Wednesday, 16 December 2020

The Berwick community in Melbourne’s south-east now have new wetlands to enjoy thanks to a collaborative project between Melbourne Water, Parks Victoria and the City of Casey.

The Grasmere Creek wetlands, at Berwick’s Cardinia Creek Parklands North, will deliver environmental benefits – including better water quality and floodplain connectivity and provide valuable open space for locals to use.

The wetlands are the first stage of a $4 million project to transform vacant paddocks into a thriving community asset. A new walking path linking Inglis Road and Buchanan Road is now is finished and open to the public and was partly built reusing 33,000 cubic metres of soil dug from the site.

Melbourne Water took three months to construct the wetlands supported by Parks Victoria, who provided the land, and the City of Casey, who are donating 40,000 plants for future community planting day activities.

Grasmere Creek is a highly valued waterway within the Cardinia Creek catchment known for its significant plants and animals, including the rare and threatened Dwarf Galaxias fish.

As part of the project – a 630-metre section of the southern reach of Grasmere Creek has also been realigned to divert stormwater into the new wetlands.

This will help to remove up to 80 per cent of sediment, significantly improving the creek’s water quality which, ultimately, flows into Western Port Bay.

Restoring Grasmere Creek is part of Parks Victoria’s masterplan for the Cardinia Creek Parklands North.

Quotes attributable to Member Eastern Victoria Region Harriet Shing

 “The new wetlands will enable the local community to make much better use of this space and enhance the wildlife corridor through the Cardinia Creek Parklands.

“This site is important with many cultural heritage features within the parklands.”

“This transformation of the Cardinia Creek Parklands North is a fantastic example of agencies working together for the benefit of our communities.”