Last week, Parliamentary Secretary for Water Harriet Shing, Tarneit MP Sarah Connolly, Wyndham City Mayor Peter Maynard, Councillor Susan McIntyre, councillor Jasmine Hill, Councillor Robert Szatkowski, Director of City Operations Stephen Thorpe visited the site to celebrate the progress on the irrigation system.
Water from the 22 megalitre rainwater harvesting system will be purified in a reed area before being filtered through storage tanks inside the MOS. Treated rainwater will be reused to irrigate new green open spaces and to support district cooling.
Hannah Pexton, Head of Territorial and Collaborative Planning for Melbourne Water and Sean Hanrahan, Head of Service Planning for Greater Western Waters, attended to represent these key partner organisations in greening the pipeline.
Wyndham City Mayor Peter Maynard said: “This project will transform the lives of residents in Wyndham City and the growing West for decades to come. We are honouring our heritage while repurposing old infrastructure to create more green spaces, play spaces, cycling and walking trails.”
The vision of this project is to connect communities and create vibrant open spaces from Werribee to the city.
The system is the heart of the Greening the Pipeline project to convert the disused, World Heritage-listed pipeline across 27 kilometres of parkland along the Federation Trail.
This key section of the project is progressing thanks to $9 million from the Victorian Government, $1 million from Greater Western Water’s Stormwater Harvesting Partnership Fund and $300,000 from Melbourne Water’s Living Rivers program and funding from the City Council by Wyndham ahead.
“This stormwater harvesting system is an excellent example of how we are working to manage our environment sustainably as we create more green spaces and parkland for our community.” said Climate Futures and Environment portfolio holder, Councillor Robert Szatkowski.
Greening the Pipeline is a collaborative alliance between Wyndham City Council, Melbourne Water, Greater Western Water, the Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning, the Department of Transport and Traditional Owners, supported by Greening the West.
Landscaping work on the Zone 5 stretch from Truganin to Laverton will begin in April and sections of the park are expected to be completed by June 2022. The landscaped gardens at Arndell Park and the public garden at Truganin are expected to be completed in mid-2022. sports field at Arndell Park will be irrigated with harvested rainwater.
Wyndham City Council is working with the Bunurong Land Council Aboriginal Corporation to ensure Traditional Owner interests and values are embedded into park design and creation.
For more information about the Greening the Pipeline project: https://greeningthepipeline.com.au/
