We have a new name for my community’s new park: Ngarrak Nakorang Wilam Park. ‘Ngarrak nakorang wilam’ means ‘mountain meeting place’ in the Woiwurrung language of our traditional owners, and it is a fitting name for the Allan Labor government’s $10.5 million investment into Forest Hill, Vermont and Vermont South. Stretching from Springvale Road all the way to Boronia Road, the underused paddocks formerly known as the Healesville freeway reserve are about to be transformed into a world-class parkland, more than 18 MCGs worth of park in fact.
It is all about creating and enhancing open space for our growing community, with new car parking, much-needed public toilets, areas of improved lighting and wayfinding signage. It is set to make Ngarrak Nakorang Wilam Park much more accessible to visitors, and there are going to be lots with thousands of extra plants and major new landscaping creating habitat areas, a new sensory garden, barbecue and picnic facilities, a BMX pump track and a terrific new playground and nature-based playscapes. We are connecting the park to the east’s great network of shared user paths, with a dedicated 3.5-kilometre-long walking and cycling path all the way from Springvale Road to Boronia Road and then on to the Dandenong Creek Trail.
Thanks to all in our community who advocated for this to become a reality. I would like to give a shout-out to the Friends of the Healesville Freeway Reserve – they might need to change their name – and the community reference group and the entire Vermont, Vermont South and Forest Hill communities for getting behind this great project. The tender process is underway, and Parks Victoria is looking to start construction work later this year. It is a huge win for the east.
