The project will cover a 700-metre section of the most northerly concrete section of the Moonee Ponds Creek, through Oak Park and Strathmore. Initial community consultation that informed the Chain of Ponds Plan in 2018, identified this particular section of the creek as a priority area as it was the last section of the creek to be concreted and represents the most upstream section of concrete channel.

We are investigating a number of options and treatments to create a more natural waterway and provide a desirable open space where people can relax and interact with nature.

The Chain of Ponds sets a long term strategic plan to return Moonee Ponds Creek to an iconic waterway of Melbourne. This project is significant as it removes the last piece of concrete that was installed in the creek. Currently no additional funding has been received to naturalise additional sections of the creek. It is envisaged if this project is successful and shows a good return on investment and community support, other sections of the creek may be considered for naturalisation in the future.

Once we have completed the second phase of community engagement, we will prepare a preferred design concept and then a detailed design for construction. We are aiming to commence construction on the channel this summer (2021/2022).

Currently, there is no funding available for future stages of Moonee Ponds Creek. We hope that the successful delivery of this project will provide inspiration for funding partners to fund further stages in the future.

Community infrastructure not within the waterway channel will likely be delivered over a number of years to align with Council’s budgets and cashflows, this includes path improvements and lighting infrastructure.

Melbourne Water will be responsible for the maintenance of the waterway and immediate banks.

Moreland City Council will be responsible for the northern side of the creek and community infrastructure including paths and seating.

Moonee Valley City Council will be responsible for the southern side of the creek and community infrastructure including paths and seating.

We have completed extensive flood modelling to work out what shape the new channel would need to be to maintain the current level of flood protection to homes and private property in the 1 per cent annual exceedance probability (AEP) flood event.

The water level will increase by approximately ½ meter.

If all the concrete was removed only 175m of naturalised waterway would be able to be delivered. The project aims to provide a more naturalised creek environment for as great a length as possible. We need to balance all objectives of the project to ensure as great an outcome as possible can be achieved.

We are currently undertaking an arborist assessment and report for all potentially impacted trees along the site. Along Brosnan Crescent, there are a number of introduced tree species, such as the Desert Ash, that would need to be removed to construct the shared use path. There are also some native trees in the vicinity of the shared use path alignment, but we will do our best to avoid removing any identified native trees. We will work with the design team, arborists and Moonee Valley City Council to minimise impacts on native trees during construction of the shared use path.