Melbourne has Victoria’s first lieutenant-governor, Charles La Trobe, to thank for the city’s substantial inner-ring parks; it was his vision that made Melbourne a garden city.

But many of these parks are now facing a shadowy threat.

“La Trobe would be turning in his grave if he knew how much sunlight is now at risk of being lost in Melbourne’s parks,” says Melbourne City Council’s planning chair, Nick Reece.

Gardiner Reserve in North Melbourne is home to the suburb’s busiest playground.

Melbourne City Council wants to see new mandatory overshadowing rules that would protect parks from the seasonal shadows of new developments.

“Parks in Southbank and the central city have existing planning controls protecting them from overshadowing in winter,” Cr Reece says