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Hyde Park
Hyde Park is a popular meeting spot for local residents.
Location	Perth, Western Australia
Coordinates	31°56′16″S 115°51′46″E / 31.937875°S 115.862895°E / -31.937875; 115.862895 (Hyde Park)
Western Australia Heritage Register
Type	State Registered Place
Designated	30 October 1998
Reference no.	4634

Hyde Park (formerly Third Swamp Reserve) is an inner-city park in Perth, the state capital of Western Australia. It is located in the north-east corner of the suburb of Perth – 2 km (1.2 mi) north of the central business district – surrounded by Vincent, William, Glendower and Throssell Streets.

Facilities include: public toilets, playground equipment, barbecues, drinking fountains, pavilion, stage area, fitness equipment and a sealed walking path of around 800 m (870 yd) in length ringing the lake. Electricity is available, which is used, for example, to power temporary fairground rides.

Locality

Hyde Park is in the City of Vincent. It has a lake feature in the middle which is separated into two basins. The park is popular with people walking around, weddings, picnics and barbeques. The park has 17 zones that are available to hire for events.

Hyde Park Fair

The Hyde Park Fair is held annually in the park, and is one of Perth's longest running free community events. The event was originally known as the Hyde Park Festival, and was first held in 1968. The Festival ended in 1985, but was resurrected in 1988 as the Hyde Park Fair, run by the Rotary Club of North Perth.

History

Prior to European settlement, the area was known to the local Noongar people as Boodjamooling. The area was originally approximately midway along a series of wetlands that stretched from Claisebrook Cove through to Herdsman Lake and included Lake Monger. The lakes and the area in which they resided were collectively known as the Great Lakes District. Today, only a small proportion of those wetlands remain.

After the establishment of the Swan River Colony in 1829, the European settlers gave it the name Third Swamp. In 1897, 15.5 ha (38 acres) of Third Swamp was gazetted as a public park by Lyall Hall and two years later renamed Hyde Park.

Hyde Park Lakes Restoration Project

During the late 1980s, a significant level of public concern began to develop on various fronts relating mainly to the environmental health of the lakes, along with the reduction in aesthetics and negative effects to the local flora and fauna.

The lakes act as a stormwater compensation basin and have been naturally recharged via groundwater seepage and stormwater run-off. The lakes were adversely affected by a changing weather pattern, hotter summers and low rainfall turning them into a sludgy swamp during the summer. This in conjunction with the pressure on scarce and finite water resources meant that a long-term viable engineered solution was required to maintain a water body year round.

After thorough investigation, a master plan was developed and the Hyde Park Lakes Restoration Project was completed in June 2012. The works help ensure the lakes provide a pristine environment year round with the addition of endemic plant species thereby providing a better habitat for the wildlife.

The existing lake wall was repaired and retained and a new lower lake wall was constructed to reduce the lakes' overall surface area by approximately 15%, designed to reduce recharge volumes and allow for better management.

Vegetated "beach" areas were constructed (one at the causeway corner of each lake) and planted with native vegetation to assist in removing nutrients from the lake water and to address the once stagnant areas of the lakes where rubbish accumulated.

Flora and fauna

Sloping grass areas run down to two central groundwater lakes. Shade is provided by mature introduced trees:

• Plane Trees - around the lakes
• Moreton Bay Figs - lawn area
• Port Jackson Fig - lawn area
• Pines - around the boundary
• Jacarandas - south-east corner
• Unusual tree species: swamp cypress, red cedar, bunya pine
• Remnant indigenous tree species: Eucalyptus and Melaleuca

There are about 300 southwestern snake-necked turtles living in the park.

Several iconic plantings have occurred in Hyde Park over the years, including the avenue of plane trees surrounding the lakes that were planted between 1897 and 1899, and the grove of jacarandas in the south east corner of the park in 1921. More recent times have seen the establishment of two native garden beds on the northern side of the park around a stand of original jarrah trees.

• Moreton Bay figs
• Jacarandas
• Australian white ibis
• Ducks on the lawn area

References

1. Strictly speaking Perth (the suburb) lies between West Perth, North Perth and Highgate with Vincent Street (on the north side of the park), as boundary between Perth and North Perth and Mount Lawley
2. "Hyde Park". City of Vincent. Archived from the original on 24 March 2012. Retrieved 11 December 2014.
3. ^ "Hyde Park » Parks and Facilities » City of Vincent". www.vincent.wa.gov.au. Retrieved 3 March 2019.
4. "Hyde Park Fair". Retrieved 3 March 2014.
5. "2014 Hyde Park Fair". City of Vincent. Archived from the original on 3 March 2014.
6. ^ "Historic Hyde Park to have interim heritage listing". Government of Western Australia. 10 October 1998. Archived from the original on 18 May 2014. Retrieved 18 May 2014.
7. "Perth's Hyde Park history — a lost fountain and a lot of grumbling". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 29 May 2021. Retrieved 29 May 2021.
8. "Ordinary Meeting of Council - Minutes". City of Vincent. 13 September 2011. p. 49. Retrieved 29 May 2021.
9. "Hyde Park Fair". Rotary Club of North Perth. Retrieved 29 May 2021.
10. "History of Vincent". City of Vincent. Archived from the original on 11 June 2011. Retrieved 1 March 2014.
11. ^ Plaque with history information on Hyde Park. (n.d). Hyde Park, Perth, Western Australia
12. Register of Heritage Places - Interim Entry: Hyde Park (PDF). Accessed 21 March 2006. Archived 7 October 2006 at the Wayback Machine
13. "Baby turtles missing at Hyde Park as efforts increase to save them from extinction". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 16 January 2022. Retrieved 16 January 2022.

External links

Media related to Hyde Park, Perth at Wikimedia Commons

• Parks in Perth, Western Australia
• State Register of Heritage Places in the City of Vincent
• Vincent Street, North Perth
• William Street, Perth