, I have been impressed by the horticultural and historical wisdom of recent members of the University Grounds Team. An understanding of both aspects of the University gardens and open areas is essential. These green spaces, increasingly over-shadowed by ever-expanding buildings, are designed to gladden the eye and soothe the psyche of University staff and students. Very important. But they are much more. Despite their shrinking size, they hold historical clues. The System Garden is a good example. It is a remnant of a garden used by Professor McCoy to teach the University's very first botany students in the mid-nineteenth century. The University of Melbourne values its rich heritage, which includes the grounds. They must be managed by a University team of gardeners with expertise to enrich their horticultural and heritage value. The work must not be outsourced.
I have been a student and staff member at the University of Melbourne for nearly 20 years. The grounds make the University a wonderful place in which to work. They provide peace and restoration on busy days. The incredible diversity of the plants contained in the gardens, as well as the beauty of their layout show the skill and care that the Grounds Team bring to their work. This clearly couldn't be done without a dedicated team of specialists.
Our beautiful grounds allow for the mind to wander - as it must for academic work.
The grounds have been a haven during the many years I've been associated with the University, first as an undergrad student, through my years as a postgrad student and now as a staff member. I did a fantastic sustainability tour of the grounds and was so impressed with the history and thoughtfulness of many of the plantings, as well as the obvious care that the grounds are delivered. The physical environment of the campus is absolutely one of the most precious aspects of the University and deserves the best care and expertise of those with the deep knowledge and appreciation of its beauty.
UoM has declared that 'Place' is one of its 5 key 'focus areas' in Advancing Melbourne 2030. How can place be valued when the labour and people that go into caring for it aren't?
I am concerned that an outsourced team will not understand the history and importance of some particular elements of the University grounds, such as the Cussonia Tree (groen from a cutting of the 1880 tree planted by Prof McCoy) or the System Garden, or the latitude gardens outside Arts West and special corners of the grounds will likly lose their character and individuality. This move further fragments the university staff as a community, and shows how little value is accorded to the people who actually keep the place running.
The grounds team are a major reason for the beautiful and sustainable Unimelb Campus space, that is not just a generic set of plants out in for Open Day and dead within a few months (as I’ve experienced in other campuses) but part of the botanical and ecological intellectual community of the campus.
Walking between lectures through the lovingly tendered Parkville grounds is evidence enough that the grounds staff are a dedicated and incredibly knowledgeable team. Outsourcing this to some unscrupulous contractor who further outsources to other unscrupulous contractors is penny-pinching vandalism. Jim's Mowing is not the answer.
The grounds at the Parkville campus at University of Melbourne (and other campuses) are an essential part of the University experience, for staff and students alike. To think that care of our campus environments could be outsourced is shortsighted, a false economy, and an irreparable loss of institutional knowledge.
The University of Melbourne grounds are one of the university's best features and absolutely the staff keeping them should remain as permanent staff
The System's Garden and Indigenous Sacred Trees need proper care. Can't see Jims Mowing (or other private contractor) being appropriate for such important assets. We need the dedicated and deeply knowledge staff of the UM Grounds team.
I'm genuinely shocked by this. Years of experience and care just discarded. I beg you to reconsider.
The ground staff put so much love into their work. You’ll never get that by outsourcing! 😡
You guys make the campus so beautiful and such a lovely place to work. You deserve your jobs and don’t deserve to be spilled and filled. Solidarity
The landscape around the university brings a sense of awe, calm and tranquility. There is so much beauty present watching the seasons change.
The parks and gardens of Unimelb are one of it's main attractors! Also the care of the rare species and plants in the systems gardens require expert hands!! Not a souless contractor!!
The Grounds Team have been incredible caretakers for this campus. It is a disgrace to remove them without any just cause. Shame.
The grounds team provides the most wonderful environment to work and study in. Walking through campus I am always entranced by their lovely work. There is no justification for getting rid of this amazing team
I went on a virtual tour of the plants during lockdown and not only was the campus stunning, but the grounds staff's knowledge of every plant was encyclopedic. It would be tragic and a massive disservice to the ground staff and the university community to outsource this work. It is more than just gardening.
Exploring the campus on my lunch breaks makes work a million times better. Tadpoles! Cacti! Macadamia! Underground eels! The grounds have it all and we should invest in the lovely people who tend to them.
From the tulip tree in Old Quad to the Wollemi Pine in the System Garden, the care and attention that goes into the grounds is obviously more than a job to these people, and the whole university community will be poorer if this short sighted plan goes through.
The amazing work done by the Grounds team is one of the main reasons I look forward to going onto campus. The love that is put into maintaining the grounds radiates throughout.
Simple enjoyment of immaculate and attractive settings.
The campus is beautiful and sustaining and a huge part of why it is tolerable to work there. I appreciate all the plants and their care, and I have often wanted to express my gratitude to the people I’ve seen doing the work or riding through campus in their tractor, as an undergrad so many years ago and as an exploited sad sessional employee in more recent years. It is appalling to me that you would think these longterm and devoted employees are extendible.
I've been a student at the University, and now a staff member. Through out my time it's the grounds that make the University what it is, from south lawn to System gardens, it's where the culture and soul of university life resides. The staff are critically important to making these spaces what they are, without them the university risks becoming a soulless husk
They are knowledgeable of the University history and are very hard workers who are proud of the work.
The grounds team are a wealth of knowledge about the history of the campus, and plan the grounds meticulously. These out sourced positions will harm the beauty of the campus.
The beautifully maintained o M grounds contribute significantly to its public image, and have been perfectly maintained by the hard working grounds team for decades. Thrre is simply no reason for Australia's wealthiest university to sack the team in a shortsighted cost cutting measure.
The University provides an outstanding botanic environment that should not be put at risk.
I have spent 10 years studying and working on Parkville campus and the carefully cultivated parks within the grounds have been a welcome relief from the bustle. More - the unique collection of diverse plants in the Systems Gardens is a treasure that has already been diminished over the years . Leaving it's care to contractors who do not have the job-security required to plan long-term care for the grounds threatens all of this. In addition, the grounds staff had done an excellent job and removing them from their positions demonstrates the increasing disregard that the University has for its staff more generally.
The University of Melbourne grounds and gardens are beautiful, and are obviously cared for by an experienced and dedicated team who have longstanding knowledge of the specialised botanical and ecological needs of the gardens. If this mammoth task was outsourced I fear for the quality of the gardens in years to come. Why suffer the loss of such experience and passion to save a few dollars? An unforgivable brain drain by the University.
I have longer association with the University of Melbourne than I care to reveal, but without doubt the magnificent grounds, full of rare and wonderful specimens, are one of the most important reasons why I have stayed here so long. The grounds staff are crucial to maintaining this treasure, with intimate knowledge and understanding of the cultural, historic, aesthetic and scientific significance of this. Outsourcing will lose the care and dedication necessary to maintain and develop such a wonderful botanical resource. The University MUST recognise and support the value of these staff before this is lost, and the grounds and gardens become just another generic soulless space.
The University grounds team are a valuable resources for the whole University community including marketing and communications. They know specifics about the protected and rare trees and plants around campus, and often help with our campus tours, going out of their way to run vital information sessions for visitors and Fed Square Tourist Information Centre volunteers to tell the fascinating history and story of the gardens right down to the details - giving the gardens and our 'place' a face and showing how much they care about their work and the University gardens. The Fed Square volunteers then spread the story of the campus grounds further than the University community which in turn leads to brand building. Their knowledge and expertise has been gained over time, which means they know every grass, every tree, every single bird and flower on campus making them an invaluable record of the heritage and history of the gardens. Outsourcing this type of role is a crushing joke on anyone who has ever come on campus and seen the care and attention this team puts into the grounds every single day as no outsourced company would ever put this much effort in. In addition, their knowledge has helped shaped the stories of the campus grounds and gardens for marketing and storytelling purposes such as their ability to contribute to the campus Explore map (https://www.unimelb.edu.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0006/2684535/explore-the-university-of-melbourne-map.pdf) and other communications outreach activities such as the recent article about eels that featured in The Age (https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/one-eel-of-a-story-the-slippery-truth-of-a-fishy-underground-migration-20210122-p56w2z.html). They also support our on-campus filming activities and will be the first to rush over if a runner is trampling their beloved gardens. I am ashamed to think that their care and attention is not respected and valued and that by outsourcing this work, the University is lessening the importance of what it is to be a part of the University community - the place in thousands of people's hearts they fondly remember or recollect that holds us in high regard - our beautiful campus grounds. As part of a project to define the University's distinctiveness, time and time again, our research has found that the campus and grounds are part of the decision for people to study here - they are part of the University and this is a devaluing, demoralising exercise for all.
It was only just yesterday that I was talking with someone about giving them a tour of the grounds as it's so beautiful, so to see that the people responsible for the beauty that I am grateful for every single day face job loss breaks my heart. I have gotten at least 7 non-university affiliated people to tour the gardens and grounds of the uni based on recommendation of how wonderful and diverse the plant life is... not only that, but how well-looked after it all is!!! I have even thanked grounds people in person when I see them, that's how much I value their work in creating a plant paradise. It takes care, wisdom and knowledge to create and maintain what we have in our hands here... and I think it is as a result of our expert and hard-working grounds team.
Walking around the gardens, makes my day better. It's beautiful, it's soothing and we have this because of the Grounds Team work.
Very sad to hear this news, the beautiful natural spaces on campus have always been a refuge for me during work and I have appreciated so much the work of the grounds team... I fear that outsourcing this work will be detrimental to these spaces.
It's difficult to put into words how special the grounds at the Parkville campus are, because it's such an intrinsic part of the experience of working here. But I think it's best displayed by the fact that every single person in my team has a favourite part of the grounds that they like to visit, be it the fernery in the systems garden, the magnolia near the old quad or the beautiful gums by the sports oval. Everyone has their special spots - and that is a testimony to how well the grounds team do their job. It requires expertise and diligence and dedication, and they are part of the UoM team. The campus is a special place and it's special because of their work. Please respect that. Thank you.
I have been working with the team for over 7 years now. They contribute to many practical subjects in the School of BioSciences through their expertise and high quality care of our gardens. We also collaborate with them for events outside to ensure we don't disrupt any works in progress, and to showcase our botanical successes. The team are more than gardeners, they are experts in their fields. Additionally, they are not just regular gardens at the University of Melbourne, experts are required in order to continue to develop and maintain them. The team are also extremely kind and have never ignored a request for help. Losing them would be an unforgivable loss to the University.
This is another outrageous move to fire dedicated workers at an extremely precarious time, sacrificing the quality work from a passionate team for a negligible amount of money. Stop punching down.
The beautiful grounds of UniMelb are a significant asset to the university. The Grounds Team do a wonderful job of maintaining and enhancing the grounds, which I imagine is a complex task that benefits from the specialist and institutional knowledge of a dedicated team.
I have spoken to so many staff who chose to work here because of the many beautiful and specialised garden spaces we have created for us. The giant tree next to 757, the Botany garden, the fernery besides Wilson Hall. It seems reasonable to expect a specialised staff would support this better than contracts. Other city based campuses do not have these garden havens and thus do not attract staff and students to choose them as they do the University of Melbourne.
They are exceptional and often go unthanked.
The outstanding and highly skilled work of the Grounds Team can in no way be replicated by the "Jim's Gardening" approach the Universityis seeking to implement. The grounds and gardens of the university are not simply an attractive area to walk through, they are valuable teaching and learning resource that must be cared for properly by the Team who already possess the skills to do so.
Is this what is has come to?...Jeff Bezos-style disregard for people and place over money, at same time as saying you want more Insta-friendly campuses. EVERYONE comments on the beauty and character of the grounds and have done for years (not that you would know that) and you are willing to destroy years of hard, considered work for a buck. Then move on to somewhere else in a few years leaving a trail of destruction. Nice legacy.
The grounds at the University of Melbourne including the heritage listed and much loved System Garden are an integral part of the University and it's impossible to envisage our much vaunted on campus experience without them and the staff that care for them and enrich all our lives
I heard from an ex-student from many years ago (1960s?) and this person told me that the grounds were very plain and underdeveloped. The grounds have developed and grown since then, while also able to be versatile in accommodating the University's, or different departments needs or projects.
The gardens on the Parkville campus are one of the absolute highlights of working at UniMelb. I am devastated to hear that the University may no longer be investing in the gardens and doesn’t value the incredible work that the existing staff do.
Only last week i was back on campus, walking past Old Arts towards the law quad and admiring how the garden changes at this time of year, with the Japanese windflowers starting to appear. The love and dedication of those who've cared for the grounds for so many years is so clear to see. This is a shortsighted decision that doesn't appreciate the value of the grounds, or the people who make them so special
very dedicated staff and they are invaluable in assisting with teaching; outsourcing just gets more costly and inconsistent. The gardens are a tourist attraction in themselves-looking after them is top priority
The UoM Grounds team do excellent work, as shown by the beautiful state of the UoM grounds and gardens. Due to their extensive experience they know the grounds and the plant-life within them the best, and best understand their needs and how to properly care for them. Outsourcing this role will be harmful to UoM grounds as new, casualised labour will not have the deep tacit knowledge that is required to care for UoM grounds as a whole. It is deeply disappointing to see that the university is continuing to enforce unnecessary redundancies that will ultimately only cause harm to both the staff that we lose and to the university ecosystem.
The University of Melbourne has been the place where I have spent the most time anywhere in the world. From my undergraduate and doctoral studies and then returning as a Professor almost eight years ago. The grounds of the University are amongst some of the most extraordinary anywhere in the world and are one of our greatest assets. One thing the has always struck me is the familiar faces of the expert gardening team who have stewarding this amazing asset over many years. The grounds that we get to enjoy every day are a testament to their expertise, passion and commitment over many years. As an expert on outsourcing I am struck by the assumption that outsourcing is equated with lower costs or higher quality; the overwhelming evidence simply does not bear this out. The argument that other universities outsource is not a compelling rationale in any way. Many organisations find out too late that they have made a bad call in outsourcing, especially when it comes to assets that are hard to place a value you. We all owe a great debt to our amazing colleagues and they need our support now more than ever.
The university grounds are truly something to be admired and maintained. They are hugely important to what it means to be a student, staff member, visitor to the University, they capture the essence of the university and show that we care.
The University grounds are integral to the sense of place of the University and offer welcome respite from the indoor environment and work stressors. It’s a pleasure to walk through them and it’s hard to imagine that contracting them out would result in the same quality of grounds that we experience now. Choosing to outsource this work says that the people who maintain our grounds are not part of our community and that the University does not value our outdoor environs and their benefits for people and the urban environment.
The grounds at the University of Melbourne are historically significant and kept in exceptional condition for us all to enjoy and enrich our lives. The skills and years of knowledge held by the garden team are critical to keeping our gardens beautiful and healthy. Please keep these valued essential workers. Only fools think saving $ is the answer for our environment, health and wellbeing. We are way beyond that type of thinking in 2021.
We make extensive use of the gardens for our Botany practical classes. The Grounds Team are knowledgeable and always very helpful in finding and setting out plants to help us with classes. Aside from this, the gardens are unique and the most beautiful of any university in Melbourne.
The grounds are beautiful and an amazing resource for teaching and learning in biosciences. They need to be maintained and curated by caring horticultural staff.
As a former student and staff member, the grounds at Melbourne Uni are part of what made it such a nice place to be. Having and maintaining green spaces does a lot for student mental health. The Grounds Team do excellent work keeping our campus beautiful and we need them around to keep it that way.
Our grounds are a point of pride ... if only we could say the same about the multi-headed wolf of management. Perhaps not enough pruning around the tops of the hedges has been done?
As former Director of the OEP, situated behind a beautiful garden, and opposed to privatisation of staffing and the trauma that job losses create , I ask you to reconsider this.
We are at risk losing a wealth of knowledge and support for teaching staff. These very knowledgeable friendly and helpful grounds people are a fantastic asset to the university. With a changeover to cheap labour we risk losing a wonderful asset.
I am stunned that the University would consider these staff members could be replaced by a team of contractors. This group of workers are a specialised team with extensive knowledge of plants and of the University Grounds with it's many uses from aesthetics, historical significance and importantly it's uses in many Teaching subjects. As a professional staff member for the School of BioSciences, I am responsible for the collection of plant material for many subjects all the way from first year to post graduate subjects. The current Grounds team are aware of these many subjects and their requirements (some of them have even studied these subjects) and are in constant consultation with our teaching team to include plantings on campus to enhance these teaching requirements where possible. These plants are used in subjects such as first year Biology, Green Planet: Plants and the Environment, Plant Biodiversity, Flora of Victoria, Field Botany, Microscopy for BioSciences and many others. There are regularly groups from other departments doing small study tours around campus eg. FVAS Agriculture students, Melbourne School of Design, System Garden tour for Art and the Botanical course etc. Tours are run for Open Day (run by these knowledgeable Grounds staff) to showcase these beautiful grounds and are enhanced by the Ground staff knowledge of them. As well as these Grounds being a delight for staff and visitors to enjoy, they have so many other purposes. The loss of these staff and the introduction of contract workers would be a terrible loss of knowledge and over time plants (given that the aim of most contract teams is to mass plant low maintenance plants). It really would be a terrible shame to lose all the talent and knowledge of our wonderful Grounds staff and have our campus grounds less than the stunning display we currently enjoy.
I am gobsmacked that such a monumental decision would be take in light of the historical significance and value of the university's gardens, how short term for no real gain. Such brilliant knowledge lost for ever. This is like the museum sacking their curators, truly unbelievable. Obviously this is a knee jerk reaction to the Pandemic Reset Program which is more driven by accountants and $$$s than people with vision. In my time at the university every event held on campus where the grounds need to be prepared has done them proud. Our university gardens are worldly with a reputation that is unmatched, how do you replace that with 'dedicated contractors!. Save our Ground Team at all costs.
The arborists and gardeners at the University have historical knowledge of our trees. Recently they came to view a mature tree that we though was needing to be removed. They informed us that the tree was not going to die, it was a result of a possum infestation years previously that had been rectified by them and the tree was still recovering. They have an incredibly deep understanding of each tree and it’s history. This knowledge is irreplaceable.
Knowledge of history and care is vital to protexct.
They love the space and take pride in what they do. They have an immense amount of knowledge that will be lost if they are to go. Take pride in these experts in their field!
The University of Melbourne Grounds Team presents the grounds in an integrated way that respects the cultural fabric of the University, its vision and the diverse ways students, staff and the public interacts with it. Unique to the University of Melbourne is its collection of Sculpture on the Grounds, and without corporate memory and a cultural understanding of the value of these sculptures, their care and preservation would be impeded. Over the years, the preservation of Sculptures on the Grounds has been ad hoc and relied on corporate care and responsibility rather than it being part of anyone's workload (which is not best practice). However, the Sculpture on the Grounds has kept an eye on the sculptures and even taken on some responsibility for their maintenance and conservation. Without their eyes, the sculptures on the grounds would be in a worst state and at times, we from conservation have provided advice and consulted with the team. Damage to public sculptures can easily occur with cutters, lawn mowers and the use of incorrect cleaning materials, however the University Grounds Team have taken care over years to protect this asset. It is unlikely that this would be the case with an external gardening company.
I love all aspects of the University grounds and gardens, particularly the historical trees and exotic specimen trees. I think it's important to keep employing core staff that understand the significance of these trees and maintain ongoing relationships with all the people who use them.
Have known and talked to all of the staff over a long period of time and know they genuinely love their jobs and care deeply for the Uni grounds which have always looked great
Central to the maintenance of the grounds at the Early Learning Centre in Abbotsford that provides outdoor playground and learning spaces for 160+ students per year. Collaboration with the ground staff on special projects such as Grasses Project and Systems Garden Visits have also been a highlight. They’re so committed to ensuring that the natural and living spaces are nurtured, protected and restored.
The Grounds staff has close knowledge of renowned University of Melbourne landscape assets such as the System Garden. The staff also maintain Billibellary's Walk, an outstanding initiative with Murrup Barak. Short-term cost-savings would risk the maintenance of facilities like these on the University lands.
Noticeable skill & dedication to beautiful and serene grounds.
They are outstanding in bringing the gardens with hard to source plants and bringing variety into the University. The grounds are world quality and they worked tirelessly to make it that way. The Systems Gardens require the care, nuture and understanding of staff that have planted and nutured them for many years. They bring and educate many people through their work and are amazing people to work with, always a smile and they know the many staff that rely on them to help them with sourcing important plants for the biology practicals.
They do a wonderful and specialised job that’s irreplaceable
The physical beauty of our Parkville campus is one of the top experiences for our students and staff, thanks to our grounds team. Listen to the University community and reverse this decision.
The gardens are beautiful - and provide vital biodiversity habitat in the middle of a big city - and provide thinking space for us - I go for a walk when I'm 'stuck' ... it (nearly) always helps. Caring for plants and gardens and ecosystems requires knowledge, skills, ongoing and consistent RELATIONSHIPS, a sense of what has been and the potential for what is to come.
Our gardens are a priceless asset. Outsourcing their care will undoubtedly lead to a devaluation. You don't get first rate service from the contractor with the lowest tender price. Losing the garden staff is a false economy.
I have watched and marvelled at the landscape development of the University of Melbourne Parkville campus initially as an undergraduate from 1956 and then as a Professor from 1980 to the present. We have a wonderful campus with beautiful nooks and crannies including the System Garden. This has been possible because of the dedicated work of the Ground staff over decades. I'm therefore extremely saddened to learn that the all long-serving Grounds staff are being made redundant. (I suspect none of the staff responsible for the proposed decision were active on campus in 1980 and would not have experienced what has taken place over the past 40 years.) If this arrangement goes ahead and contractors are employed who will have no vested interest in the campus landscape, it is probable in 10 years time or less, the campus will exhibit many of the depersonalized characteristics evident in some public spaces around Melbourne. I ask that the University to cancel the proposed arrangement.
I have admired the planning, expertise, and outcomes of the garden staff for decades. I would trust them above contractors, who are often unaccountable when damage occurs.
Our campus is beautiful and the garden staff are integral to our community. We need them now more than ever before as we slowly return to campus
The University of Melbourne grounds have been instrumental in inspiring me to both my degrees at the university (B.Sci Hons majoring in Botany, PhD in Botany). I have spent many an afternoon wandering the System Gardens, both relaxing and admiring the plants, as well as studying the specimens from an academic perspective. The Grounds staff have been fantastic. Their knowledge and friendliness have been a major part of this inspiration. They have always been helpful and ready to share insights into the plants. Their extreme knowledge is entwined in the gardens, and has been attained from years of close physical and emotional connection to the grounds, something that could not be replicated by an outside group. I have seen many visitors travelling to the university only for the wonder of the gardens. The removal of the grounds staff will inevitably result in a decline in this quality and stature of these fine grounds.
UoM grounds provide character of place stronger, more inclusive, endearing than buildings... Staff who who envision and maintain these spaces hold UoM’s id for us all to admire, celebrate, enjoy.- thank you
Our beautiful grounds make a tangible difference to what it is like to work and study at the university. Every time I come onto campus, the surroundings lift my mood. It is heartbreaking that so little value is placed on the creative, skilled and dedicated work of those who care for our surroundings, day in and day out, and who contribute to education. What message does this send about our institutional values? Outsourcing will not just damage the quality of the grounds, but also our community.
I really appreciate seeing how much care the Grounds Team take in ensuring plants are always at their seasonal best. I don't understand the push to outsource everything in an attempt to save money. If it ain't broke, don't outsource!
The gardens are what make the Uni such a special place to be. One of the reasons I came back.
One of the great joys of working at Melbourne University is its beautiful grounds. The grounds team take meticulous care of the university's many gardens, providing staff and students alike with places to socialise and to think.
For over 30 years I have loved seeing the dedicated staff making our environs so beautiful. A walk on the way to giving a lecture was relaxing and uplifting.
The Parkville campus is one of the most attractive spaces in the city, thanks to the carefully planned and maintained plantings and trees. I gave no doubt that visitors are impressed by the campuses’s greenness and beauty, and its staff and students benefit from these everyday. Outsourcing the grounds work is a false economy.
This is an unbelievable slashing of knowledge, sadly not surprising from a bloated directorate. We will not stand for such blindness to intrinsic elements of life on campus!
The University campus is one of main reasons I chose to study at Melbourne in 1997. Since then, I have enjoyed our stunning grounds as a student and staff member. I urge the University to support our grounds team and the work they have done over the years to make these grounds so prized. Please don’t outsource this specialised knowledge built up over a long period of time
The Grounds Team at the University of Melbourne are just as valuable and make just as big a contribution to the University as our professors. They create, nurture and care for the PLACE that we love so much, that our students love, that our alumni speak so fondly of. And I know this because I read hundreds of comments and see thousands of pictures of the grounds shared online every week. Overwhelmingly the gardens and the grounds are what sticks in the memories and the hearts of everyone who visits the University of Melbourne. The Grounds Team's expertise, their history and their dedication to the UniMelb grounds over the years should be valued and should count for just as much as the tenure of an academic or the experience of our desk-bound professional staff. It takes a long time to develop the skills and knowledge, and relationship with a garden to really make it thrive and shine. Community and placemaking feature heavily in the strategic planning of UniMelb - but how can we believe that the strategy is to be taken in good faith when news like this cuts out the heart of community and place? I ask that you urgently reconsider this decision.
Beautiful work
In one of his 'from my office' videos during the hard lockdown, the VC suggested those of us who lived nearby should take a walk through the beautiful Parkville campus to lift our spirits. The grounds were indeed particularly beautiful during this difficult time and in the absence of most of the academic and professional staff, the ground staff were particularly helpful in providing directions, answering questions about building access, and so on. An outside contractor could never perform this role to the same standard.
The gardens are so beautiful and lovingly planned and maintained. The grounds staff should be a valued part of our university community.
The Parkville campus is beautifully maintained and one of the best things about working for the University of Melbourne. Now is the time to be loyal to staff who have done demonstrably good work.
As the University works to include Indigenous knowledge in its curriculum, it is also working to indigenize and decolonize it’s landscape. The care and hard work involved with this process is already transforming the campus and it is heartbreaking to think that we are losing the dedicated grounds staff involved in this important work. If we are proud of our campus grounds more generally, it is wholly due to the pride that grounds staff have in their work. To deprive them of the recognition, job security and pride they deserve, in favor of saving a few bucks, dresses our pride in mercenary cloth. If we are going to properly care for Country, we need people who can be trusted to learn how to do that in partnership with Indigenous knowledge holders. A cheap, outsourced, impermanent workforce simply can’t do that.
As a member of the University community I always felt proud of our fantastic grounds including the various collections of exotic plants on campus (e.g., systems garden). It would be an incredible loss to the University to lose our dedicated grounds staff who have created and maintained our impressive grounds, a task requiring great expertise and commitment.
I have always loved the University grounds, but their role took on new significance for me during the long lockdown of 2020. I live near the University, so each evening I walked through the deserted grounds for my daily constitutional after a long day of zoom teaching. They brought me such peace. And every time I wondered how they were still being maintained so immaculately. It was as though little gnomes had worked on them in the wee hours of the morning - hedges clipped; not a weed in sight; impeccably swept pathways. These grounds are a restorative, as well as historic, treasure.
I love the University, they couldn’t be better and they should not be jeapardised by outsourcing to a group for whom time = money.
I love the Uni grounds. I wander them when I need a break during the day. And I send my students on two excursions based on the campus grounds to learn about the campus, 'nature' (and the labour that maintains it), settler-colonial and Indigenous geographies. The Grounds team does fantastic work, and when I have bumped into them, they have always been friendly and willing to share a short word about their work. Removing them is unnecessary for the Uni's financial future. Replacing them with contractors who will not be invested in this place and its well-being threatens the campus landscape and its multi-faceted value.
I coordinate the first year subject Biology of Australian Flora and Fauna. We have around 250 students and the work and knowledge of the grounds team have been critical in allowing us to engage students in a hands-on natural history of Australian plants within the Parkville campus. Their knowledge and skills in maintaining a diverse range of Australian native species (often outside their range) allows us to teach plant adaptations, identification and phylogeny by simply walking students around campus. This aspect of our subject is always the most popular with students and has led to a recent funded project to build purposely designed self-guided field trips for students, including one around campus. Grounds staff have also been able to use their knowledge to support the beginnings of an Indigenous garden on campus. They were able to take murnong used in practical classes in first year core biology and look after these plants in the nursery before finding an appropriate time to plant them with seedlings from the original red gums around the sports field. This critical knowledge of the natural and cultural heritage of our campus meant that this partnership was effortless, and will now enable academics to continue engaging their students with Indigenous knowledges through plant and ecological sciences while on campus. Ideally, small pilot projects like this grow into larger scale efforts - an Indigenous garden on campus would be an amazing teaching and community engagement opportunity - but without permanent staff, such ideas and the expertise required to execute them cannot be held long enough to become reality. Existing gardens also require this expertise for their maintenance. I have been told of Monash's decision to casualise its grounds staff, and am not surprised to learn this having already seen first hand the poor state of Monash's Indigenous garden - broken signage, weeds, delicate or fussy species (critical to telling stories and conveying culture) failing and not being replaced. I urge you to reconsider the casualisation of the grounds team at Parkville. The gardens on campus are more than just decoration or shade - they are our classroom and the learning of our students requires a team of experts to help us maintain (and further develop) this key resource.
i have followed the beautification of the Parkville campus since the early 1960s, with great appreciation. I do not believe the same standards can be maintained if current staff are made redundant and all that institutional knowledge and memory is lost.
The grounds are so important for a university in the middle of the city. A lack of open space means that every garden is so important to the students and staff to break up the vision of bricks and mortar. The Grounds team do a wonderful job and the gardens are beautiful, well-kept and are interesting spaces. I understand that out-sourcing a job may provide a small monetary benefit (although I think it's negligible). However, almost invariably, you lose something with out-sourcing. You replace people who care deeply about the job with people who don't care. You lose years of experience. I hope that this decision will be given some more consideration.
Of all the things you can cut budget to save money, why something that has direct and indirect impact on the mental health of the University staff and students?
The Grounds Team is the heart and soul of UoM and its grounds! Please don't them go! Their committed work and dedication of the grounds create the beautiful sanctuary that all students, staff and visitors feel as soon as they step one foot on our campuses. Outsourcing can't replace the Grounds team and the peacefulness they generate on campus.
Their work is invaluable. They work consistently and with the sort of care that I would not expect from outsourcing this work.
The grounds and gardens are one of the most important features of the University of Melbourne. For the over ten years I have worked at the University, they have given me joy and solace as well as a huge amount of pride. I watch and delight in the older gardens as well as the new plantings constantly being developed. I know that this wonderful work is the result of a dedicated, expert team and despair at the thought of a contracted supplier taking its place. I know that the grounds and gardens will suffer dreadfully as a result.
The expertise and combined historical knowledge of the grounds team is a treasure to be regarded as such. This is an instance where we all benefit from having such a team - their ability, informed by long knowledge of the needs of various significant plants and environments, means that the University's gardens are 'greater than the sum of their parts'. The in-house team creates a sense of place and awe. It is they who help make our University a place of pride and even a tourist destination! I fear that by divesting of this historical knowledge and know how, that the grounds will lose this inspiring dimension and become merely a shadow of their potential - casting an absence over all who frequent the grounds. I know that a lot of us have not been at the University in person for quite some time, but that will change.
Grounds have been of great help in organizing space and equipment to run an outdoor prac for the Environmental Engineering Systems Capstone subject. With a push to use the university spaces as 'living labs', continued support for Grounds is of critical importance. Additional to this, the grounds are the first thing that visitors to the university see when then arrive. Tourist traffic leads to enrolments. We need to retain this important aspect of the university's public face.
The grounds team does a phenomenal job with very limited resources on our beautiful Southbank campus, this is shameful.
Their ongoing care for our shared environs makes the campus experience what it is. Shortsighted savings plans will again lead to reduced outcomes
The knowledge our Grounds Team have, cannot be replaced by outsourcing staff. Can this staffing change be rethought, and if it is going to happen, priority be given to employing staff who previously held positions in our Grounds Team
Walking around campus you always find greenery to soothe the eye, regardless of the season. It’s inspiring and calming. International visitors comment on this and are amazed with the beautiful gardens around campus. A clear result of the hard work ground staff put into maintaining the spaces.
I love the gardens at the Parkville campus. They are a treasure, and I appreciate them every time I am outside and on campus. Please don't let go the Grounds Team, they do a wonderful and important job.
The gardens are lovely. Contractors will not have the incentives to deeply value these spaces, which current gardening staff clearly do.
Gardens grow to fruition over time - months, years, decades - and the require caretakers who are invested in their long-term future, who will have continuity of care throughout the seasons and who are deeply passionate about creating and maintaining something special and precious to the University community. The quality of the University grounds is testament to the passion and dedication of it's grounds staff, who are in it for the long-haul. The money that is spent on these staff salaries is an investment in the University's future and an integral part of the University's brand. This is an investment that is currently reaping rewards and providing the University with significant cultural capital. If "place" is to be an integral part of our strategy moving forward, with us showing " leadership and development of urban precincts" and to "ensure that our campuses are liveable, green and accessible to the community, sharing and celebrating the richness of our cultural estate", then it makes no sense at all to short-change the caretaking and maintenance of one of our biggest and most leveraged physical assets.
The University of Melbourne grounds are a special haven for so many, without specialised staff to look after them nothing about the campus experience will be the same.
30 years of having lunch on the South Lawn, in the System Garden, around the Sports Centre and on benches across the University. Beautiful cared for trees, bushes and lawns throughout and friendly staff.
I have been both student and staff here at the University, and for me one of the highlights of the campus is the gardens. I've watched the design, development and tending of the garden beds. I've seen the staff work diligently and with care, and always appreciated their excellent attitude and work ethic. I've talked with them. I've gained inspiration from them and their beautiful garden beds for my own garden. I use the gardens as a calm place to go and think. I'm appalled to think we will lose this wonderful grounds team.
As a University of Melbourne staff member and a member of the local community I appreciate the work of the Grounds Team for keeping the university looking so beautiful year round.
I work in agriculture and have spent most of my time right next to The System Garden. The one thing better than living next to this heritage listed garden is interacting with the gardeners who made this possible.
The grounds of the University of Melbourne are an evolving delight. As an ecologist, I am regularly thrilled by the changes being made to the green spaces and it would be tragically shortsighted and miserable for University management to put this treasure at risk. The exceptional quality of the grounds is one fact that speaks to the value of the grounds team, but I imagine that most of the work of the grounds team is about general maintenance. As far as that goes I would highlight that I've always felt that the grounds staff were as invested in the University as a whole as academic and professional staff. Contrast that with the cleaning contractors - almost all of which I have found individually pleasant to speak with or silently greet - but who don't really give a sense of being invested in the bigger project.
This is decidedly the wrong move for a University that prides itself on on an outstanding student experience. The landscapes of the University are rich and imaginative in plant design because of the remarkable expertise and dedication of the grounds team. Their impact is grounded in deep knowledge of and commitment to the plants and landscapes. I have directly observed how this is established through formal training and extended direct experience, alongside deep appreciation of the role of the landscapes in the life of the University community. This impact cannot be replaced by contracted labour. The landscapes of our campus will persist but gradually diminish in richness and diversity - attributes measurably related to positive outcomes for both student well-being and the sustainability of our campuses.
Always beautifully maintained, don't let these people go
The grounds at the University of Melbourne are stunning. I'm concerned that the quality and experience won't be there with a less locally experienced, diverse, outsourced team.
Very helpful and friendly staff who are knowledgeable and care for the grounds
The grounds of the University of Melbourne are one of the outstanding features of the campus at Parkville. The grounds team are exceptional in ensuring the campus looks amazing all year round. It would be a travesty to outsource the work they do.
Their knowledge of the University, community of students and alumni, passion for the grounds and environment are part of the campus experience. This service should not be outsourced. That is a shameful proposition.
I have enjoyed the work of the grounds team from decades of being at this University, first as a student and then as a permanent staff member. The care and thought that has been put into this place is evident from the diversity and health of the multiple different zones. To have that work outsourced to a company chosen for exactly how little they will pay their staff is an outrage. That level of care our Management has in people will come to be reflected in our UOM landscape soon enough.
System Garden is one of the city Melbourne’s best kept botanical secret
The University's grounds are spectacular and treasured, not to mention the fact that the grounds people have nurtured the grounds for year, with particular knowledge of how to take the best care possible for the grounds. It's also important to note that our grounds are part of the selling point of the campus for our new students
One of the benefits of working at the University is being able to experience the incredible surrounding environment. Plus I have always found the gardeners I have come across to be very nice
I regularly walk through the main campus and marvel at how amazing the grounds, trees and gardens are. It would be a big loss to lose the grounds workers that have maintained and cultivated this treasure; and don't think an outsourced option would have the same level of care.
The Grounds Team dedication ensure the grounds of the University are well looked after and maintained. Outsourcing the service would compromise the quality of service and maintenance.
The gardens at Unimelb are a vital component of uni life and the amazing work grounds staff do to maintain them cannot be underestimated. University management need to break their reliance on outsourcing and acknowledge the importance of having in-house staff continue working on one of the university's most integral assets.
Fabulous and knowlegeable team. Essential for the University.
The grounds of UoM are one of its greatest physical assets, and the grounds staff provide institutional memory and thoughtful care to ensure the future of a flourishing garden that reflects the history and teaching needs of the university. The university contains many historically significant trees, rare species, and an important teaching resource in Systems Garden. Having an ongoing staff who look after this provides continuity and eye for detail that external contractors simply cannot match.
It is with thanks to the Garden staff that Engineering finally got to have a beautiful 4 season garden outside the building 173.
The System Gardens are such a joy to relax in as are many other area around the Campus. I remember when the current Cussiona pup was planted out replacing the previous one and when the trees over the South lawn were replaced and were tendered to with great care by the staff. It's a shame that our beautiful gardens & buildings are going to suffer along with the reduction in staff and how that will impact on future generations of students & staff.
The grounds is what sets Melb Uni apart from the other Vic uni's, and the country. The grounds are an extremely important part of the student experience also in the teaching and learning experience, in arts and science. These grounds people have the deep knowledge and history and understanding of all the grounds and it would be a disaster to loose that.
I've worked at Melbourne Uni for 20 years. I love my daily walks around campus admiring the grounds. The skill and care of the grounds staff is reflected in the quality of the University's grounds. Please don't jeopardise this!
I have worked as a lecturer at the University for 28 years. I have been a member of various committees concerned with the management and development of the grounds for nearly 20 years. I have seen the grounds maintained and developed in ways that have elevated their quality to become one of the most outstanding campus landscapes in Australia. This is due in no small part to the dedicated band of grounds staff whose knowledge and experience passed on through the decades cannot be replaced. I have seen the impacts of 'spill and fill' actions in the past, where a wealth of executive knowledge is suddenly lost and the resultant situation becomes precarious and inadequate at a number of levels. The University must acknowledge the value of its campus landscape to its staff, students and its international reputation as a world class tertiary institution.
These grounds are special, and they are world class. I tell visitors from abroad the campus is a must see - because of its gardens. These gardens also provide life for the community. A space for people to laugh, to study, for romance, or to be alone. The garden deserves far more than to be treated like a council round-about!
The UoM grounds are unique, significant and a major attraction for staff, students and visitors to attend campus. Contractors will not have the experience or knowledge to care for these significant grounds in the same way as the Grounds Team - and we will all lose as that knowledge, expertise, care and commitment to the grounds disappears. How this decision aligns w the UoM's sustainability plan is beyond me. A very short-sighted and economic rationalist decision which will have long term impacts.
The campus and its vibrant green areas are perfect for alleviating stress. It offers a wonderful oasis from the sterile interiors. There are many times that I would go through the campus grounds just to breathe the fresh air, escape the harsh sun or simply to sit and absorb the sounds of the birds or view the flowering plants. Without the Grounds Team, the campus would not be as beautiful and inviting as it is today. Outsourcing to external contractors will NOT maintain the levels of dedication and care provided by the Grounds Team. Reverse the decision to outsource the wonderful work of the Grounds Team!
The grounds are splendid and those that expertly care for them and create the wonderful University space need to be retained as members of our community. It will not be possible to replace their combined years of experience and understanding of the needs of the University grounds nor the opportunities for progress.
We have beautiful iconic grounds that should be maintained by people who appreciate the needs and history of the various gardens
I have worked at Melbourne University for many years and have always loved walking around the university grounds, delighting in for example, the System Garden. I have especially felt proud of these gardens when welcoming visitors from other universities and from other countries. The Grounds staff at the University of Melbourne are very committed, have built up expertise over many years, and do a wonderful job. It would be a grave error to outsource any of these positions.
Always well kept and the grounds look fabulous and make a great impression on Open Day and every day when visitors come on campus.
As an aspiring gardener I appreciate so much the effort involved in the university grounds. It is what I missed most during lockdown!
I began work at the University of Melbourne in 1974. The underground car park had just been completed and landscaping above it was nearly complete. Construction of the brick paths and their landscaping, which won an award, was just beginning. I was impressed by the quality of the landscape work. I soon came to appreciate the beautifully maintained System Garden. In the late 1990s i joined the Grounds committee and was again impressed by the work done by this team. Outsourcing would be criminal. There has been a synergy between the understanding of the landscape made possible by skilled horticulturalists devoting their careers to the grounds. Any economies gained would be false and deceptive since the quality of the grounds is a major selling point for the university.
These important and special gardens require specialist knowledge which the grounds team has. I am shocked that the University would consider putting the gardens in non-University hands particularly when there is so much research on the importance of the natural world for our wellbeing and the importance of caring for the plant and animal world.
The grounds at the university are a world-class treasure. To outsource their care shows ignorance of their central importance in making the campus a wonderful place to work, and callous disregard for the work of the incredible Grounds Team.
The diverse gardens that fill every available open space, nook and cranny of our crowded urban campus are so wonderful! And when were they ever more important as we spend our days wearing masks in the dreary confines of so many of our University buildings. It is so profoundly depressing to think our University cannot understand why real gardens need gardeners and not external contractors paid by the hour. After returning to the campus in 2012, I have seen so many areas transformed by our gardeners: the rainforest planting in what was a dark desolate chasm between the Med and Old Florey buildings, the avenue of landscaping starting in front of the Med library and extending all along Professors Walk, and Tin Alley where I have seen Sturt Desert Peas flowering. And there are so many more examples. What a betrayal to the people who have worked so hard to make our campus a special place. Whoever made this terrible decision should put aside their spreadsheet and each day take some time to walk around the campus, along all the paths and discover what's there. A forlorn hope, but maybe there is a tiny chance they might understand the creativity that goes into designing and maintaining the green spaces on our campus. Will a contractor be able to do the same, I don't think so.
It is beyond comprehension how the University could even begin to contemplate this. So many words about our values, our people, our environment, providing a special experience for staff, students and visitors to our campus. Words that now seem hollow. It is a travesty to devalue the talent, passion and care of our Grounds Team that give us such a beautiful part of our campus experience. And to devalue the rest of the University with it. Surely the University of Melbourne is better than this.
I always enjoy walking through the beautiful grounds and admiring the variety of plants and flowers. The expert planners as well as the hard working gardeners make this unique environment. Outsourcing will result in inferior quality, just as it did when the dedicated cleaners were replaced.
The grounds are the amongst the best kept and curated in the country. Firing this team - whose contributions to the university go back long before the middle managers overseeing this decision - is obscene.
I have so many great experiences with the grounds staff and am devastated by how hard and deep these cuts have extended. As someone who runs events you cannot underestimate how important the ground staff are. They’re always there to resolve last minute issues, and help make the place beautiful. They know the campus better than anyone. We need them. If you’re reading this and you’re a groundstaff please know you are deeply valued and appreciated.
The grounds are magnificent and this outsourcing of such skilled and experienced people is a disgrace.
The grounds at the University provide a welcomed retreat to the hectic teaching schedule and is essential for the mental well-being of staff and students. Having a team who is dedicated to treating the grounds with love and respect is important.
I love the well-maintained green and open spaces in the campus. My kids love have so many fund memories of playing around the campus when they go with me to the Parkville campus.
The University of Melbourne grounds provide a sanctuary for so many in our community. The attention to detail, dedication, consistency, and expertise inherent in the work of the Grounds Team is not something that can easily be replaced. Many of the species growing in the grounds require expert care - how will this be ensured when the job is transferred to contractors?
I remember walking through the grounds 10 years ago thinking to myself, how lucky you would be to work within this environment. Years later I was lucky enough to do just that.
I worked for years with the view of the Systems gardens. There are diverse and complex gardens with a view to educate. Not a garden maintenance job for Jims Mosing
The Parkville Campus where I work has always been a pleasure to make my daily commute to largely because of the beautifully maintained grounds, In my time as a staff member I have never seen any sign of neglect.
A wonderful team with diverse experience who keep the University of Melbourne grounds an international drawcard for Melbourne.
We have our own worm farms for our office (not the responsibility of the grounds staff). When having problems with one of them a few years ago one of the grounds staff came to look at it and spent time cleaning it out for us (a truly gross job) and mixing the contents back in with dry materials to rebalance it, then gave us advice on how to better maintain our farms. Really above and beyond and frankly I can't imagine that a contractor would bother.
The grounds are an integral part of the university that require specialist care from dedicated staff.
The grounds of the University of Melbourne are some of the finest in the world for a university based on the perimeter of a CBD. It demonstrates the diligence of groundskeepers who are invested in the conservation and nurturing of these incredible spaces. To outsource this work to contractors will result in the decimation of culturally significant environments which not only speak to the history and work of the University, but also to that of Melbourne. Sometimes the cheapest solution to a "problem" has detrimental impacts which can never be recovered, no matter how much money is thrown at it after the fact.
Everyday I am on campus I think how lucky we are to work (and study) in such a beautiful environment, there is no way contractors will have the same long term care and specialist knowledge. The university has an obligation to look after the gardens for the future. This move is an insult to the current grounds staff.
The beautiful University of Melbourne grounds are famous around Australia and are a haven for staff, students and visitors to the city. To cast aside valued members of staff in the middle of a pandemic and also put at risk the iconic gardens for a few extra dollars is both cruel and short sighted.
The grounds team are fantastic around engineering using thoughtful planning to create summer and winter blooming gardens. They are a friendly and knowledgeable part of the Uni landscape and will be sorely missed if they leave. During years of rennovations around our historic buildings, they fiercely protected the gardens from wanton destruction by thoughtless contract builders. Contractors are different - engineering had an internal garden courtyard that was set up by contractors and the whole thing had to be redone because they didn't do the drainage properly. Our gardeners are really important to university life because through their skills we can refresh and relax. Some things are more important than cost savings.
The grounds staff have kept the campus gardens in impeccable condition over the 20+ years I have worked at the University. This has undoubtedly increased student numbers through creating a desirable and beautiful environment for students to study. Privatisation of this essential work will see the standards of grounds keeping decline, as we have seen with the Building cleaning. Please reconsider.
The grounds people have a deep botannical knowledge and care for the University grounds. They bring a sense of place, care and 'connection to country', having planted the trees and tended the plants, created habitat for animals and beautiful landscapes for the University of Melbourne community to enjoy. Contractors do not bring this sense of belonging, connection and care, how can they? These things may be intangible and difficult to measure in dollars and sense, but once they are gone, they are irreplaceable and we are all poorer for it.
The care and concern for the haven on campus is obvious...to take one of the few oases in an entire city of concrete away from a successful curation seems to eat at the very environment the campus promotes.
Love our gardens and trees, please keep the team on.
The grounds team really care about their work which is evident in the amazing campuses that we all enjoy and that we promote to the world
In terms of keeping your own backyard beautiful, outsourcing is never going to be nearly as good as your doing it yourself. I also doubt how much this can save. A bad decision!
Plants and trees need caring, and especially a long-term commitment on the part of the people working. I seriously wonder if the 'saving' by contracting this job will save the plants and tress.
Those beautiful trees are cared for, felt for, understood. That can't be replaced. The grounds are what pull the university together as a place. Without them it's just a collection of buildings without coherence. I think this is a mistake and should be rethought.
Based at Burnley campus, we have a strong working relationship with Andrew Smith and his team. He offers his knowledge and expertise, as well as strategic parts of the gardens and grounds for some of our testing and research. He does this in the best interest of the gardens which he cares for with great pride and skill. He knows and understands the gardens intimately - this can only be gained after many dedicated years working in them. You can't buy this knowledge or learn it anywhere else. While I don't know the Parkville gardeners personally, I know that outsourcing this work leads to worse outcomes. I saw it happen at Monash university 10-15 years ago. There is no care, ownership or pride. Just check lists and milestones... and more management positions. Let the gardeners look after THEIR GARDENS!
The grounds of the university are an essential part of it's character, and provide a vital place to relax for academics and students. Part of the reason they are so good is that there is a dedicated team to care, nurture and plan the growth of the grounds. This team is full of experts who know the grounds because they work in them every day. Removing the dedicated team and replacing with an outsourced contract with tight margins will result in a loss of this expertise, and a loss of dedication.
I loved the work the ground staff have done for so many years, the maintenance done by each one of them is highly appreciated, we need them to carry on the University legacy with more greenery.
When I need to get some air due to stress, walking on the grounds and taking in the beautiful and well maintained scenery helps me relax and get back to work fast.
Please do NOT outsource our Grounds Team !!!
cant allow this happen, we need our grounds team
I love walking the campus grounds admiring the trees and gardens. They are a result of care, passion and intimate knowledge. You don't get this with outsourcing.
The university ground staff provide an excellent working environment for staff and students, maintaining beautiful gardens and specialist spaces like the system garden. Given the University's emphasis on the student experience, outsourcing this to the lowest bidder seems poorly considered at best. Also, the ground staff worked all the way through COVID in 2020, so this seems a crappy reward for that service.
Great work, great people - with the GAFF (give a frigg factor)
The upkeep of the University gardens and grounds are exceptional and make it a beautiful place to work. Without the dedication and passion of a University employed team, I feel the grounds will become sadly neglected.
The grounds always look beautiful and the team are knowledgeable and passionate about what they do - outsourcing rarely works well as we have seen first hand with contracts.
The grounds of Melbourne Uni are one of the highlights for me of working on campus, and one of the things I've missed most while working from home. I regularly take lunch-time walks and explore the different areas and see that the Grounds Team do an amazing job of keeping the gardens and outdoor spaces looking fantastic. It would be such a shame to risk losing one of the wonderful aspects of the campus and something that we all need more than ever after months of isolation and lock-down.
I have always found the grounds team to be eager to share when you ask a question about a certain plant or grounds area. Their meticulous attention to such a wide variety of botanical specimens, including all the signage, is very appropriate at the University. I consider the grounds and the team an extension of all the learning. Additionally, well cared for grounds are inspiring. I love walking around the grounds.
The University campus is a gem of a campus and internationally recognised. The long term management and care for the campus is part of the basic function of this campus. Outsourcing this role is short-sighted and careless in terms of the quality of the university and the spaces all of us inhabit. This disservice to the university's history and place in Melbourne, Victoria and Australia will be a long lasting and impact multiple levels of the campus identity, quality and value.
This shows a really unfortunate under-appreciation for the role the grounds staff play in campus life AND the value the University is placing on the campus experience in the future. Appalling decision.
This is terrible news for the grounds and all those who visit the beautiful campus. The commitment and years of expertise of the current grounds staff cannot be matched by contractors that you bring in to replace them. I have experienced 1st hand what happens when horticultural services are outsourced (unfortunately standards cannot be maintained as contractors are not given the time, nor training, to adequately fulfill tasks). This is a short-term, cruel, presumably cost-saving measure that will have long-term consequences for the horticultural standards of the grounds and decrease the learning opportunities the gardens offer. Please reconsider and find cost-savings elsewhere - urban green spaces are such precious jewels. It will be a big loss to the university community to loose these great people.
I'll never forget a student in a first-day-of-class go-round whose response was to ask fellow students if they'd seen much of the campus. He poetically described how he'd spent time before class investigating and soaking in the colours and textures around him to soothe his nerves. It was a slightly odd question for a room of social workers studying social policy, but sparked something. There was another description, then another, until the whole class it delightedly discussing their how they favourite foliage colour combinations, the beauty of the wind in trees, quiet outdoor study and lush hang out areas. All this is because of the work of the Grounds Team.
They do a wonderful job, keep them employed
The grounds around the Parkville campus are amazing - the System Garden, the garden in front of the 1888 Building, the many rare trees around campus and the oval, and other smaller pockets - and always attract praise from visitors.
The grounds are not only beautiful and a public commons, they have been a key element of the University’s PR campaign to attract new students. To do such a disservice to the people whose labour you have profited off is unconscionable.
Agree: beautiful and lovingly kept grounds gardens! Keep decades on experience and knowledge in-house!!!
The grounds are extremely well maintained and looked after. The grounds team are friendly and informative when questioned about care for plants.
It's my belief that the gardens of Melbourne University are too precious an asset to be maintained by outsourced staff. The unique specialist nature of the plants and historical value of the gardens are such that specialist permanent in-house staff are required. In addition the extra tasks that the staff add to the university such as the on-line guided tours that were conducted during lock down need to be acknowledged as important contributions. Such activities point to the need for the grands staff to be part of a cohesive team growing and adding to the culture of the professional staff community.
I love the grounds at the University of Melbourne. They have always been a sanctuary. I have loved the talks given by the knowledgeable grounds staff who are always so helpful and friendly. It would be a huge loss to our community to lose their understanding of our gardens and surroundings.
Whenever I walk through the campus I am always struck by the amazing upkeep of the grounds and gardens. In terms of architecture, it could be argued that the University of Melbourne campus lacks the impact of some other top institutions. However, the incredible quality of the grounds and gardens more than compensate for this and ensure that this is one of my favourite campuses. This is an incredible asset to risk in this way. I would suggest that the decision-makers take a look at some UK campuses if they want to see just how uninspiring a campus with a similar architectural mix and shoddy grounds can be.
I have been @unimelb for 13years, and have spent many days wondering around the tranquil gardens. They really are an oasis and a credit to the hardworking Grounds Team.
I assume this is a cost saving step by the university, but it demonstrates another aspect where the institution is being prioritised over people. The environment in which we work, and the people who care for it are a critical aspect of what makes the institution great. Without committed, knowledgeable people working in teaching, research and the various support areas (HR, grounds, libraries, etc.) the university has nothing to offer. Esteem of future generations cannot be built on the empty shell of old and new buildings. Esteem can only be built by people who are committed to the enterprise. The grounds crew makes that commitment and esteem visible throughout our campus.
I have been a staff member of the University of Melbourne for nearly 33 years. During this time, I have loved the passion and care our University gardens have in maintaining the grounds in such prestine condition. My heart sank on hearing the University Gardners are being made redundant. All for the sake of saving a $. Like all things out sourced at Uni Melb it just doesn't work!! Re-think this. Bring the Uni Melb gardners back ...!!
I enjoy the natural suroundings of our grounds every day I ride to work. Sustainability measures cannot be reached without the human need for natural environments being well looked after.
It is always a pleasure to enjoy the carefully planned, maintained and frankly unusual gardens on the Parkville campus. I have been introduced to new plant species, particularly native species, that the grounds team feature, and that I don't see elsewhere. Often some feature stops me in my tracks to observe during a busy day - where else does this happen? Maintaining planting diversity is so important in our modern physical environment, and I don't think this could be achieved under a contract system. Gardens operate on much longer timescales than university employment contracts. There is real value to these gardens which while difficult to measure, would surely dwarf any savings by outsourcing. How many promotional pics feature campus plantings? Also the gardeners I see are always working hard, including their usual outstanding efforts leading up to open day each year - how is the system going to become more efficient? Will there be a snap send solve system for problem garden beds, control of introduced species or just boring single species box hedge plantings? Saying this I have not been able to find any more details of these plans or justifications from either side, so this comment is just to support the great work that the team are currently doing.
The grounds of (all) University of Melbourne campuses are of significant cultural, social and historical value. The legacy we have inherited is thanks to all the dedicated staff who have nurtured and dveloped them for 150+years. This dedication and committment cannot be broken down into disconnected parts and turned into KPI's. While some functions might be appropriate to outsource as part of the mix (and are); to not have an embedded team who have the overall responsibility to maintain and protect this legacy is a major dereliction of our duty to look after these amazing and beautiful spaces that are more important now then ever to our health and well being.
I regularly take advantage of the beautiful gardens during my lunch breaks and the uniqueness of the plant variety is part of why the campus is so special.
The experience you have at the University of Melbourne is fundamentally linked to the history and beauty of the campus grounds. The care, love and dedication of the Grounds Team is on display for us all to see, it enables us to have wonderful experiences, connects us with the campus and the University's history. Damage or remove this aspect of the experience you risk damaging the whole UoM experience, the University's history, and it's personality.
I am a former student and current staff member at the University of Melbourne, and have had the luxury of calling the University my home-away-from-home for the past 11 years. Without hesitation, I can say the grounds are amongst the University's best assets and a decent proportion of the UoM's admirable reputation is owing to the Grounds Team and how they have consistently maintained the campus to an incredible standard. I would like to sincerely thank the Grounds Team and emphasise that the experience, in-house knowledge and professionalism that they bring to the University grounds is invaluable and irreplaceable.
The University grounds are integral to the wellbeing of staff and students. We should be holding the ground staff's roles in high esteem and maintain their positions.
The gardens on the Parkville campus are such a beautiful asset. They improve the campus experience in many physical and emotional ways, and they have that impact because of the great work of the Grounds Team. Surely continuity of care and years of knowledge of the campus gardens are an important part of that work.
Maintenance of world renowned gardens - The University of Melbourne prides itself on it's beautiful grounds and world class, historical gardens. The grounds staff have decades of experience and knowledge not just about the unique plants that grow on campus but also the soil, water and micro-niches that restrict and effect what can be grown where - to loose this knowledge would have dire effects on the grounds. Teaching support - The grounds staff are always available to help with advice, support and planting of plant species required for teaching. Without this, the University's teaching costs would increase as teaching staff would need to go off campus to collect specimens for classes and classes would need to be run off campus instead on within the University grounds. This not only adds to the costs of running classes but also the safety of staff and students. Dedicated staff - The grounds staff are passionate and take pride in the University grounds. This shown in the results of their work - world renowned, historical gardens. They really care about the gardens they have nurtured and looked after for the many years they have been working at University. They are knowledgeable about the individual plant species and the history of the University grounds - a living, natural resource. To lose this passion for and knowledge of the grounds would be detrimental to the grounds and the University as a whole. All significant gardens around the world have permanent garden staff for this reason.
The grounds here are beautiful and specialised, and require passionate and knowledgeable horticulturalists to maintain it and the biodiversity that live in it. The value and importance of this asset should not be underestimated. People come from far and wide to visit these grounds. When the groundkeeping was outsourced at VCA campus, it fell to the wayside and lost the incredible beauty and wellness the previous groundskeeper tended with passion.
The thorough professionalism that the grounds staff have to protect these heritage gardens and the positive engagement they have with all visitors to the site is a testimony to keep them fully engaged in the upkeep of this irreplaceable resource. Any less is the equivalent of turning our esteemed gardens into the equivalent of a fast food car park. Worse still would be the equivalent of other universities in Melbourne which we compete with for every top class student that is available
The grounds team have done exceptional work to relocate and maintain rare specimens in order to replant and retain them when construction works around and in the systems garden were complete. External providers could not manage such an amazing effort and other rare or old specimens in the University are at risk of being lost without the knowledge and investment of the University gardeners.
the grounds staff do an amazing job looking after our beautiful gardens. the gardens are a a source of pride and selling point for future students. the grounds are what make our campus so special and are a joy to walk around. Contract crew will not love or maintain them in the same way and they will slowly decline. a very sorry day indeeed.
These gdns are beautiful due to the acquired knowledge and skills of our gardeners. The ground of UniMelb make UniMelb more tolerable due to the care and capacity of our gardeners, a dedicated team of specialists. Please don't make this an unnecessary cost cut too.
The grounds are a beautiful asset to the City of Melbourne. They attract tourists and provide a relaxing setting for students and staff alike. The University of Melbourne should protect their grounds fiercely and take pride in their maintenance.
Walking through and across the campus has always provided a welcome brief opportunity to relax, centre and engage with the natural world during the busy work day. It's a visual treat which is credit to the wonderful work of the Grounds Team. Their knowledge and experience is too valuable to lose.
The grounds team have always been super collaborative when I've reached out to them - from providing surplus plants from the community garden for enrichment events for students, to helping smooth the way for activities in the system garden. Plus, it is one of the simple pleasures of working at Parkville to arrive everyday and walk through the campus... too precious to put into the hands of folks who may not always fully appreciate what they are working with and have contracted limitations on the care they can provide. I do hope this decision can be revisited.
The University gardens and grounds are one of the reasons i love working here.
Our university campus is what is is because of the outstanding work of the grounds team. The meticulously planned and maintained plantings and rare and protected trees are thriving because they are being cared for by a team of dedicated specialists - this is unlikely to be the case if the work is outsourced to a team who may not have any particular attachment to, or care for, the campus. These jobs should be protected to ensure the ongoing beauty and biodiversity of our stunning Parkville campus for future staff and students.
I fear that outsourcing this work will have the same results that outsourcing our cleaning services did -- a focus on low-cost adherence to minimum standards of a contract -- with little pride for the work and the organisation itself. This is so very disappointing.
One of the things about working at the university I love most are the grounds - it is always a joy to see them change with the seasons and I really missed that last year when working from home. The grounds are even more important in the time of Covid when it gives us a chance to get out of the office into a pleasant environment for a break from masks or to catch up with colleagues and visitors in a safer space.
Walking around the grounds of Melbourne Uni in Parkville is just an absolute pleasure and such a remarkable way to reduce stress and anxiety.
Please do not make the Grounds Team redundant. The gardens at UoM are spectacular.
I have enjoyed the beautifully maintained University grounds for the last 65 years.
I love the diversity of the Parkville campus gardens, I especially enjoy the Luculia when it is flowering along Monash road. It is great to see how passionate the grounds staff are and I follow one of their instagram pages with updates on treasured spots across all campuses.
The team take great pride in making sure the grounds are kept immaculate. They're passionate, hard-working and valued staff members of our University. I even follow one of the Grounds Keepers' Instagram pages to discover more of the beautiful gardens around campus that I didn't even know existed.
The grounds have been nurtured for over a 100 years with a focus on Biodiversity and green space innovation. This is not simply about keeping the garden neat and tidy; it is a way to drive environmental conservation innovation of ecosystems and to improve mental wellbeing for the community. The diversity of the planting is a significant protector in keeping our campus cool and helping to combat Climate Change! The Uni grounds staff knowledge and dedication over the years have created gardens which are truly unique and rich with bio-diversity. One of these highlights has been to be able to save a pre-historic tree species from extinction. The historical and cultural significance are undisputed. A contracting company will at best only keep things (without enriching the landscape) and at worst change planting areas to be more easily maintained - thereby damaging the biodiversity on campus. The country looks to it's Uni's to drive innovation around Climate Change and Biodiversity education. We have some of the worlds leading experts in this field. How hypocritical if our campus won't 'practice what we preach' by having grounds that are boring, and potentially damage the biodiversity of the area. This is a knee jerk reaction to saving money and returning us into the black in a ridiculously short about of time after a pandemic. having a sustainable recovery plan is much more effective in the long run, than cutting all costs and then having to spend money down the line to fix things that were ruined by over zealous cost cutting. Our grounds are not our toilets! You can't possibly outsource and except anything more than a 'cleaning service'. Our eco-systems deserve more than that. For those that think the grounds staff only mow lawns and pick up leaves - they need some serious education!
Amazing work to preserve the character and history of the institution.
The beautiful grounds at Parkville are what make the University such a beautiful place to work. Lunch breaks are bliss in the gardens.
The gardens and grounds of the Parkville campus are as important as the rest of the physical spaces of the university. The gardeners and groundskeepers are as integral to the university as the rest of the staff, academic and professional. They should be treated no differently!
Amazing to have the quality green spaces we have amidst the concrete jungle that is growing all around us.
One of the highlights of working at the University is the joy of discovering another pocket of stillness and life and beauty on a bustling campus. It saddens me to think that the people who know the trees and plants so well, having observed and nurtured them over such a long period of time, will no longer be able to tend them.
In my time as a student and now a staff member, the beautiful plants have been a comfort to be in times of stress. The grounds team employees have always been nice to me and it would be a huge shame to leave them.
When I greet visitors to campus they always comment on our lovely grounds, which are a source of pride for the university. The grounds staff have worked tirelessly for years, some of them decades to maintain our grounds in a beautiful state. We have heritage plants which deserve the attention of people who know and understand their individual preferences and history, remember how they have been treated in the past, and know what is best for them going forward. Our older plants are assets that deserve personal care and regular attention, not ad-hoc care by external contractors. Ongoing grounds staff can catch issues early, as they know campus grounds and plants so well. At our weekly catch-up today my team were very sad to hear that the grounds staff were being ditched, and shared lovely stories of asking them for plant advice, or learning more about certain plants as they passed by. Aside from their long-running knowledge of the grounds of our university, our grounds staff are members of our community, and we do not wish them to be thrown away to be replaced with a cheaper but lesser level of care.
Love the UniMelb grounds - they need to be tended by continuing staff who have established relationships with the plants & gardens there!
The UoM grounds are beautifully kept and I've always enjoyed sitting under the aged trees for lunch. I enjoy walking on the campus grounds during my breaks to enjoy the view of the plants and flora, admiring it's beauty and how some are planted to each other which complements its each. The 3 centre piece Gardenia trees are breathtaking in late winter during full blossom. The Forest Pansy trees are so beautiful to view during all 4 seasons as it changes, it has inspired me to own one myself which is planted in my front garden. I've taken so many ideas and inspirations from the grounds to my own home and have learnt alot just by viewing. The well kept grounds require years experience and knowledge in order to be maintained at such a high level. This is my sanctuary when I am stressed at work.
The University campus is part of the cultural heart of the city of Melbourne.To outsource it's care is to fail to acknowledge the importance of the University grounds.
I have worked at the University for almost 25years and in that time I have come to know staff from the Grounds team and sincerely appreciate their knowledge, experience and spirit in maintaining the stunning grounds and establishing many new and fascinating botanical stories across the campus. To loose this division, this amazing group of highly regarded staff, is unthinkable. We need this department,
The grounds and the plantings are one of the things that make the UoM campus a special place! How could an external company have the same care and depth of knowledge that our wonderful grounds team take? Please don't participation in the exploitation of contract workers who are working to 'time' and will take far less care because their employer put in the lowest bid and won't pay them for the extra time it takes to fix or report something that will keep the grounds beautiful and safe.
It is just too beautiful to risk it to outsourcing. So many relaxed lunches on a lawn somewhere, made me happy to come to work and get back into it after lunch. The System Gardens are especially amazing. More important than people in upper management ivory towers understand. The other aspect to this is the redundancy of the dedicated grounds staff, some of whom have worked at the University for 20 years. Frankly, making these people redundant is disgusting, and the fact that they will be replaced by an external contractor means they ARE NOT ACTUALLY REDUNDANT. This, just after our VC announces we made an $8 million profit in 2020 ... tone deaf doesn't cover it!
As a staff member of many years, and also an alumna of the university, I've enjoyed the beautiful Parkville campus for many years. I've witnessed the huge amounts of work put in by the Grounds team year-round.
The grounds are absolutely gorgeous and the staff have always been so diligent, hard-working, and so friendly whenever I have spoken to them. No one else can do work like them.
they're amazing
On top of quality teaching and research, the quality of the campus grounds is what makes the University of Melbourne one of the top Universities in the world. We wouldn't outsource teaching and research, so why would we outsource our grounds team?
The Grounds Team have created countless beautiful spaces for staff and students to enjoy their work is integral to a healthy campus life
A significant part of what makes the University campus such a haven is the beauty of the grounds and how well they are kept. It is ludicrous to think that we will lose this invaluable resource of knowledge and care.
These are among the most beautiful university grounds anywhere, and it's sad that you would replace the grounds team with contractors for negligible savings. It's an example of knowing the price of everything but the value of nothing. Don't be like that!
Friendly, helpful and great at their work
The gardens make the University such a special place to visit. These grounds people deserve to keep their jobs.
You can tell the grounds are maintained by dedicated professionals who are dedicated to their career as opposed to contractors. Walks and lunch breaks are enjoyable because of their work. Please keep these roles in-house with the same standards of training and expectation as other unimelb employees
The love and labour of the grounds team are the sole reason why tourists (pre-pandemic) and prospective students visit the campus. It is a selling point for the University and it would be a shame for the dedicated grounds team to be let go.
The grounds are an essential part of the University; so many students, including those from overseas, have commented to me to say that this is part of the reason they wanted to study here, as the campus was not just buildings & concrete. Please keep the grounds staff - their dedication & expertise cannot be replaced.
The Grounds Team has so much pride and care in their work which is evident when you walk through our beautiful campus. It's through their effort and passion for what they do, that enables the University to have beautiful photos of the campus to showcase to the world. They have created spaces for everyone to enjoy. Contractors are there to do a job, get in and get out, they will not have the same dedication or love for the campus as our fabulous Grounds Team.
They work tirelessly to ensure that campus is a beautiful place to be!
We have one of the most beautiful campuses in Australia, and this is largely due to the tireless work of our grounds team. They are integral to the experience of the University of Melbourne. To get rid of them is shameful.
The team's (particularly Tim Uebergang's) work to maintain and improve the System Garden over the past couple of years and showcase Australian native and significant non-native plants has delivered a true asset to the University. The knowledge and passion of this team is not something that gardeners-for-hire will be able to replicate.
The Grounds team has always been helpful in supporting staff when on campus.
Fantastic team. Not only do they keep the gardens, ground and surrounding beautiful, they also help support one of our raingarden experiments for our students! So they contribute to our teaching in this way too!
From the sweeping open spaces of South Lawn to all the little shady pathways and nooks that one is constantly discovering around campus (including the amazing System Garden that I recently visited for the first time), the grounds of University of Melbourne have always seemed to me exactly what a university grounds should be. I'm deeply appreciative of the dedication and care the grounds staff bring to their work and I am shocked and extremely disappointed to learn that the entire team is to be made redundant. I strongly oppose this move.
The beautiful campus grounds are always a highlight of any time spent on campus, and present the University in the best light to the public and any other stakeholders (like prospective students) that walk through the campus. The Grounds Team do a wonderful job and it really leaves my feeling quite negative towards my employer and as an alum, especially in light of the Pandemic Reset Program that is causing a restructure despite very healthy student enrolments in 2021.
Throughout my studies and career at the University of Melbourne I have always appreciated the grounds and the work of those who maintain them. Outsourcing this work not only unfairly terminates the employment of fellow staff who have done such excellent work over many years, it also threatens the grounds' status as one of the finest associated with an Australian university. What will be saved in money will be lost in experience and quality. Please reconsider and #SaveMelbourneGrounds.
The grounds staff do an amazing job and love their jobs and the gardens- it makes working at the University a special place. The System Gardens are an oasis on hot days and a place to relax when work gets hectic - the gardens are both beautiful and educative - a treasure to the staff and public. It is not acceptable that our treasure be outsourced to contractors that will not be able to provide continuity of care. Gardens are living and should be treated accordingly.. imagine sacking the Zoo Keeper!
The removal of the university's Grounds Team is impractical. This team of experts is an invaluable resource at the university, and they should be praised for their contributions to our grounds.
Thanks to the Grounds Team, Melbourne Uni has a campus that will give you a warm hug when you're feeling down, when you're having a rough day. This beautiful space will also help you to re-focus on your work and get your fountain of ideas up and running! Thank you Grounds Team!
One of the best things about the University of Melbourne is its beautiful grounds. Grounds staff are an important part of the University community and deserve to remain. The expertise of dedicated University grounds staff is important in maintaining the beauty and biodiversity of our campus gardens. Grounds Team, I have an enormous amount of appreciation for the work you do in making the University of Melbourne such an uplifting and invigorating place to study, work and socialise.
The Parkville campus is beautiful. I was a UoM student a long time ago and while the grounds were lovely then they are better now. I do not personally know any of the Grounds Team- but have seem many of their faces around for years. They are obviously very familiar with the grounds, with the specific requirements of different areas of the grounds and so forth. (They had Sturt Desert Pea growing along Tin Alley!! Amazing) Out-sourcing those jobs represents yet another loss of the 'corproate' (for wont of a better word) history associated with the University.
International visitors always note how beautiful the Parkville campus is - this is because of the constant care of our grounds staff. Just because other universities outsource this resource, doesn't mean we have to. Maintain the unique character of our environment by maintaining our unique grounds team
The brilliance of the grounds was the single deepest pleasure I had when returning to campus after a year of working from home - one of many reasons I appreciate the grounds staff too much to let them go.
The grounds and gardens of the Parkville campus are always immaculate; they are well-loved and lovingly tended. The work of the Grounds Team goes unnoticed because we look at the fruits of their labour -- the tranquility of the Systems Garden, the grottos that dot the campus, grape vines carefully covering a wall in brilliant colour. We would be so much less without their work and contributions. In a pandemic, with so much fear and uncertainty swirling around, with mental health a significant threat to staff and student health and capability, taking these steps seems sheer sociopathic madness.
Sinnce I first came to the Uni in 1977, the grouns have improved enormously under the care and innovation of the dedicated staff. They are a source of education in the system garden, joy for graduations and relaxation for mental health. They are also a source of income and biodiversity. Permanent grounds staff provide security and a watching eye over Uni assets that outsourced staff just wouldn’t care about. Outsourcing in never the long term solution as successive governments and businesses discover. Please don’t fall into the economic rationalist trap that seems to be your destiny.
The UoM are an integral part of the University student and staff experience and wellbeing.
The beautiful grounds of Melbourne University tie the disparate buildings together. Many of the botanical specimens are very old and their collective health is down to the care they receive from the Grounds Team. Trust is important in a university ... there are labs, ongoing works etc... important to the future of Australia and to know there are adequately paid ground staff with a long-term commitment to the university is important. As we have all learned, having to rely on outsourced labour is as risky for the institution as it is for the insecure worker. University of Melbourne staff, including the Grounds Team, should be University of Melbourne employees.
Every day spent at the Uni has included time spent in the grounds. To take the hugely qualified staff, passionate about their work and making beautiful places for us all would be a travesty. We don’t need Jim’s mowing hurtling around campus, we need our own knowledgable staff. I am a professional staff person and I know how many people’s jobs are in the line. But taking a whole department that’s so important is unthinkable
The expertise, professionalism, care and attention that the grounds team bring to bear on the campus of the University was celebrated and on display at last year’s virtual professional staff conference. When the university wishes to highlight the campus experience for students, to instill a connection that will hopefully lead to philanthropic consideration later in life, and indeed to reconnect with the local community to seek greater engagement and social support for public and private investment, surely it is imprudent to seek ‘savings’ through this particular avenue?
The gardens have been both a tranquil area to regain energy after studying or teaching and as a source of inspiration and learning for my garden and for those of family and friends. I have recommended the gardens to landscape gardeners I have employed and I have bought tourists here. I have spoken with your gardeners on a number of occasions both to complement them on the gardens and to ask questions. They have always been happy to share their knowledge. The gardens - including the system garden and Billibellary's Walk - cannot be adequately maintained by non-specialised gardeners. Please don't let such significant gardens get run-down or be destroyed by employing low-paid non-specialist staff.
The magnificent grounds and gardens are part of the essence of the University of Melbourne and they are an absolute testament to the dedicated team who passionately tend to them. While most of us don't see these people, we see their work every damn day. They are vital to the fabric of the university. They should be rewarded and recognised for their stellar work, not cut because some number cruncher can't see their value.
A remarkable group of people, dedicated to their job this team takes painstaking pride in cultivating, tending and maintaining all the beautiful treed and flowered spaces and nooks and niches that make the Parkville campus such a joy to be in. I have watched these folk over many years in their seasonal work and have nothing but admiration for their expertise and the. love they shower on the spaces we as a huge community get to share and spend time in
The Uni of Melb grounds are a quintessential part of the “Melbourne Experience”. The ongoing history of the grounds is deeply ingrained in that “Experience”. The University could perhaps re-read the story of the Goose and the Golden Egg & think about it’s implications when considering this financial decision.
The grounds staff are committed and valued professionals in their field. This is not an area to be outsourced to contractors as there is no continuing knowledge or connection to this vital living aspect of Parkville campus. I have worked with Tim Uebergang delivering public programs in the System Gardens with the Potter, these talks were some the most popular programs I coordinated as the wider community recognise the specialised knowledge and expertise of our grounds team. In a personal capacity, I have contacted the Horticulture Team for information on plant species on campus and supplier information. This asset cannot be under estimated and should never be 'outsourced" - having had experience with contracted landscaping company in other situations I am concerned there will be inevitable loss of knowledge and errors made by individuals which would be tragic.
As a University of Melbourne Alumni and a staff member, I have had a long association (close to 40 years) with the university. Graduation photos in the law court, summer afternoons catching up with friends on the lawns, walking to classes from St Hilda's college, everywhere you go at the university you are surrounded by the magnificent gardens and trees. Often you come across little nooks which are simply magnificent. Great surroundings for walking and contemplation - while searching for the solution to some research problem. The university's grounds are world class - and that is all down to the dedication and experience of the grounds team. It is not only the students and staff of the university that enjoy the campus grounds, the number of visitors to the university - touring the campus, taking graduation & wedding photos - is enormous and the grounds are a huge part of their experience - the look, the smells. We will lose all of their knowledge and expertise if the grounds team is outsourced - and once the team is dismantled, I fear we will see a steady erosion of campus environment. And for what? To save a few dollars? How much is the international reputation of the university worth? If the administration goes down this route, then the university will suffer in the long run and surely that will cost more than keeping the grounds team in-house.
I have enjoyed the grounds of the Parkville Campus for 27 years as an undergrad, then postgrad student and after that as a staff member. The grounds are home to diverse plant and tree species, all meticulously kept. On many occasions, I have found a new, hidden garden space when walking around the campus or discovered a new plant I hadn't noticed before. As a gardener, I understand the profound relationship that develops between a person and the land and plants they tend. Outsourcing grounds' maintenance would be a big mistake on the University's part, and would undoubtedly result in degradation of the green spaces. You cannot replace decades of knowledge and caretaking with a completely new set of people who have no experience with or attachment to the grounds and expect to get good outcomes.
Melbourne University’s Grounds team have always created beautiful gardens and spaces. Why change something that works? You can’t outsource experience. It’s such a shortsighted decision.
The gardens around the University are world class. They require planning and care something unlikely to figure into a short term contracting tender. Many of the current staff have made a career out of the University looking it's best and are clearly invested in this. We throw all that away? It's a sad reflection on a university if it cannot recognise the skill and experience of it's devoted staff.
I was a student at the University 30 years ago and have treasured memories of writing my thesis in the 1888 building and enjoying the grounds from sweeping lawns to secret, ferny pockets and swathes of seasonal colour. There is something very special about the University with its absence of cars and places of social, architectural, academic or botanical interest around every corner. I remember hearing former VC Glynn Davis talking about this 'magical place' when you walk through the gates, and when I returned as a staff member a few years ago, I realised the grounds are one of the main attractions in making the University of Melbourne so magical. I started the 'Botanical Beauty Around Uni' Yammer group to celebrate the joy the grounds provide to staff, students and visitors and to show our appreciation of the dedicated grounds team. Now that we are slowly returning, it's the magnificence of the grounds that makes me feel so lucky to work here. On my daily walks to get coffee or go to a meeting, I've often stopped and thanked the staff for the care and thought they've put in to regenerating a neglected area or the considered planting choices that provide an opportunity to learn, creating something beyond 'just a garden'. I realise we are in a difficult financial situation, and while I don't know the details of the planned changes with grounds staff, I urge the University to carefully consider the true cost of what might be lost.
I have been at the University of Melbourne for 12 years as a student, research assistant and now a permanent staff member supporting the teaching of Botany subjects across all year levels including Masters. The incredibly beautiful grounds have been one of the key benefits of studying and working here for me. Importantly, the gardens provide an invaluable teaching resource for the countless samples and specimens we provide for students to observe and study, and we are in close contact with ground staff about what we need for our practical classes. The ground staff are very in tune with our needs in terms of what to keep and what new things should or could be planted. Their experience, dedication and their existing relationships with other staff (built over years) cannot be underestimated and are a huge asset to the university, its vision and its reputation of being a world class environment in which to study and work. The beauty and tranquility of the gardens have a positive effect on the mood of anyone lucky enough to spend time in them as well as having large benefits to the environment. The loss of the current dedicated ground staff could clearly be a disaster for the future of the grounds.
The grounds team are an essential part of the University of Melbourne staff, and have done an amazing job making UoM Parkville campus as one of the most beautiful University campuses in Australia.
I did my undergraduate degree between 1997-2005 and my PhD between 2013 and 2020. For over twenty years, the grounds of the University of Melbourne campus have been a cherished treasure in my life. It is not only that the gardens and lawns and nooks and crannies have an immense sentimental meaning for me. It is that the talent and care and attention to detail the staff have always poured into the campus have always afforded me a sense of joy, dignity and worth. I have always been committed to affording the grounds staff the same sense of joy, dignity and worth by defending them as fellow staff and unionists. They are indispensable.
The University of Melbourne grounds are one of it's greatest assets. It is one of the factors that originally attracted me to study at the university. Spilling and filling the grounds team is bound to have a negative impact on the quality of the grounds.
I have lived in Parkville for 20 years, and enjoyed the university grounds gardens as an undergraduate and postgraduate student, and now as a lecturer and local resident. The skill and artistry of our gardeners are what contribute to making the Parkville campus the leafy, green, beautiful place that it is. I am disgusted that the University thinks it at all appropriate to cut the Grounds Team staff and contract out these essential roles.
i was lucky enough to be able to take my students doing a masters in sustainability on a walking class with a member of the staff. The depth of their knowledge and their commitment to their work was phenomenal. Do not risk the loss of this corporate knowledge. Such depth cannot be contracted in and is of tangible benefit to our student body.
As a staff member that on occasion works with the grounds team I am very thankful for the service they provide! The parkville campus (and the rest!) are home to many incredible specimens with specific care needs and the expert and ad hoc care the grounds team provides is invaluable.
The University has an extraordinary horticultural heritage that needs long-standing expertise to properly maintain. Many of our trees are worth hundreds of thousands of dollars. The risk to these assets with outsourced grounds maintenance seems disproportionate to the paltry savings available. There are many iconic shots of the campus that are enriched by the greenery that frames the campus so spectacularly. Does the University really want to put all of that in the hands of mercenaries?
Over the decades that I have been associated with the University, starting as an undergraduate in 1985 through my PhD years, time as a Post-doc returned from foreign shores to my current academic role following more than a decade in industrial research one of the consistent, reliable and highly desirable aspects of the UoM campus has always been the exceptional quality of the grounds. Whether it's time spend on a lazy summer afternoon on the South Lawn or eating lunch under a tree outside the Union building or strolling through the gardens around the botany department, the quality of the grounds, the impeccable maintenance of the plants and infrastructure, are all part of the University of Melbourne experience.
Moments immersed in the beauty of UniMelb’s grounds have been pivotal to sustaining my morale and love for the Parkville Campus throughout my work at UniMelb. The care and dedication shown by the grounds staff cannot be replicated with an outsourced team that does not have the passion and connection to place that engenders true stewardship. Outsourcing this work would be a disaster and a massive loss to the university campus and community.
The gardens at UniMelb provide much needed respite from what is often a stressful, alienating work environment. The grounds team do incredible work and their services have a huge impact on the health and wellbeing of staff, as well as the experiences of students on campus.
The grounds are genuinely the best, most welcoming and pleasant part of the campus. The Grounds Team are wonderful and much needed!
Systems gardens is one of my favourite places in Melbourne. It is so peaceful and like an oasis away from uni life. Without proper care and expertise these beautiful spaces are in danger !
Grounds are amazing and the work of the team second to none. They don't deserve to be squeezed out of a secure and prestigious role.
The beautiful grounds at Parkville campus are so important to the Unimelb experience. A daily walk around the Systems Garden has been crucial to supporting my mental health while completing my PhD.
I’ve always loved the care and dedication the Grounds Team provides for our campus. Our campus is stunning and it’s thanks to them, it means so much to have a beautiful environment on a university campus and they do do an exceptional job.
They are always so passionate about their work, and have always been a joy to be around. It would be such a loss if they were to leave.
Before I attended Melbourne University I used to come here to walk around the grounds and take in the flowers. When I worked at the hospital across the road I would take hours to meander home because I would spend exorbidant amounts of time wallowing in the gardens. Now as a staff member and student I (outside of lockdown) have the opportunity to be in the university's gardens most days of the week
The University is a beautiful campus - it's one of the reasons I came to study here in the first place. The knowledge and experience that is held collectively by the Grounds team cannot be replaced. By outsourcing the Grounds work - the University is making it clear that it has absolutely no regard for the love and care the grounds team has poured into the University over the years. The University is also making it clear that it is happy to accept a naturally lower standard (because what external contractor would have the years of practical knowledge?) moving forward for it's staff and more importantly its students.
I have worked with campus operations, and this is horrible that they have sacked so many grounds teams.
One rarely sees such large grounds maintained as meticulously as the Parkville campus. The natural beauty and diversity that the Grounds Team have tended contributes to Uni of Melb's reputation as attested to by the constant photographing of the gardens by visitors and the Uni Melb community. Please keep this team of dedicated horticultural professionals so we keep the standard of beauty we have come to love and expect.
The University's grounds and gardens provide a calming and welcoming place that increases my sense of belonging to the University community as staff member and student. The work of the Grounds Team is greatly appreciated, but paradoxically, may largely go unnoticed because of its quality. I worry that contractors will not share the obvious pride and sense of belonging to our campus that the Grounds Team is clearly demonstrating.
The grounds are stunning and it is obvious the care and love that goes into maintaining them. Melbourne uni grounds people do an incredible job!!
They’re polite, they’re hardworking, and they provide beautiful places of respite in what is becoming a more and more difficult place to work and study. Centra bean counters, please let them keep their jobs and stop destroying the integrity of our campus.
I’ve been studying and working at the University since 2012 and have always loved the thought that goes into the gardens. I have friends who’ve worked in the Grounds Team. I know how hard they work and I have seen the depth of their knowledge about the needs of the campus and the plants they grow. As a member of the botany teaching team, we rely on the plants on campus for teaching materials. We run campus tours for BIOL10001 Biology of Australian Flora and Fauna where we spend a week of tutorials showing students the variety of Australian plants and discussing their adaptations- and we use the plants on campus. In Plant Biodiversity and Flora of Victoria, we teach students about plant morphology, identification, function and structure by dissecting plants that grow on campus. We could not do ANY of those things without a passionate, knowledgeable and dedicated grounds team. In all likelihood, contractors would remove most of our exceptional gardens and replace them with a monoculture of low maintenance plants such as Lomandra longiflora or Dianella. Not only would these plants be extremely dull and unattractive, but we cannot use them for teaching. How on earth could contractors maintain our internationally-renowned System Garden? I’ve attended conferences overseas and had strangers approach me to ask if I know our famous Grounds Team member, Tim Uebergang, who is responsible for maintaining System Garden. I know systematic botanists with PhDs who’ve worked on the Grounds Team to learn from them and gain hands on experience. The Grounds Team at the University are experts in their field. They are internationally recognised for their excellence. They are essential for the assisting teaching staff with teaching materials. The University cannot maintain its appearance or its nationally significant System Garden without them. We cannot maintain our University’s beauty with contractors.
There's a particular entrance from Swanston Street where you get enveloped but this amazing tree coverage. It feels so welcoming, and it's such a respite from the heat and the noise of the city. Whatever magic the grounds staff are casting to make this and other spots on campus so entrancing needs to be protected and maintained.
I have been at the University in both a student and staff role for 6 years now. I love spending time in the University grounds, watching them evolve and change over the seasons. They are cared for meticulously by the Grounds team who clearly have huge skill and expertise. It is an amazing landscape and I believe its important to keep these jobs and the knowledge they have in caring for these spaces to ensure their quality, biodiversity and longevity.
Melbourne University looks beautiful as a result of the current grounds workers. Why get rid of the Grounds Team who maintain the large campus to look so beautiful? Melbourne University risk losing its heritage by contracting workers.
Beautiful grounds. Thank you!
Every time I walk on campus I have had the pleasure of experiencing the work of the grounds team. The gardens and grounds of the University make a a joyful place to work and study, and it would be a shame to replace them with lowest bidder private firms at lower quality.
I love wandering the University grounds. There's so much care that's gone into their maintenance, they're such a special part of the Parkville campus. I especially love the name plates on significant trees indicating their carbon sequestration, and the little green nooks you can find, whether you're in the system gardens or behind the 1888 building.
The unimelb grounds are an absolute joy. I've worked and studied on this campus and also choose to transit through the grounds whenever possible, to bring wonderful, curated bursts of nature into my days.
I have been connected with the University of Melbourne as student and as a sessional tutor for 15 years. During that time I have enjoyed the beautiful grounds with their well tended lawns, the trees and plants - finding solace during the tough times and opportunities to meet up with friends. The grounds staff know these gardens and love them. I want to thank all those who work in the gardens for the care they take every day. Replacing these lovely people with outsourced companies is likely to cost more in the long run and be a great loss to the university.
I've generally seen the groundsmen around and they do a great job at keeping the uni looking great. The intimate knowledge they have of the whole grounds surely leads to more efficient and higher quality work that more than makes up for the 'cost savings' of outsourcing the work to contractors, who will have to learn about the whole university grounds (a massive undertaking that would only gradually be learnt over years).
As an undergraduate student I chose Melbourne University based on the elevating and inspiring context for learning - the grounds. As a masters student I benefited absolutely from learning in the context of Systems Garden and the magnificent Burnley campus. The grounds team are a wealth of knowledge and experience and directly support research outcomes and achievements. Knowledge and excellence should be embedded in the physical assets of the campus and their management. A second rate, dumbed down landscape will only diminish the University’s standing and capacities.
The University grounds with their outstanding architecture and established designed landscape from across a wide range of periods from the formation of the University provide an attractive and appropriate physical backdrop to an eminent institution of scholarship and research. In this the University participates as a high class institution amongst other universities across the world. A permanent, knowledgeable and engaged ground staff for maintenance of the landscapes is an important part of maintaining the high quality of the university’s grounds. Loss of the permanent staff would be a major loss with significant implications for the day to day quality of the University and for the safeguarding of its landscape assets.
The University of Melbourne grounds have always been a highlight of my time on campus. I enjoy the green spaces, the thoughtful colour and infusion of nature throughout an otherwise hard, angular campus
We eat lunch near the (relatively speaking) new Australian garden outside the sports building. It's fantastic, full of plants that I'm used to seeing in the bush. It's well cared for and designed. The staff are always friendly, and have attention for detail and pride in their work. The campus was one of the reasons that I chose to study at the University many years ago, and it should be considered an asset to the University that is well-funded. Importantly, we should take pride in offering skilled staff full-time positions, rather that increasing the amount of insecure work.
The most beautiful University— a point of pride that we owe to our dedicated Grounds team.
Outsourcing the University Grounds Team is one step further to Land Back.
I loved the grounds and gardens of Uni of Melb! I loved the thought, knowledge and care that was put into these historic gardens! If they are outsourced, all the precious and rare plants will disappear mass plantings of common, easy care plants will replace them. Uni of Melbourne gardens are unique! I used to love walking around them! Just truly magnificent!
During even the worst anxiety, most desperate hopelessness, and pure exhaustion I could always take a little nap somewhere on the grass in the sun and my life felt calm for a moment
The Melbourne uni gardens are so special and important for me. Countless hours walking through the campus admiring the special plants and trees that are cared for by an amazing specialist team. In particular each year the hellebores fill me with delight. It would be such a loss to no longer have the ground team looking after our beautiful gardens.
Wonderful work! Solidarity with the grounds staff!
I am a PhD candidate. It is stressful. Whenever I need to recharge I usually go outside and sit in the gardens which are always beautiful and immaculate. You can't presume that just anybody will do the same job. The Unimelb Grounds Team cares about the grounds and knows it back to front. They deserve to be commended for contributing to the mental wellbeing of some many students such as myself who use the gardens therapeutically. How shameful that the university is now thinking of getting rid of these people—who, in the current climate, will no doubt struggle to find work—and replace them with cheap outsourced labour, i.e. workers who will never have the knowledge of or passion for the university grounds the way the current staff do.
Grounds Team have managed to create so unique green oasis in the middle of a concrete jungle. This was only possible through investment of self that is based on secure working conditions, continuation of long term and passable knowledge of the space and feeling of belonging to the space. The wrong idea of outsourcing this as a service only is nothing else than essentialing such important and complex work. It means to severe important roots of tradition and knowledge. Please do not do it.
The Grounds staff are the most hardworking, talented, valuable staff at the UniMelb.
The grounds at unimelb are beautiful and a significant part of their esteemed reputation.
I always receive comments from friends and family about how beautiful the campus is and know the grounds team works hard to make it so presentable and impressionable
I admire the amount of effort and diligence they put into keeping the University beautiful.
I appreciate and admire the work of the Grounds Team. Thanks to them, the universities grounds remain a peaceful and inviting area to study and relax. I believe the ground team play a vital role in maintaining the University of Melbourne's image, replacing the team with contractors will jeopardize this and is a mistake.
The grounds are stunning and the staff responsible make it beautiful for all of our community.
The gardens are some of the things that set unimelb apart from monash and rmit, losing the people who take such care of them would result in a massive loss for very little monetary gain.
When I was on campus, I spent most of my breaks in the system gardens. They are beautiful and I feel that it is not fair to make the gardens team redundant.
Loved studying and relaxing in them during my bachelor, would be a tragedy to see the workers slashed
Always admire the grounds at the University of Melbourne, it's one of the more enjoyable elements of the uni and something I have been eager to get back to through the covid lockdown
System garden is my favourite spot in the entire university, I would often see the grounds staff working in there in order to keep it beautiful and tranquil. It would be a shame to see all the people who worked so hard to make the university so beautiful be made redundant and be replaced by an outsourced team who due to the insecure nature of contract work probably wouldn't be able to achieve the same as the permanent grounds staff.
Constantly finding little beautiful green nooks to sit in
I have been going to unimelb for 3 years and always enjoy the beautiful gardens and grounds! The gardens and grounds were always meticulously looked after and I loved seeing what the grounds team did in planting new flowers and plants in the different seasons. The gardens of unimelb make unimelb beautiful and without the work of the grounds team I’m sure I would not enjoy going to uni as much as I do.
As a student, I often find myself seeking a moment of peace and stress reduction within the beautiful grounds of the University. I often think about the hard work that goes into nurturing the grounds, and the committed team who perform this work with specialist care. They deserve to maintain their jobs.
I’ve always been amazed at the very good treatment of the University grounds and how there is a diversity of plants in the grounds. I was once studying at the Baliueu (or however you spell it XD), and i looked out the window and saw a bird that was literally the same one as the one on the cover of my Biology textbook! I am so amazed at how the university grounds is treated and would like to thank the workers who take care of it and help them in any way i can.
Love them! Do such a great job and are a vital part of the community
Throughout my engineering degree, i would be spending 10-12 hour days at uni almost 7 days a week going to class and working on assignments. Every single lunch break or coffee break would be spent sitting in one of the uni gardens, like outside the 1888 building or systems gardens. I would have found it near impossible to maintain focus and stay sane if it wasn't for those amazing green spaces throughout the uni to provide a place to rest and recharge every day .
The upkeep of the university's grounds have always been exceptional and has been the essential to the university's public image as it has been a source of serenity for thousands of students.
I have spent many happy hours wandering through the university’s beautiful grounds.
The grounds were one of the reasons I chose to come to Unimelb over other unis, shame on Unimelb for further outsourcing contracts!
It's always been such a comfort to be able to leave buildings from class of study and be able to relax and enjoy all of the impecable garden spaces. The team that has enabled the environment we all cherish doesn't deserve this.
The grounds are literally one of my favourite and most loved things about melbourne uni, please keep the current staff!!!!
The systems gardens are a little safe haven on campus
Great team
Grounds always look amazing!!
The university ground always look amazing. Given the quality of the work, it is despicable that the university would sacrifice them simply for monetary gains.
The grounds people do an incredible job maintaining a beautiful space given limited actual outdoor space in the cramped city campus. I am especially fond of what’s been done in terms of the native garden across from the law building. I think also the the University of Melbourne is already getting a poor reputation apropos of masses of casual staff and many making claims of poor adherence to industrial relations regulatory compliance from the university. Not only do I feel that employing subcontractors is not in the interest of the broader university community, but I feel that the University of Melbourne needs to assess what further reputational damage it can sustain without students turning away from the university as a study option into the future with regards to a broader trend away from offering stable employment.
Most beautiful campus in Australia
UniMelb’s grounds have always been phenomenally kept and maintained and they were a genuine aspect of the university that I considered when applying to Melbourne. The Grounds Team do an amazing job at maintaining the campus and the environment perfect for study and relaxation. Redundancy would be a step backwards for UniMelb and a disgrace to the excellent work of the Grounds Team.
Unimelb is known for its beautiful grounds and it’s important that we keep them beautiful
The garden always looks amazing, and it would be a shame and disappointment if the University let such fine gardeners go.
Save our beautiful grounds, save the Grounds Team jobs! They do a fantastic job of maintaining the grounds at uni, they deserve dignity and respect for the great work they do, not being slapped with redundancy and outsourcing.
So beautiful
The campus is such a beautiful part of the city. It’s certainly one of the reasons I decided to study at the university. The Grounds Team does such a brilliant job at maintaining the University and making it the place that it is.
Unimelb’ open spaces are lovely because they are so well maintained by it’s tirelessly busy grounds team. It would be a serious loss to make them and their work redundant.
The Grounds Team bring the wisdom and experience that makes the green spaces at the University so welcome and so cherished. To lose them would be a tragedy, to remove them would be idiocy.
I love nature and the staff have been doing an excellent job of looking the greenery on campus. I don't think anyone will know the landscape better than the current staff who have been looking after the flora for so long! these are the people who have dedicated themselves to ensuring that the campus looks perfect for any season and I really hope the team will be kept.
I always enjoy the beautiful hedges, trees and other plants around unimelb and I really appreciate how the Grounds Team look after them. Getting rid of those people would mean losing the leafy character of unimelb.
They are amazing and immaculately clean, it makes me proud to go to the University
The string of terrible news from the university is really depressing. I love Unimelb grounds and often go on long walks around the university in these gardens and try to get away from work and studies. I cannot believe the university is trying to replace the people who have built this environment, and who have maintained it with so much effort.
I have not yet experienced them in person, but their beauty is one of the reasons why I was attracted to the university.
For me, the academic environment constitutes one of the more visible and ultimately convincing suggestions of the quality of the campus community and the education they undertake together there. This being so, I seriously and, apparently, reasonably doubt whether I would have resolved to leave Brisbane to study, specifically, at UniMelb, sacrificing all the comfort and security of home, if the grounds were otherwise — which it would be, without the dedicated and hard-working hands responsible for its preservation.
The groundskeepers do great work to keep the campus beautiful
They provide a beautiful environment in which it is easy to feel happy in and study effectively in.
They keep the campus looking clean and beautiful which is necessary for a study environment.
As a Plant Science student, I have admired the great work the staff does at caring for and curating the gardens. Through their work, a true passion and care for the gardens shines through. To outsource such work would be devastating as there would be an inherent lack of connection between gardener and garden, and I believe this will negatively show through the garden.
In first year, I frequented the System Gardens while working, I think I owe the the degree to which that garden is kept to my ability to concentrate where I could not in other spaces
Always well maintained and picturesque
The grounds are one of the big reasons why I fell in love with this University; they’re calming and beautiful and so obviously lovingly cared for by the grounds team
I love the gardens at uni - best part of campus
Always looking nice and very good care of plants - saw someone really diligently pruning back some brush and it looked great
Beautiful
The grounds have always been beautiful and well taken care of. Part of the unimelb experience is the beautiful grounds around campus! Please don’t get rid of the grounds team! They are just as important as any educational part because they allow for students and staff alike to get some peace from the scenery!! It is essential to keep them!!
The Systems Gardens is my favourite place at the university. I have cried there on multiple occasions and I cannot bare the thought of endangering the beautiful, native and rich foliage in that area.
Keep them on!!
The keepings of the ground are currently immaculate and always a pleasure to stroll through
It always looks great, don’t fix what ain’t broke
The University's grounds looks beyond beautiful and this would not have been possible without the dedication of the beloved Grounds Team!
The University of Melbourne grounds are so gorgeous and the beautiful campus was such a motivator for me to apply and come there! The Grounds Team do a wonderful job of keeping everything looking amazing and making it such a beautiful place for not only students and staff, but also for visitors. We are so lucky to have such gorgeous buildings and gardens available to us and this is a testament to the work of the Grounds Team!
Part of the reason I decided to come to Melbourne University was because the wonderfully beautiful and welcoming feeling I felt upon first visiting it. Of course, the university has some beautiful architecture, but I would largely attribute this feeling to the consistently beautiful grounds. It's a major contributor to why I feel proud to be at the University, and I would hate to see the groundskeepers devalued and financially disadvantaged due to outsourcing. I would also hate to see the quality of the grounds compromised simply for financial gain. I think it would be contradictory to the spirit of the university of Melbourne, which, in my opinion, prioritizes and rewards work of quality and work of effort.
The grounds were essential to my time spent on campus studying, making friends and even dates that would not be the same without the care I have seen provided to the amazing grounds and flora/fauna!
I’ve visited campus once but part of the reason I decided to go to UniMelb was because of how beautiful and well maintained the gardens and general campus was. You could tell a lot of hard work and love was put into its maintenance and care. It would be unjust to sack those who have worked so hard and poured so much effort into the beautiful campus.
The Uni grounds has been a place where I hang out a lot and I love seeing the greenery of the place. It saddens me to hear that the university is considering this especially in the midst of covid-19.
Studied the plants there as a part of a subject, they're reallt beautifully kept and are already much smaller than they once were. The grounds team do a great job of keeping them
Great work
walking around the amazingly kept gardens really is one of the best parts of campus life. They are relaxing, serene and totally beautiful!
The grounds are the reason I chose Melbourne uni above other unit. Campus is such a beautiful place to be because of our incredible grounds. I have an extreme appreciation for the grounds team and for their design and upkeep of our beautiful campus!
The grounds are a great place to relax and an integral part of promoting student well-being, no doubt due to the hard work of these grounds teams. Don't sack and ruin the lives of these families just to make a quick buck. You're a public institution not a private degree mill
I have always appreciated how clean and neat the University looks
The grounds are a social space, a quiet space, an educational space. They are thus key to our return to a socially distanced campus. Their upkeep is imperative.
Amazingly well kept grounds at the University, all due to the hard work of the Grounds Team. The gardens and campus are beautiful and constantly developing - we cannot lose these vital workers.
Every time I walk into university I am always in awe at how beautiful the place looks. It’s like the separate world. The grounds team do an amazing job to keep the magic of the campus.
Amazing shouldn’t outsource
Honestly the grounds look lovely, outsourcing it would ruin it.
The campus is beautiful. They do an outstanding job of caring for it and they are always supportive of student projects on the grounds. It will be a huge shame to see them cut, see the care for the place dwindle and for the outsourced grounds team to be inaccessible to staff and students.
When I walk into campus, I was immediately amazed by not just the architecture of the buildings but also the surrounding plant life. I especially love walking through South Lawn where the well-kept grass and beautiful trees and plants around deliver a positive vibe to the community. Thank you to the Grounds Team <3
The Melbourne Uni grounds are just beautiful. In a rushed and stressful world, they have never failed to provide moments of tranquillity as I have admired the gorgeous flowers in their colour-themed gardens, and enjoyed the sound of the gently misting sprinklers that keep everything efficiently lush. I do not work on main campus, but routinely plan my walks to the other side of campus so I can enjoy the gardens on the way and appreciate how they change with the seasons. Watching the daffodils and jonquils appear and burst into happy yellow each spring is a highlight - as are the papery everlastings and increasing numbers of locally Indigenous plants being planted. Curating and keeping such gardens healthy and thriving takes not just knowledge built up over years, but the extra care that comes from knowing and loving the plants. The Grounds staff always have a friendly smile, and have even donated a little excess herb seedling being discarded for my own garden at home. I hate to think of these staff and their specialist expertise being discarded and replaced with inexperienced contractors with poorer pay and working conditions. The humans caring for the plants we love should also be treated with care and respect.
System gardens and south lawn and so many of the grounds are everything to us. It’s been the hardworking ground that’s kept it all maintained and grown it. It would be a great travesty to keep them away from Our university for an external company that wouldn’t feel the same way about this university we call home.
I love the grounds, they’re such a beautiful space because they’re so well-maintained!
The Grounds Team are integral to the maintenance of the University of Melbourne. The University is meant to be a place that celebrates learning, and this means cultivating an ethos of learning in our physical environment. If the Grounds Team cannot work at the University, and academics are losing their jobs - who is working at the University of Melbourne?
I have been a student at the University of Melbourne for the past seven years and lived on campus for two of those years including during the extended lockdown in Melbourne where in order to even get to the closest grocery store I was walking through campus. Seeing the dedication of the grounds team, and ensuring that campus was still a beautiful place to be.
The grounds at the University of Melbourne are crucial to the culture and lifestyle it endeavours to foster. Since my first year at the University I have really enjoy studying outdoors on campus, and have found that even when I am struggling with difficult course work or feeling generally overwhelmed, the grounds are a space where I feel calm and able to explore a more natural environment. The grounds team are crucial to this and a common fixture of daily life on campus is seeing these people working hard to maintain precious spaces. I sincerely hope that in the light of so many job losses already the University reconsiders. The grounds at Melbourne really are unique.
The unimelb grounds are stunning and I spend a large portion of my time at uni studying and socialising outdoors, enjoying the campus gardens and landscape. The grounds are an enormous part of the social and studious landscape of Melbourne uni, and the grand nature of campus is a big reason why I choose to study at Melbourne uni. Please keep the grounds flourishing!
As someone who has studied horticulture, I can only praise the work and great depth of knowledge held by the grounds staff at Unimelb. I believe outsourcing this work would be an incredible loss of specialist knowledge.
I enjoy the showcasing of plant diversity in the system garden and the embracing of sustainability by the grounds staff.
Really enjoyed sitting in the system gardens and really appreciate all the work they do to maintain all of the amazing grounds and green spaces among the uni.
Great people doing great work. Completely senseless proposal from unimelb administration.
The grounds at the University of Melbourne are beautifully and meticulously maintained. It creates a vibrant and hopeful environment to study. Please do not make the Melbourne Grounds team redundant in favour of outsourcing. They deserve secure employment for all the hard work that they do.
I volunteered with the grounds team and learnt so much. They were so passionate about what they do. I know moneys right but you are kicking out the soul of the university grounds
Every season and every time of year it’s the beautiful, open and welcoming grounds of the uni that calm me for the day ahead. I could not imagine the campus without it.
The Melbourne grounds are beautiful and essential to the uni experience
I have always admired how incredibly beautiful our grounds are. I often walk around them, admiring the detail and care that has gone into the gardens. I walk around the campus for pleasure because it’s so wonderful.
The university grounds are immaculate and beautiful. Outsourcing would be a great shame and seemingly would make all the great workers unemployed.
Uni Melb has a beautiful campus and it makes tough study times all the better. The systems garden, University House, and tree covered walk way (from old quad to the trams), are some of the best things on campus. I fear that not having a dedicated grounds staff to consistently look after our campus will result in a place which no longer feels like the prestigious University that we are.
The grounds of the University of Melbourne have always maintained to incredibly high standards and provide an attractive and relaxing environment to move through.
When we were still able to go on campus, walking around the campus between tutorials was the best part of my day. The uni is so beautiful thanks to the amazing grounds team, my uni experience wouldn’t be the same without them
The grounds are a magical part of the university and give soul to the campus, the grounds team do an incredible job!
I’m a second year so I didn’t get to go on campus for too long but the campus has always been so beautiful!!!!!!!! Thanks to their hard work!!!!!
University is not just about going from one class to another, it’s about the overarching atmosphere and positive aura created by departments like the Grounds department to make our nervous walks, catch ups, and what not so much more beautiful of an experience.
They are always beautifully kept, I constantly see the grounds team attending to the gardens every needs
Many memories on campus grounds since becoming a student in 2015. Appreciate their work — save the grounds staff!
All I know is that, physically, the University has always felt beautiful and welcoming, and that is thanks to their work.
The grounds of Unimelb are so extraordinary! I cannot imagine the time, effort, care, and love that goes into maintaining them. They should remain so for generations of students and staff to come. The Grounds Team responsible for the gardens etc. should not be brushed off and outsourced.
I absolutely love the native gardens and signage for each important species.
They are so beautiful and integral to the unis prestige.
Spending time in the gardens near the biology building is one of the highlights of my time on campus. It is always amazing to find new trees and plants around campus and I know there is great pride in the landscaped environment on campus. It is important to maintain this pride and have groundskeepers who are invested in this specific place and environment and understand its needs.
Melbourne universities grounds are some of the earliest reasons I became passionate about botany and horticulture. After a wander through the melbourne University gardens botanical collection I decided to major in plant sciences and have been privileged with an incredible plant based career. In the coming weeks I will be starting my masters at Melbourne University and an important part of my excitement is to spend time in the grounds that inspired my love of plants. the fact that the grounds will not be receiving the same dedicated care is a blatant disregard for the years of training and skills that the maintenance and horticultural staff contribute to the grounds. How can melbourne University expect to be respected for its horticultural courses if it is not even willing to pay dedicated long standing professionals to maintain its own grounds.
I'm proud to be a Uni Melb student because of it's integrity, dignity and high standards and demands for world class education and academia. The Uni Melb grounds have such a reputation and outsourcing this team represents another blow to prestige for the Uni and an ironic move in the face of biodiversity loss and climate catastrophe in Australia.
I worked with the grounds team during an internship on campus and they were simply amazing. Their intimate knowledge of the campus grounds, it's challenges and their concerns for making it a beautiful and safe place for staff and students were truly inspirational. This was their place and they cared. You cannot get that kind of intimate knowledge & care with outsourced consultants.
As a landscape architecture student I am constantly in awe at the beautiful and varied plantings on display at the University of Melbourne. They should be treasured as much if not more than the buildings they surround. There is no way a generic maintenance team could care for such botanic richness. We can’t lose the knowledge the grounds keepers bring!!
The grounds team do a fantastic job and the beautiful gardens are one of my favourite things about the UoM.
For me, the grounds and green infrastructure at unimelb is the most treasured aspect of the student experience at unimelb. The current grounds stuff a clearly very talented and it would seem absurd to abandon their knowledge of the site and the complexities of maintaining its ecology to save a buck.
HAVING RECENTLY COMMENCED A MASTERS AT UNIMELB, I HAVE VISITED THE PARKVILLE CAMPUS TO ACHIEVE A SENSE OF PLACE AND BELONGING, WITH ALL MY CLASSES CURRENTLY DELIVERED ONLINE. I AM EXTREMELY IMPRESSED WITH THE GROUNDS, MUCH OF WHICH IS DOWN TO THE GROUNDS STAFF
I am studying the Masters of Landscape Architecture and we have frequently discussed the Melbourne Uni grounds in our studies. Quality greenspace is becoming more important than ever with climate change, and requires qualified and experienced caretakers who understand the landscape.
One of the most beautiful places in Melbourne. I love the green spaces, the trees, the plants the gardens. It is a place that is distinctively different to every other public space in Melbourne.
The beautifully kept campus is the reason I chose UoM.
The Grounds Team are an integral part of the university who tend to the grounds with a care, dedication and loyalty that outsourced gardeners would not be able to replicate.
Its just lush
I have studied and worked at unimelb for over 10 years. The grounds are a significant part of the university environment. The grounds are well managed and spectacular and an important aspect of well-being for the students and staff members.
My first experience with Melbourne Uni was as someone completely uninterested in returning to study. I had come to the campus as part of leafletting for the SSM plebiscite in 2017. Standing in the middle of the courtyard, the sun blazing down on me, I could only think one thing: "this place looks beautiful". I came away that day with a mission: to enroll and spend the next few years in this beautiful place, and finally graduate knowing those surroundings had rubbed off on me. I spent the next year powering through a program at a different university (I didn't have the ATAR to get in initially) in order to open up the pathway into the bachelor of science I am currently on my third year on. I'm proud to call myself a University of Melbourne student, and if it wasn't for the grounds staff and their tireless work I never would have considered becoming one. it's for this reason that the grounds staff should remain, their efforts bring in those of us who are lost, like a lighthouse in a storm, to find somewhere they truly belong.
I regularly sit outside when eating lunch or having breaks on campus. The grounds there are stunningly beautiful and a testament to the Grounds Team's hard work. For me and many others, the grounds are a significant part of student life at the university, and losing them to ruthless job cuts would be devastating from both an aesthetic and workers rights point of view.
Walking around campus the gardens and especially the trees are one of the best things about being on campus. I’ve also spent countless breaks sitting on south lawn talking with friends etc. and some of my favourite memories of uni have been made that way.
These grounds make me want to be at university!!!
Gardens are a highlight on Melbourne University. I love oberseving the diverse range of species and the incredible skill of the gardeners. This is a disappointing decision by Melbourne University.
The greenery on campus is one of the best things about it. Continually I have seen the university make decisions that ultimately can only harm the quality of experience studying here.
The Unimelb grounds are some of the most beautiful of any uni I have been to. It is always a delight to be on campus because of the grounds and the incredible work that the grounds team does in maintaining them to such a high level.
Save the grounds team!!!! The unimelb grounds are kept beautifully and allow us students to hang out, meet new people and work outside in the fresh air. Our green spaces are one of the things I'm most looking forward to coming back to uni for. Solidarity with the ground team!!!!!
They are always friendly and professional. Look very clean and keep the grounds in incredible condition.
They make the campus look beautiful, which improves the overall learning environment immensely. Their work is indispensable.
Great work. especially love the system gardens
Our campus is such a peaceful, beautiful and cool space thanks to the grounds workers. Thank you for contributing so much to our university experience.
The grounds at Melbourne University add to the allure and charm of the institution. During long study sessions I like to walk around and rest my eyes on the perfectly manicured garden beds throughout the campus. The Grounds Team are an important part of what makes Melbourne University a great place to study. The Grounds Team has an established relationship with the gardens and their impressive knowledge is demonstrated through the lush beauty the garden rewards us with. Don't throw this team under the bus to save a little bit of money.
The grounds are such a key part of the University of Melbourne experience, of being on campus, of meeting with colleagues, of having a place to retreat and think - it’s also such an iconic part of the University’s brand. This is a strange decision.
The gardens at the university are gorgeous and so much of the reason why many students choose to come to the school! I was unable to enjoy the grounds last year as was so looking forward to spending time at the beautiful campus this year. the senior management is making a huge mistake in their redundancy decisions.
Grounds are such an important part of the atmosphere and history of the university. Extremely disappointing that such a move would even be considered.
Spent lots of time there with uni mates!
The grounds of university of melbourne are a fundamental part of student life, for myself and many students, the beautiful campus was one of the draw points for choosing this university. The maintenance of these spaces can’t just be left up to anyone, the current grounds staff have experience with culturally significant trees and responding to the needs of the gardens. This is an incredibly disappointing move from the university.
Always kind and have made a positive impact on my uni experience
Very nice garden.
As an incoming Landscape Architecture postgrad student, the impressive grounds are one of the aspects of UniMelb that made me choose this university for my further study. Having worked as a groundskeeper myself, I know the enormous value of having an in-house grounds team. It would be a abdication of responsibility for the university administration to allow the maintenance of the grounds to suffer as a result of short-sighted cost-cutting outsourcing.
The current grounds team are invested in the project and have tended to the grounds for a long time, with a lot of care and thought. This can't be replaced by a gardening contractor. In my experience with gardening contractors, most "gardeners" are more interested in mowing everything to the shortest possible length, mulching, and spraying pesticides, as they are neither emotionally attached nor visually impacted by the results, and unfortunately this is what most people like. I always thought the Melbourne grounds are more than that, exactly because they are managed by the locals.
Every time I walk through the University grounds, I appreciate the gardens, the planting choices, the health of the trees and interesting treatments of spaces. The grounds are clearly the work of expert and dedicated staff. I would hope that their ongoing stewardship and knowledge of the University's green spaces are properly valued. I was first a student in 1977 and am now back, doing a PhD. The leafy places at the University of Melbourne are a beautiful, living treasure that I always notice and which contribute to the feeling that the university sits in nature. That the little corners and spaces between buildings are landscaped and carefully maintained for people to be stop, sit and reflect in is important. It is surely not beyond the means of the University to value and retain the people who do this work as part of the broader university community?
As someone who regularly uses the gardens and also aesthetically appreciates the botanical work done by the Grounds Team, it would be a terrible loss to undermine such labour and dedication.
Working on Burnley Campus, the beautifully maintained gardens are sometimes the only thing that can bring clarity and relaxation during or after a stressful day. It is mostly due to the hard and determined work of the groundskeepers and gardeners here that I am able to enjoy these Brief but relieving moments. It would be a true loss if this component is lost for Burnley or other green spaces at the Uni.
Thank you grounds staff for creating such a lovely campus to be on - I especially love to hang out in a nook of the system gardens between classes
We have a Banana tree in the middle of Melbourne as a result of their work and dedication. Systems gardens covers all of the different plant groups through time with hugely different requirements and I've never once seen any plant struggling and not thriving throughout the many biodiversity tours I held in the University. That requires a huge knowledge that would be extremely difficult to replace.
I see the management of grounds as the management of the university's heritage, for such expertise to leave would be tragic for that heritage.
It is Ludacris to think the beauty of the grounds is in jeopardy. As a student the grounds provide a sense of wellbeing, history and pride to my university.
University of Melbourne grounds are something that makes the uni truly special. Not only is the cutting of this staff sickening, but it is also going to be detrimental to one of the most important factors that make this university special
Reflecting and recharging in, and being amongst the grounds define the UniMelb experience.
Very appreciative of their work and very disappointed if melb uni outsources
It is always a joy to walk through the university due to the consistent hard work of the grounds team.
The grounds at uni melb were partly what attracted me to the University when I put in my application way back in 2007. Since then, I’ve spent many happy moments in the grounds between classes, with fellow students and staff. The beautiful grounds contribute hugely to the development of community at the University.
Save the workers and the gardens!
To me this isn't so much about the grounds as the job security of the Grounds Team.
Being surrounded by nature and a pleasant environment is so important to supporting the positive mental health and wellbeing of everybody who spends time on University grounds. The grounds deserve to be tended by people with passion and knowledge, and everybody else at the University deserves to work and study in an environment that is shown the utmost care and respect.
The gardens are really well kept and Are relaxing to sit in. It’s great to see people who have cared for the gardens remain the same over many years.
It's undignified for such a proud university to outsource its grounds labour like some common office building! The grounds staff have more of a connection to this place than I do!
The specific knowledge and care of the groundstaff is fundamental to the amenity of the university. This would be degraded if this was outsourced.
I am a recent Landscape Architecture Graduate and have attended Melbourne Uni for both my Undergraduate and Masters degree. The Melbourne Uni grounds are so unique and the various parts of the grounds require specific knowledge that the permanent grounds staff have developed, which is irreplaceable. The grounds are hugely attractive and an asset to the University. Every nook is so well cared for and thrives. If grounds staff are outsourced, it will absolutely be to the detriment of the landscape of the uni and therefore, the uni itself.
The grounds staff do an amazing job of keeping the university campus looking beautiful. I'm sure the university is looking at ways to save money, but this is an incredibly shortsighted way of doing it. It will have an irreparable effect on the grounds, given the campus beauty is often noted as one of the drawcards of the Parkville campus.
The grounds provide a peaceful space to study, connect with others and relax between classes. It is obvious from the quality of the gardens and the immense signage and information that they are treated with personal care, thoughtful design and maintenance that goes beyond simple upkeep. In addition, touring the garden as part of my primary teaching course was a fantastic informative experience that further embedded how the current staff have invaluable expertise that translates into a beautiful, healthy, educative, diverse and historically significant garden. Please do not prioritise cost-cutting over this unique garden. Respect and uplift those that show passion and knowledge in our university.
The gardens across the university grounds offer so much to everyone on campus - beauty, shade, oxygen, a place of rest and calm amongst the stress. As a landscape architecture student, I want to see the lush grounds continue to get the quality care they deserve. Please keep the experienced Grounds Team. Don't outsource and ruin one of the university's best assets.
The grounds are a consistent draw to the university, both for enrolling students, and visitors. The grounds are always stunning, rain, hail or shine and the grounds team is always working to ensure the image of the university is upheld to the highest degree.
System Gardens is an absolute haven of a peaceful retreat within the university grounds, and South Lawn is a completely iconic landmark of the Uni. Both would not exist without a quality and dedicated grounds team.
The landscape at UoM was an integral part of my environmental science and botany classes! I am still mourning the loss of the systems gardens. The current quality conducted by passionate ground staff needs to be maintained, for the good of all students and staff as well as the standing of the University within the context of international universities with iconic gardens!
The systems garden is a place that gives me great sustenance and peace during my exam periods. It is a beautiful place that should have been protected more than it has been. The people who look after it do so with gentleness and skill. They should be allowed to continue to be it's steward
It just looks great and without it unimelb would look a bit like a prison
Part of my choice to study at unimelb was down to the beautiful grounds it offered. Things like seeing friends on South lawn, exploring the systems gardens and enjoying the sunshine by studying outside were things that I probably took for granted, but were a key part of the fond memories I have of campus today. Bring able to enjoy the grounds was foundational to making connections with others. Not bring able to go on campus for classes in my new course has meant I have not enjoyed the grounds for some time, and it has made a real difference to my university experience. The grounds staff take on the responsibility of keeping the University pristine. Its reputation is in part because of its beautiful grounds, and by giving this work to contractors, you cannot guarantee the same level of care and expertise needed to maintain the historically significant grounds. Many alumni such as myself would be devastated if these grounds were deteriorated over time because of the lack of care shown by University management today.
Beautiful, campus enriching experience
The grounds staff are great with conducting tours and teaching students their design intent and plant choice. We need more job security in this sector. Not less.
When my depression was at some of its worst I would walk through the grounds, I’d look at the trees, I’d appreciate the gardens. They need special and particular care.
The unimelb grounds are an incredibly inspiring, comforting, and calming place to be. The grounds team has done amazing work caring for this beautiful campus. Without them, I believe this campus would be greatly disadvantaged. Connection with nature and a strong ecological system is so important, especially as we now live in a world which is quite literally dying. Please do not cast these fine professionals away, we will all feel the loss of their knowledge, passion, and care.
The grounds space is where we commune, share and discuss many important attributes of our study. The University has taught us to value the work of loyal contributors and we value these grounds people.
The university’s soul is from the campus experience, it’s why we’re all desperate to return to face to face learning. Part of this is the experience of exploring the grounds of the historic campus that are in keeping with the heritage of the buildings
The gardens at The University of Melbourne have always been a sacred space for myself and others to find peace amongst the unrelenting and loud outside world. Not only does this space foster a unique and valuable ecosphere, but the connection between the Grounds team and those who appreciate nature and their work at the university is strong. I stand by their work and deplore the University’s potential action.
I love grounds team’s work on University of Melbourne‘s garden, I believe the greens & gardens are significant part of UniMelb’s image & heritage, I believe it provide long term benefit to the well being of students & teaching staffs.
Their work has been instrumental in inspiring me to be an effective student, and to feel inspired about visiting campus. The gardens on campus, and the green spaces in general, have genuinely helped pull me out of some really dark times, and to hear the grounds staff aren't getting the appreciation and support they deserve for maintaining these areas is appalling to me.
So m
Clearly exceptional personnel have made the University beyond beautiful. The grounds are something I take photos of every time I am there: they enable a space for us to not just learn, but be comfortable, belong, and grow as people alongside the plants. I have always gotten a smile and nod from grounds team members at work, they deserve stability and continued respect during this horrible time.
Some of my happiest memories (in my life, not just at Unimelb) involve time spent lounging on South Lawn or System Garden. As a keen birdwatcher (and founding president of the now defunct Melbourne University Birdwatching Society), I have great appreciation of the avian populations that depend upon the ecological richness of the University's grounds.
While at RMIT I did 1 major projects on the gardens at UOM. Garden carport and cieculariib
They do great work
Such beautiful grounds, always love visiting when in Melbourne and at the uni for conferences
I have visited university campuses across Australia and round the world. I only visited UM’s grounds once but found them a delight to walk. Like most of the best gardens they are maintained through continuous care that is enabled by years-long experience of those who look after them. The gardens at the University of Wollongong near where I live benefit from the same approach and are similarly wonderful. Outsourcing always looks like it will save money on paper, but this is usually achieved through externalised losses, most obviously loss of income and job security for workers; in this case the gardens themselves are also likely to suffer because they will lose the benefit of continuous care from people who know them well through years of experience and have a personal stake in their long-term flourishing. Please don’t outsource the ground staff for a few dollars!
I have worked at WEHI for the last 6 years. It is a high-rise building on a tiny footprint, affiliated with University of Melbourne, and just across the road from the Parkville campus. The university gardens have often been a beautiful place to eat my lunch. A place of solace and of outdoor meetings. A credit to the gardening team. Please maintain an inhouse Grounds Team. If an external contractor does the same work, by necessity it will cost more. Cost-cutting here would do irreparable damage
Contractors come and go, providing inconsistent service - whereas UoM Groubnds staff are part of the ecology of the landscape, symbiotic with a healthy environment
The grounds and gardens of the University are places that help students get some relief from the stresses and pressures of academic life - places that restore the soul and feed creativity. They are a tribute to the sensitive care and love of a hardworking and imaginative Grounds Team. They feature in photographs of the University advertising it's welcoming environment housing outstanding scholarship a great frame for world class research. Why change what has worked so well for decades - we should be rewarding and celebrating our Grounds Team not replacing them.
I hope all the risks of outsourcing have been considered - quality of service delivery, lack of customer focus, hidden costs, loss of knowledge, staff loyalty etc - the University's gardens & grounds are an asset just as good staff also are. There is a lot at stake if this goes wrong. "The University of Melbourne’s System Garden dates back to 1856, three years after the founding of the University. The System Garden was designed as a unique formal scientific, cultural and landscape feature rather than a recreational garden. Still remaining as a scientific and teaching garden the 1.5 acre site is now a secure public garden to be enjoyed by all. The System Garden contains cultivated garden beds that represent the evolution of plants from the non flowering Gymnosperms, mosses, cycads and conifers through to the vast flowering Angiosperms. Centrally located is the original and unique potting shed tower from when the garden was established."
The UoM grounds are breathtakingly beautiful and an inspiration to me as a gardener. They have also provided me with solace and calm on many occasions and I consider them to be a large contributor to my mental health and well being! I have some idea how much skill and knowledge is required to maintain them. This can only be acquired through a history of connection with the particular site and plants. Careful observation, built up over years, is the key to knowing what is growing where and how. Please don't mess with them or the team that has built and maintains them.
Everyday I delight in the little details of foliage, new plantings, sculptural shadings that are provided by the plantings of the University and I've often stopped to congratulate one of then when passing. They work closely together and you can see the pride in their overall curation of the landscape.
Every lunch break I go for a walk around campus and sit down in one of the green spaces to read a book. The beautiful gardens are one of the things I love most about working at Unimelb and I can't imagine outsourcing would keep it as beautiful as it is now with dedicated staff caring for it
The campus is always well cared for and the grounds team take pride in their work.
The grounds provide a place of beauty and peace on the cbd fringe. The grounds team like many in well planned University communities obviously care for their work and the impact on community members above and beyond the task based systems contractors work too. Moreover the Garden team are valued community members.
Their work has been superb, excellent...and caring...
Outsourcing never gives the same value as employed staff
I have spoken with grounds staff on several occasions about the biodiversity in the gardens, and have received great amounts of information from them about the plants all around us when we are on campus. These conversations spark interest, care for the environment, and collegiality, and are important. I believe this will be lost if roles are outsourced.
They have done an amazing job over many years.
the outdoor shared spaces at the uni have been an ongoing pleasure due to the consistency of the workers who deserve to stay in their experienced roles
A beautiful place to be. Great importance that these grounds are maintained by those who have the experience and knowledge.
The Grounds team at UoM are absolutely exceptional in their constant care for the plants and gardens. It takes real long term commitment and attachment to a garden or trees to make a difference, as opposed to simple maintenance. The team provides that exceptional care. IF UoM aims to be No. 1 in the region THEN the grounds need to be exceptional too, and the casualisation of the Gounds workforce, or outsourcing it, is a profound error that will be almost impossible to undo.
I have no agenda. I would just say the grounds always look fantastic and I imagine they will go backwards as a result of this.
The system garden is one of the best in the world.
The grounds are a defining feature of the campus as much as the buildings, and are of wider cultural importance to Melbourne. Managing such an important landscape requires dedicated staff with accumulated years of experience and passion for the place!
I was chair of friends of the grounds for many years and supported many community activities and met with grounds staff on a regular. It would be devastating to lose the expertise and support of the staff. In my experience outsourcing is devastating to the ideas of what the grounds represent.
Fine example of horticultural diversity in the centre of Melbourne. Gardens too important to place in jeopardy. Creative, contemplative and beautifully curated and maintained grounds.
The grounds at the University of Melbourne make the campus what it is. The Grounds team are responsible for this and deserve to stay.
The systems garden is an irreplaceable gem amd requires knowledgeable and dedicated staff for its long term survival
I completed a BSci at Melbourne University a few years ago, majoring in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology. The grounds and location were a serious factor in my choice of university. I also took several botany and fieldwork-based subjects as part of my degree and used the botany building, systems garden, and grounds in general for study and leisure. It seems like a very short-sighted decision to do away with years of genuine care and specialised, site-specific knowledge that the grounds team bring to the Melbourne campus. It's a really important place. The grounds team deserve a lot better than this.
When my father in law was recovering from a stroke at the Royal Melbourne Hospital the gardens at the University were wonderful for taking him on walks through the beautiful and varied gardens. As a post graduate student and staff member I have also, over many years, enjoyed the peace provided and have always been in awe of the gardening team ... who have cared for and nurtured them. Outsourcing does not seem necessary given that the current staff do a fantastic job - this is clearly a financial/cost saving move and as such is not required. Costs saved in the short term will come back to bite us in the longer term, would be my view. Thanks for the opportunity to comment and say thanks to the current team.
I worked at Melbourne University from 1979-82 and have become associated again a year ago. The grounds were always a pleasure and even more so now in such troubled times. Their care is essential to the wellbeing of the University, its staff and students. I am well aware that budgets have to be trimmed but outsourcing a living entity which has been tended for generations to a company without that deep familiarity is regrettable to say the least. I do hope you will reconsider.
During the lockdown I would spend most of my daily exercise time at UoM, appreciating how refreshing the grounds are amongst the inner city. Thank you to the grounds team for keeping it beautiful, diverse and interesting, there is no other space like it in Melbourne. Shame on UoM if they shirk their duty of care to these historic grounds and the people who have maintained them.
The University of Melbourne grounds are an integral part of the institution and serve as a source of inspiration, restoration and insertion for staff and students. As a national thought leader aspiring to highlight the role of place and our custodial role for current and future generations, the University should care for the team caring for our grounds.
These wonderful gardens have significant heritage value which needs to be preserved.
The grounds staff are diligent and extremely valuable members of the university community. Through my studies of botany at the uni, the exceptional quality of the work they do has been revealed. their maintenance of complex gardens and unique species and architure, with some like the Systems Garden having a legacy over a century old, means that the ground staff have deep working understanding and skill for the care that is needed, this knowledge is not easily replaced.
The grounds team do an outstanding job in keeping our campus such a beautiful oasis. They are outstanding professionals who know and care for the university's grounds in a fashion that could never be achieved with outsourcing. Please don't put our beautiful campus at risk in this way, as it will destroy what makes our campus special for future generations.
As an Events Managers I have worked with many in the Grounds team over the last five years. As we have commonly run events across all open spaces their detailed knowledge of the spaces they manage, how our work connects and how people can interact safely in outdoor environments has been vital. More generally I've found their commitment to our shared outdoors spaces -- to the beauty and connectedness that these spaces provide -- has been central to their success. I really can't imagine how contracted staff would be able to replace this level of deep knowledge and understanding.
Our beautiful grounds, and the amazing team who keep them that way, have been one of the most successful wellbeing enhancers the Univeristy has to offer. Please don't take that away right when we need it most. Their knowledge, and experience, which is so generously shared with us cannot be easily replaced.
Our University Grounds are one of the things I most appreciate working at the uni. They are absolutely lovely and world class.
The gardens are one of the greatest assets of the Parkville campus. They reduce heat, add beauty and interest, and connect diverse buildings. They create passages to walk and talk, relief and a point of difference in the midst of intellectual research and teaching. For local residents, they create a green lung quite close to the city. Most importantly, if they are outsourced to a maintenance service, they will take years, and extraordinary expense, to ever return then to the urban oasis they are today.
The grounds team and their knowledge of the UoM gardens and grounds is significant and needs to be retained. They are able to promote the history of the UoM gardens and grounds and provide background on the more specialist plants to visitors, staff and students - they are also great at providing gardening tips! Their dedication to their roles is significant - their research into new gardens and what best will work in the environment is exceptional. They are more than just a group of people who tend the the grounds, they are a knowledge base of exceptional value. Their knowledge cannot be replaced by some outsourced crew who do not give a toss, and who are just interested in making a $. I cannot believe the UoM would even consider outsourcing this.
I have worked at the University for 29 years and one of the continuous joys of working here has been walks through the gardens and lunching under the trees in beautifully maintained green spaces.
The grounds of the university are always beautiful, providing relief from the constant indoors of much academic work. They also provide a site for experimentation around sustainable practices in Melbourne. relationships between staff are essential for these projects.
I am perhaps, in a unique position to comment on the pending replacement of the Grounds Team having been a member of that group for ten years prior to April 2020 when, as a casual I was an early victim of the COVID crisis. The input of contractors to the maintenance of the gardens has been growing for some years past and to the trained eye their deterioration is apparent - it is a slow burn. The contract model has given Melbourne Uni a high turnover of poorly paid horticultural staff with low experience and little incentive. They do work hard but aren't allowed that aspect of creativity so vital for the gardens, the clock is always ticking for them to move on to the next job, to maximize the contract profit. From the information I've gleaned it appears that the threatened change isn't about money but embracing the new ideology. Melbourne Uni, we're told is using contractors because that is what other unis are doing. Working there for ten years I reveled in what a special place it was, it inspired me to find new and interesting plants and to develop exciting landscapes, I thought of the Uni as being a leader not a follower, of choosing moral courage over abrogation of responsibility. That the University could choose to pay more for a poorer result is hard to understand but everyone (except the contractor) will lose out if they do. If the University has the measure of wisdom to overcome its blind ideological pursuits then it will hang on to the Grounds Team, to their experience and knowledge, to their skill and their passion, they're the only thing standing in the way of a very dull collection of gardens at the uni.
Beautiful grounds attracted me to apply to Melbourne. Expert live of cricket and football grounds a very special feature. The same curator for years made game day particularly enjoyable. Came to love the Botany Lawns. You need special people who know and love their work to make a garden.
It's important that the university retains staff who have a commitment to maintaining and enhancing its environment.
The university grounds are a great asset. Best to invest in maintaining them properly. Outsourcing for services that include intangible benefits often fails because of the lack of incentives.
I loved the little pockets of garden at the University so precious, especially as more and more buildings were built from the time I attended the university to the time I retired. It is important to have continuity and experts attending the grounds. Jeff Kennet did the same thing when he came into power with the local councils. The result was we lost some important trees here where I live (Ascot Vale/Flemington area) because cheaper, but inexperienced workers were hired
They are awesome and incredibly important part of campus life
Melbourne University's beautiful campus is one of its greatest assets.
I completed undergraduate and postgraduate studies at the University of Melbourne from 1999 to 2007. The beautiful, diverse, carefully maintained grounds enhanced my enjoyment and appreciation of my studies throughout this time, as well as my mental wellbeing. Many of my most treasured memories are associated with the grounds, from sitting alone in a quiet corner of the Systems Garden to regain my composure following an embarrassing laboratory accident, to discussing Anglo-Saxon literature under a tree on the South Lawn with fellow students, to realising that the magnificent trees outside the Old Geology building were examples of the Ginkgo biloba we had been learning about in first-year biology. I am absolutely opposed to the plan to disband the Grounds Team and outsource their work. It is short-sighted in the extreme and shows no respect whatsoever for the experience, hard work and professionalism of these members of staff. Please reconsider.
Currently beautiful as is without changes
The University of Melbourne's grounds are exceptional: beautiful, educational, heritage. They are an intrinsic element of the campus experience and a distinguishing feature compared with institutions who do not invest in their grounds. Tourists flock to Parkville, alight at John Medley, and enjoy the gardens. The landscaping tells a story; it cannot be outsourced to external contractors with no investment in place or identity.
One of the reasons I love working at Melbourne University is the grounds and how amazing they are.
As a young student commencing my university studies, and coming from a small rural community many hours drive from Melbourne, my enduring memories of my undergraduate time at Melbourne include the calming effects of the University environment - its beautiful old buildings, its wonderful garden nooks and crannies, and the splendid trees that adorned the campus. I remember lying under the golden ash outside the front entrance to the Agriculture building, looking up and seeing the web of black branches and smaller twigs, with the sun shining through the golden leaves, and wondering if I had inadvertently stumbled into heaven. I remember sitting in various gardens with easy access to the Baillieu library, strenuously debating the issues of the day with fellow students. The gardens made an essential contribution to my good health and well being. I urge the University to maintain its wonderful gardening staff, and not to jeopardise Melbourne University's garden environment.
I take my time when walking through the campus to admire and enjoy the diverse flowers and plants. I cherish the peace and calm the carefully tended-to plants bring me. They provide a much-needed reprieve and break.
While admiring some flowering plants I saw a grounds staff member and had the opportunity to ask her about the plants. She was knowledgeable and gave me the plants names. They are always willing to part their knowledge to those who are interested.
We should care for and respect the environment on which our Parkville campus sits for the enjoyment and education of our current and future generations. We need to keep our passionate, dedicated, experienced and qualified grounds team who have the wide experience and deep motivation to keep our campus not just a beautiful space to escape the city and pressures of study but as a functioning educational part of the University.
Melbourne University Burnley gardens have been the place from where many of Melbourne and Australia's significant have grown from, the garden has significant plants unusual to Melbourne such as a mature macadamia tree and a very special bushland area. Gardens of this complexity require maintenance by qualified experienced gardeners rather than your basic mow and blow contractors. I am appalled to think this significant recourse could be squandered in this way as significant trees lost in this way could take 100 years to regrow. The gardens at Melbourne University Carlton campus are an equal partner to the institution, the university would be diminished by contactors turning them into a McDonald style pruning.
I worked at the university for over 30 years. The grounds staff are passionate about what they do and have a wealth of knowledge about the amazing fauna on campus. If senior management allows this happen this just illustrates are petty they are and how they easily blinded about saving a dollar or two. The University has to be more and is more than than Senior management and its Bureaucracy. It's that the people who work there and care about what they do. They care because they have a heart.
UoM is known for its amazing gardens, landscapes, and providing invaluable resources for staff and students.
I have enjoyed and been enriched from many hours spent sitting and exploring the University gardens. I have joined in on tours exploring and learning about the fabulous trees and watched and talked with gardeners about the gardens and their delights. Gardens are an important place in our day and they need to be cared for in a way that contracts and maintenance cannot provide.
I have found that the unimelb grounds are always in excellent condition and have a wide array of interesting flora including native and non-native plants. I believe that the Grounds Team do wonderful work and I would be saddened to see them gone.
The grounds over the University are absolutely stunning, would be devastating to lose long term staff that do such a wonderful job
The Grounds Team are a highly skilled and specialist group of professionals who provide an irreplaceable service to the University, its staff and students, and the wider community. The unique nature of the University grounds demands that this team be maintained in its entirety in order to preserve the University's horticultural legacy for future students and staff, and for the betterment of the University.
There's a deep connection many staff have with the ground that cannot be replaced by contractors. The relationship they have with the ecosystems they've created means they are more adaptive, agile and caring.
The grounds of the Parkville campus are filled with history, interest and beauty. They are one of the reasons I love working where I do and it factors into job considerations. Natural environment is key to both Mental health and Sustainability, both of which the University supports strongly and it would be a shame to have that seen to be not well supported.
The gardens are an intrinsic part of the University. We have all gained so much from our beautiful campus and the care and graciousness of the Grounds Team (including answering my questions about particular flowers that might suit my garden). The institution has used multiple photos in their brochures, photos that are so special precisely because of the careful work of the grounds staff, and photos that are a significant feature in attracting potential national and international students. This is a short sighted decision that will undermine the University community and depress morale. It should be abandoned.
The HISTORIC GARDEN NEEDS THE CARE OF AN EXPERIENCED GROUNDS TEAM
Walking through the beautifully UniMelb grounds for my 1 hour daily allotment is what kept me sane during last year's hard lock-down. Show some respect to your workers.
I have had the privilege of working on campus at multiple locations that were kept healthy, interesting, educational and beautiful by this next team. There is no doubt that the environments this team have created through their hard work and passion will not be maintained by outsourced labour, to the detriment of the university's community and reputation. This short sighted move to replace the Grounds Team will result in a deterioration of a significant part of what makes the university special and what has drawn me here as a student and then staff member.
When I worked as an Animal Ethics Advisor I came into contact with grounds staff over the management of the possum community on campus. They handled the complexity of the issue with intelligence and understanding, working well with Zoology academics as consultants. I was very impressed with this and wished such care could be reflected across our society, just as I value the care the University takes with most of its decisions. The University grounds are a major asset. They require care, expert knowledge, an appreciation of history and complex planning skills, especially in our warming climate. Contracting out these services would lose all this expertise. It should be regarded as just as important as the academic work and I feel that maybe they are being treated as a soft target with less of a voice, in this period of restraint, and therefore I feel I must speak up on their behalf. We will all be poorer for it if they go.
The gardens are a beautiful & iconic feature of the University, it would be a great loss if the were not maintained to the same standard & care.
The University of Melbourne gardens bring me joy when I am feeling in need of a lift in mood. Gardening is one of my hobbies, and I appreciate the work that the current employed gardeners do. The idea to outsource this work is short sighted by the Uni, and will the long run will be more expensive than what is currently be budgeted for. Say goodbye to the beautiful trees and gardens, we will most likely end up with the mess that is Uni square.
I have known many academics, professional staff and students at the uni for several years, and hence have had cause to meet and connect with them on campus. I always enjoy the opportunity to check the favourite nooks and gardens. It is clear they are well cared for, by people who have a connection to the seasonality and the space.
Outrageous action to make all long-serving Grounds staff redundant. They are indeed magnificent gardens and why remove the these staff. The University just made a PROFIT...what a menial action. You could sell the VC's house to save some money. The University must have some spare accommodation about. BTW does the VC do his own gardening?
As a place I was familiar with since childhood, the gardens are equal to the buildings in creating an inspiring and magical atmosphere unmatched in Melbourne, or indeed Nationally. I studied 5 years to become a Landscape Architect and explored every square cm of the campus grounds. The gardens are historic and complex horticultural spaces that require expert management. Please, UniMelb, do not underestimate the value your skilled garden maintenance staff team bring to university life and the broader Melbourne aesthetic and culture.
I attended a virtual grounds tour during The Proffessional Staff conference in 2020. I was Astounded by the wealth of nature we have on campus the corporate knowledge of the grounds staff and how they care for and cherish these treasures for all staff and students. Just won’t be cared for if contracted out. Absolutely essential to keep all grounds personnel. Please support, surely we value our natural resources after being locked down so long in Melbourne.
The Grounds Staff preserve the natural heritage of the University. They understand the interaction, over a long period, between changes to a site through building, resurfacing, temporary works etc. and the effect on the gardens. So many students tell me that the reason they chose to come to Melbourne is because of the grounds. It seems dichotomous to be investing significantly in whole of university strategy together for the cultural heritage of the University, and to outsource responsibility for the natural heritage. The management of both requires the same commitment from the University. It is a high risk game to outsource the curatorship of the grounds.
Preservation of the natural heritage of the University is very important and done immaculately by the current Grounds Team.
The grounds staff are the conservators of the university natural heritage so I’m signing this as I don’t think heritage management can be effectively contracted.
I have worked extensively with the grounds team to conserve outdoor sculpture exhibited throughout the University. Their institutional knowledge of these artworks and of changes occurring over the years is invaluable. In one example, I was conserving the Heliocronometer located in the Systems Gardens and determined a vital component of the work was missing. Following consultation with the grounds staff, I learned this piece was found lying adjacent to the work and had been collected for safe keeping. I was then able to reintegrate the original, as opposed to casting a replica. I have no doubt it was their extensive knowledge of the grounds and artworks that contributed to the return of this object; the institutional knowledge and associated benefits that arise from a University-dedicated just cannot be replaced with contracted services.
I find the constant mantra that outsourcing = good value incredibly misguided having seen it lead to diasterous blundrs across previous institutions where residual knowledge has been abandoned and lowly paid temp. contractors who lack that knowledge and, through no fault of their own, are then forced to made decisions that in the long run inevitable downgrade the assets they are supposed to look after. I cannot belief this university are blindly repeating such a knee-jerk calculation when the grounds/buildings are the first thing (after the website!) that any visitor is immediately impressed by! On a personal note, the residual knowledge of the grounds team has benefitted me when looking at sculpture for potential research across the Parkville campus.
This decision shows no care for the culture of Unimelb - outsourcing will be a nightmare. Any garden is only as good as its custodians. Contractors will make a mess of the place and it will be a powerful visual display of bad decision making within 6 months. The grounds staff know the place intimately, they are much-needed custodians of the plants at Unimelb and I am appalled they will be replaced by people working for low wages, many of whom do not have sufficient, if any, horticultural expertise.
In all my 35 years of working on campus and walking around the grounds at lunchtimes or other times, I have seen grounds staff working efficietly, carefully, never slacking off, and with obvious expertise in whatever task they were doing. The grounds always looked well maintained and plants healthy. The University is all the better for having this experienced workforce as permanent employees, rather than outsourced gardeners who are exposed to the vagaries of profiteering and insecure market forces.
I have spoken to the grounds staff on a number of occasions seeking advice on plant species and plant concerns. The staff know the plants, the history and the significance of all trees and landscapes at UoM. Please do not cut this knowledge to save a few $$
I love the university grounds and outsourcing in general is a mistake. No one looks after an area the way they should unless they feel ownership of it. You can't outsource true love and commitment.
The gardens at Melbourne uni are so beautiful because of the very local knowledge and expertise of the long-term gardeners. Outsourcing this work will ensure that Melbourne uni will be a sadder and uglier place to study and work. Shame on you Melbourne uni neoliberal capitalist scum!
We deeply appreciate the b beauty of the Burnley Gardens. After searching MELBOURNE, our daughter decided Burnley in the Gardens was the best place. It is a great place for the public to explore gardening ideas.
You don't have to walk far around campus to see the beautiful environment that the grounds team provide. While in labour with my second child at the Royal Womens Hospital I was told to go for a walk - I walked to the systems garden and did laps of the beautiful area. I'm glad the grounds team were able to provide that beautiful garden for me to walk in!
Lovely staff, had nothing but great experiences with them as well as the quality of the grounds on campus. Please keep them and stop outsourcing! #SaveUnimelbGrounds
I deeply appreciate the plant diversity, the considered use of large and small places, the composition of plants in each space et al. The gardens look distinctly like they are maintained by people who deeply know and care about the plants and spaces, akin to the Botanical Gardens. It is the one aspect of the university that gives me the most joy. I think the move to contractors would be a grave mistake. It makes me somewhat angry and disappointed at a lack of leadership that would not see value in maintaining and fostering this skill and knowledge base in-house. It is unique to the universities in Melbourne, perhaps Australia, and goes far far beyond tidy garden beds.
It is rare to have such beautiful grounds in a workplace to escape to; they are very much valued by staff, students and the Carlton community.
I've enjoyed the beautiful grounds for over 15 years.
The grounds team has always done a great job keeping the university campus looking beautiful. Contracting it out is a bad idea: work that is contracted out is always inferior, as the contractor cuts corners to save money. For example, contracting out hotel quarantine at the Rydges on Swanston was less than successful.
The grounds are an amazing part of working and studying on campus at the uni, and teh team that support this do a fantastic job.
The grounds are the best part of the university. A part of this is due to the connection felt between the grounds and the ground carers. In a world where dollars come first, please be brave and put nature and humans first. Outsourcing will save you a few dollars but it will cost what is left of your soul.
The grounds team are experienced experts, and can't be replaced by someone to cut the grass off airtasker. Watching them care for the leaning tree behind the old quad is heartwarming - they splint and bandage it! UoM pays for quality in all other aspects, this should be no different.
Over 20 years of enjoyment and appreciation of walking, sitting admiring the plants, trees, landscaping from the System Garden to Graduate House and the amazing tree there Every season and every plant and the gardeners care and maintenance of every tree, lawn and garden area is noticed and valued.
Virginia and other grounds staff have kept the grounds looking brilliant. Always happy to answer questions. Their tours of the UoM grounds were so informative and were well worth singing their praises. I thoroughly enjoy walking around the UoM grounds and admiring the gardens, it always makes me feel amazing. I also think, wow, the gardeners do an awesome job.
years of enjoyment and appreciation as both student and staff member
The grounds and gardens of the University make this place. These are not just run of the mill plants but magnificent species and huge variety. The specialist gardeners that we employ love these plants and are experts in their field. The gardens always look beautiful and they are a joy to walk through. My partner is a horticulturalist (Burnley grad) and he was very disappointed to hear this news. Over the years I have been on tours of these gardens and you could feel the passion felt by the groundskeeper who walked us around sharing their knowledge and stories of the beautiful and significant plants. And our system garden is world renowned. How could we risk all this heritage and beauty? I have worked here for a long time, and feel that this is one area which we should definitely not outsource. Please reconsider.
The gardens and gardens of the university make this place. They are not mere ordinary run of the mill plants that anyone can care for. They are magnificent specimens of huge range and variety, and beauty, and our system garden is world renowned. The staff who tend them are extremely knowledgeable and passionate about what they do, and they have been tending these gardens for a many years. I have worked here for a very long time and I love these gardens, many a lunchbreak has been spent walking or sitting in various places around the campus. This is extremely disappointing to hear, I do not think it is a worthwhile savings. Please reconsider.
The grounds at both Burnley and Parkville (especially the System Garden) are much loved and historically significant and both a learning and recreational benefit to the general community.
The Grounds staff do an amazing job looking after such historically significant and botanically significant gardens. Their knowledge of the gardens is irreplaceable and they should be commended for their dedication to looking after the grounds, not replaced!
I worked at Melbourne University in the mid seventies at the SRC office and schooled at University High. Those magnificent Botanic like gardens are a visual backdrop to my life in Melbourne. They have been tended meticulously by skilled highly trained staff, to hear they are being made redundant is devastating. Their acquired knowledge will be lost.In an increasingly built up campus and city these plants and trees are an even more precious thing. This is obviously just a cost cutting measure, how sad. This should be a properly remunerated and equality guided role.
The University of Melbourne Parkville campus is a beautiful oasis in the city. Our campuses needs constant maintenance, not a outsourced team that are forced to do the minimum required to satisfy a contract.
Pre-COVID, I would walk in very early on a Monday morning and see the gardeners working very hard to keep the campus in immaculate condition!
Decades of experience and care should not be replaced by outsourcing. Over time the University's grounds and reputation will suffer because of it.
The grounds have become more an more beautiful over the last 9 years that I've been here. Contracted staff won't be able to do sucha brilliant job with our important trees
The grounds staff do incredible work. Outsourcing them sends a terrible message about how much we value them & the future of the campus.
The grounds team at UoM have unique, specialised knowledge of campus design, campus planting and specifics of the botanically rich, historically significant UoM campus grounds. This includes long term intimate knowledge of the very large, often unusual specimen trees. Outsourcing care of the campus grounds represents a substantial risk to the university as this long term knowledge and ability to assess any gradual changes in specimen health (gathered over multiple decades) is will be lost. When trees become sick, they become dangerous. Being able to act quickly when tree health declines is predicated on knowledge of the history of that specimen. Without this knowledge future tree failures may have devastating results.
They are amazing. Without them and their expertise it will be very difficult to run so many essential services.
The grounds are an incredible asset the the University. After 4 years working at this university I am still finding new places of peace and biodiversity on the campus. The dedication that goes into the rainforest garden alone is amazing. It's an absolute privilege to work in such beautiful surrounds. So much of our work force is already casualised, further casualisation and outsourcing isn't the answer.
As a student one of my joy was to sit in the gardens and lawns to read, have lunch, socialise with friends. As a staff, the pride becomes a workplace pride. Much thanks to the Grounds Team. They have the special connection to the campus that an external team undoubtedly doesn’t.
Gardens and designed landscapes are complex systems that require consistent attention by experts with solid practical, technical and historical knowledge. The great gardens of the world are living expressions of deep time: Jim’s Mowing and a string of landscape architecture contracts cannot hope to match the vision and care of long-term curators who are passionate in their dedication to nurturing the Parkville, Burnley and Southbank campus environments - growing them in the esteem of future generations.
The diversity of the gardens around the campus connects me to many of my favourite wild places and offers a vital way to stay sane and centred while fscing the demands of academic work. Losing this intangible benefit that is felt by so many people on campus every day for such a small monetary gain is appalling. Kniwing the price of everything and the value of nothing is the curse of unimelb management in these dark days.
Our grounds staff are always courteous. They care about the work they do to make our grounds look amazing. Walking on to campus and seeing the manicured environment lifts my spirits every time.
Having a dedicated ground staff team ensures they have knowledge and understanding of different places and vegetation throughout the campus, and overtime they have the opportunity to personally take pride in their work for providing a magnificent place for us to enjoy. Outsourcing is far less likely to find dedicated ground staff who care for their work or the campus beyond the cash they receive for turning up. Better to be surrounded by family than hired staff. Keep the dedicated ground staff.
Your work is unparalleled, and it is unconscionable for the University to do this to you.
It’s such a treat to work somewhere with such beautiful grounds - and what a joy to occasionally encounter local wildlife on campus. The system garden is a place of great significance; the lawns are immaculate; the shade of the trees is always welcome on sunny days. More than just the gardens, though, the roads, plazas and courtyards are well kept and clean, despite large numbers of people moving around the campus.
The beautiful gardens are our identity at the University, over 50,000 students and staff take millions of photos of our garden each year which form a natural fabric of every households globally. Please save them with our beautiful garden crew who made us proud.
The Melbourne University grounds are an iconic part of the university experience for staff, students and visitors alike - thanks to the work of the Grounds Team. Maintaining a campus at this scale requires long-term commitment and the retention of skilled staff. Replacing this team with a contracted workforce does a great disservice to the work the Grounds staff have performed for many years.
The grounds team have done a fantastic job over the years and should be recognised for their service not tossed away to the side for cheaper labour.
The grounds are beautiful and the staff are responsible for this. My partner is a landscaper and can pretty much guarantee they will fall to disrepair through outsourcing. Please don’t let him say ‘I told you so’. Gardens aside, the grounds people are part of the University community, humans with families and bills to pay, and should not be regarded as disposable on mass.
Where else have you ever seen Sturt's Desert Pea flowering in Melbourne other than in Tin Alley next to WEBS? Not anywhere with without a dedicated grounds team, that's for sure. The grounds are a living asset to students and scholars of the biosciences, the wellbeing of the staff and students on campus, and the reputation of the university (show me a piece of marketing that doesn't include an image of the grounds!). This living asset requires constant cultivation, not only maintenance. You won't know what you've got till it's gone.
The grounds have always been beautiful. Treated with the respect they deserve for the diverse and aged plantings that cohabit with the buildings of different eras. It is essential that specialist staff do this work. In my experience with contracting out in the Education sector- you will get the cheapest option, miles of follow up, poor commitment to job, ill qualified staff and a major headache! Do not do this!
I worked for many years on the Parkville campus and daily passed through, looked out upon, lunched, laughed and sometimes cried in the varied natural treasures of the University of Melbourne's grounds. My fondest memories are of the Systems Garden and the Casuarina Courtyard but there are so many other lovely, secret spots; so many rare pleasures! I would watch out the window and staf, students and visitors rarely passed through these areas without pausing. The sense of peace they provided, the surprising aromas and changes with the seasons were a much needed distraction from otherwise busy days. Each garden was tended carefully and lovingly by the wonderful Grounds Team. They were absolutely devoted to keeping them nice and were a fund of knowledge, helping passers by with their queries about plants and methods. They also acted as quasi guides for all the lost souls wandering at the beginning of semesters. I would see them sometimes just passing through a courtyard on their way home or elsewhere, but noticing something (a little bit of rubbish or an errant weed perhaps) and stopping to deal with it before hurrying off. There are NO comparable grounds and gardens which are outsourced for their maintenance and are kept as beautifully. Where would that devotion and knowledge be found. And why would some staff from an external organisation care once their daily allotted hours are done? Please don't take this foolish, shortsighted step.
In stressful times, we should value the green assets we have for the joy they bring.
The university gardens are so beautiful all year round due to the expertise, care and dedication demonstrated by our grounds staff. The level of skill involved cannot be overestimated and the beauty of the campus is a major drawcard for the university. It would simply not be possible to find a contractor that could maintain the grounds to the same high standard regardless of how good they look on paper. Also, outsourcing has not done us any favours in the past - look at the bookshop, for example.
I Have very happy memories of the University grounds and gardens, where we often had lunch under a shady tree. They were always well maintained by committed staff. In the case of the Botany Gardens they were in fact learning resources and I th believe they helped lead me to a career with the National Parks Service as an information and education officer. I hope the grounds will remain in the care of dedicated permanent staff, not the changing staff of a for-profit company.
The grounds provide such a unique University campus experience. My fondest memories at the University have always been in or within the context of the grounds, whether under the trees or on the immaculately kept green spaces. I always found respite and calm in the gardens of Unimelb, and I would hate for future students to not have this same experience. The current employees of the University do an incredible job, and it shows, so why fix something when it is in no way broken??
These are world class gardens created by people who have pride in them. We are throwing that away for a few dollars. When has subcontracting worked out for the better, quality-wise, at the University?
I worked at the University for 10 years and spent many a lunch break in the Systems garden. It was always such a please walking across the campus for different meetings and events to get an opportunity to admire the many hidden delights that the garden setting of the Parkville campus showcases. There are many very unique, old and beautiful plants in the gardens, and it is clear that the University has been blessed with a dedicated, knowledgeable and expert team of grounds people. The beautiful gardens is one of reasons the University of Melbourne is a unique and desirable study and work location. This is an awful way to recognise the hard work and dedication of the grounds team. I truly hope that the decision to make all the grounds team redundant is reconsidered.
The grounds are a place of community and of solace. They are one of the incredible things that we only seem to appreciate after they deteriorate. The Grounds Team do excellent and caring work every day to improve the setting for the rest of us.
I support the team!
The grounds staff have consistently provided the university community with excellent greenspaces and perfectly maintained trees and plants, excellent work guys
As a student in the early fifties I sat on the lawns in front of the old commerce building and admired the Ginkgos at old geology. As a visitor in later years having developed a passion for garden history I have marvelled at the vision of the founders in establishing the System Garden with its collection of rare plants. This is our heritage. Nurture it in the future as it has been in the past and is today.
I've loved visiting the University grounds, particularly the Physic Garden, which is a historically important garden
I was appalled to learn that the gardening at the University of Melbourne is to be outsourced and that the current staff are to be made redundant. My knowledge of the impressive skills and experience of the staff comes from my enjoyment of the Systems Garden over the last forty years. This ‘jewel in the crown’, which is > 160 years old, has been managed and nurtured by staff who have incredible knowledge of the history and aims of the garden. The staff not only look after the garden, but are involved in teaching students and community groups about it. They have strong links to academics in surrounding buildings and are a very valuable resource for the University. Replacing such highly motivated and experienced people with contracted staff is a very poor decision. I urge the University to reverse this decision.
I love the UOM gardens and respect the hard work the grounds team do. They make UoM what it is.
As I walk through these grounds I feel uplifted by the wonderful trees and gardens.They appear to be beautifully curated and maintained ,so I was dismayed to learn recently that the bulk of the gardening is to be outsourced to contractors.As I walk through various parks and amenity plantings in the area,I see paint by numbers, lowest common denominator out sourced efforts.Is this what the university and community want or ,dare say, need?Melbourne University strives to be world class, and I would have thought needs to look the part.Sad, and very short sighted.
The University of Melbourne Gardens are beautiful and historic, lovingly maintained by people who obviously care and take pride in their work. For them, it is not just a job, and they are highly qualified in their craft. For them to lose their jobs for the sake of a very small amount of money in the scheme of things is just folly. The gardens will suffer being looked after by contractors who don't have the same skills or dedication. Please don't be so short sighted.
The research shows how critical green infrastructure is to human health. Maintaining gardens is a specialist role requiring intimate knowledge of the species and landscapes, and HUGE amounts of work. Don't jeopardise the health benefits of the gardens and keep the current grounds team.
I used to be Landscape Manager at a comparable Australian University and I understand how short sighted this move is. Contracting does not save money and always compromises quality.
The grounds are always beautifully kept. They provide a haven on all days of the year for so many people, students, staff and the community. The diversity of plants is wonderful and a safe place for so many birds. They are wonderfully peaceful in the heart of a large noisy city. I have never seen them look shabby. If the work is outsourced they will deteriorate because it will just be a job to be done as quickly as possible instead of pride being taken in what you have done, as is the case of those who spend each and every day working with a real passion and purpose, The MU grounds team.