Melbourne Water wins twice at the Landscape Architect Awards
Two iconic Melbourne Water projects have taken out top honours at the annual Australian Institute of Landscape Architects Awards (AILAA).
Melbourne Water’s Lower Werribee Waterways Amenity Action Plan won the AILAA 2023 Victorian Award of Excellence for Land Management, while its Reimagining Tarralla Creek project won an AILAA 2023 Victorian Landscape Architecture Award for Infrastructure.
Lower Werribee Waterways Amenity Action Plan
The Lower Werribee Waterways Amenity Action Plan, a 10-year vision for the Wirribi Yaluk (Werribee River) corridor, aims to improve amenity and community access to waterways and open space, while enhancing opportunities for physical activity, escape to nature, and social connection.
In winning the award, AILAA judges highly commended the project team and its partners, highlighting the “strong focus on enhancing cultural and environmental values, addressing community needs, and attracting visitation and supporting eco-tourism by providing diverse recreational opportunities and nature-based experiences”.
To qualify for a AILAA land management award, the awards jury considers “constructed projects or strategies for the restoration, conservation or management of significant landscapes that demonstrate a tangible physical outcome. The project may recognise and reconcile the natural and cultural values of communities and the landscape in which they are placed”.
“This is a wonderfully collaborative land planning and management project delivered by Traditional Owners, government and a range of engaged community groups dedicated to providing new and improved blue-green spaces, and experiences, in Melbourne’s west,” Jo Bush, Melbourne Water’s Senior Asset Planner, Service Programs said.
“Over the last year we’ve achieved wide-ranging results for the landscape and the community. We’ve revegetated the river corridor, planted 5,000 trees and shrubs and constructed parking areas, picnic shelters and barbeque facilities.
“We’ve also engaged with local and CALD communities, staging guided walks, education programs and Traditional Owner events, commenced work on interpretative signage, and worked with Traditional Owners to help determine ideal cultural amenities. We’re extremely proud of these first steps and for the recognition that this award provides.”
This project is a joint partnership between the Bunurong Land Council Aboriginal Corporation, Wadawurrung Traditional Owners Aboriginal Corporation, Melbourne Water, Parks Victoria, Werribee Open Range Zoo, Werribee River Association, Western Melbourne Tourism, Wyndham City Council and the Victorian Government.
Reimagining Tarralla Creek
Reimagining Tarralla Creek is part of Melbourne Water’s award-winning ‘Reimagining Your Creek’ initiative which works to transform stormwater drains and creeks into natural waterways and desirable open spaces.
The $9 million project, between Dorset Road and Eastfield Road, in Croydon, included a new waterway channel, more than 80,000 new plants, a revitalised wetland, a bird hide, informal creek crossings, gathering spaces, a new bridge and paths, and the Wurundjeri Sensory Garden.
AILAA judges praised the “material palette used within (Tarralla Creek’s) parkland furniture and (the) infrastructure that tied together the new pathways and viewing stations to help celebrate the role of water within the landscape, offer(ing) multiple opportunities for interaction with the new wetlands”.
According to AILAA, the infrastructure award ‘recognises constructed landscape infrastructure projects, landscape strategies or works associated with civil infrastructure that demonstrates the successful integration of landscape values and which contribute to a future sustainability’.
“Green spaces and creeks such as Tarralla Creek are more important than ever, and now play a vital role in improving people’s mental health. This has resulted in Melbourne Water rethinking how our assets can be utilised more effectively for community use whilst still delivering on the important hydraulic and flood mitigation services they deliver for our communities,” Neil Featonby Melbourne Water’s Senior Asset Planner – Reimagining Your Creek, Service Programs said.
“The wetlands provide important habitat for local flora and fauna species, the enhancements we’ve made to Tarralla Creek provide a unique opportunity for the community to engage with the water and environment in a way that they haven’t been able to do before. It was a truly exciting project to be involved in, the results of which will be enjoyed and appreciated for generations to come.”
The Reimagining Tarralla Creek project was a joint initiative delivered by the Wurundgeri Woi-wurrung Cultural Heritage Aboriginal Corporation, Melbourne Water, Maroondah Council, Yarra Valley Water, Friends of Eastfield Park, and the Victorian Government.
National Awards
Having won the AILAA 2023 Victorian Award of Excellence for Land Management and the AILAA 2023 Victorian Landscape Architecture Award for Infrastructure, both Melbourne Water projects progress to the national awards, with the winners announced on Thursday, 19 October.
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