Reimagining your Moonee Ponds Creek

Melbourne Water is leading the Reimaging Your Moonee Ponds Creek Program on behalf of the Chain of Ponds Collaboration Group and in partnership with Moreland City Council, Moonee Valley City Council, City West Water and the Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning (DELWP).

The aim is to create a more appealing creek side environment, restore waterway health and activate open space and recreational opportunities along the creek.

The project will examine a length of the most northerly concrete section of the Moonee Ponds Creek, in Oak Park and Strathmore.

Project benefits

Reimagining this section of the Moonee Ponds Creek will result in:

a more appealing creek side environment where people can interact with nature in a cooler, healthier environment
improved waterway health by slowing water flows and establishing aquatic and riparian vegetation
activating open space for the community to use and have access to
improved biodiversity and habitat for native species.

Project Update

After working with you to plan and design the Reimagining Your Moonee Ponds Creek project, we are excited to announce that Stage 1 works will begin the week commencing Monday 22 August and are expected to finish in November 2022.

Artist's illustration of Moonee Ponds Creek with a pond at Oak Park, naturalised waterway, terraces and daylighting of the drain.

What we are doing in Stage One

We are upgrading a section of the existing footpath along Brosnan Crescent side of the Moonee Ponds Creek to build dedicated lanes for pedestrians and cyclists.

This will create two separated paths and will significantly enhance pedestrian and cyclist safety by minimising collision risks.

Vegetations Management

To facilitate the installation of additional concrete paths, there will some impacts to native and non-native vegetation, but the project team have worked diligently to minimise the impact on existing vegetation wherever possible.

Arborists have reviewed the health and significance of all the trees along the proposed paths, and changes have been made to preserve high-quality vegetation via amended routes and other treatments, including the elevation of a section of path to protect surface roots.

The project will remove 39 trees, of which 12 are non-indigenous. Of the 39 trees, 14 of them will be removed from along Brosnan Crescent to allow the construction of a shared path and 20 will be removed at the location of the new pond. Between Brosnan Crescent and the waterway 114 trees will be kept.

The project will plant a total of 43,000 native plants within the project area and at another suitable location to offset the vegetation removals of the project.

Map of works area along Moonee Ponds Creek showing removal of 14 trees to accomodate the shared patheway. Also removal of 20 trees for the pond at Oak Park. Map also shows the new cycling path to by build in the reserve that runs alongside Brosnan Crescent.

When are the works happening?

Works will be undertaken between:

7am to 6pm Monday to Friday
7am to 1pm Saturdays

On occasions we may need to undertake works out of hours. We will notify you in advance if these works are required. The timings of these works are weather dependant.

What to expect

For the safety of everyone, the pathway will be closed during the works.
Pedestrians and cyclists will be temporarily detoured along Mascoma and Odin Streets.
A small site compound will be established at the corner of Brosnan Crescent and Odin Street inside the Moonee Ponds Creek boundaries and at Main Street, next to the Oak Park Reserve.
To enable heavy vehicles to access the works area, there will be temporary parking changes including the removal of parking along the north side of Brosnan Crescent and Main Street at times. Parking will remain available on the south side of the road.
Access to all local streets and their properties will be maintained and managed via traffic management as required.
There will be an increase in large vehicle traffic in the surrounding areas as vehicles deliver plant and equipment and assist with the works.
There will be short-term increase in noise and dust. We will use a range of measures to reduce these impacts including sound mats, gawk screens and dust compression mats. We will monitor noise and dust levels throughout works to ensure they don’t exceed Environmental Performance Agency thresholds