By Parker McKenzie
Federal Infrastructure Minister Catherine King visited the Ferntree Gully Quarry Reserve on Thursday 20 April to officially open the $2.305 million upgrade.
Alongside newly-elected Aston MP Mary Doyle, Dobson Ward Councillor Meagan Baker, Deputy Mayor Jude Dwight and Knox City Council CEO Bruce Dobson, Ms King toured the upgraded Quarry Reserve and said it was the first time she has had the chance to visit.
“These projects are complex and require long-term vision and really sticking at it for a while, these are exactly the sort of activations that we want to see as a government,” she said.
“People are using spaces in really complex ways and I’ve seen older residents walking with their dogs or grandparents with their grandchildren, parents with their children participating in the space already.”
While the Quarry Reserve has remained in use, it has undergone improvements to the playground, added public toilets, picnic shelters, tables BBQs, drinking fountains, new paths, stairs and fencing since the masterplan was put together in 2015.
The upgrades were funded through $1.7 million from the Australian Government, $600,000 from Knox City Council and $50,000 from Fisheries Victoria.
Deputy Mayor Jude Dwight said the space gives locals the opportunity to come and enjoy the beautiful location.
“When backyards are getting smaller, we need places and we need to protect and enhance them so they can be used,” she said.
“We listened to people as we were walking in sharing their stories with the members of government here to today and they spoke so highly of it.
“I’m just appreciative of the additional funding that we can get from other levels of government to achieve things that we wouldn’t otherwise be able to do with the rates that we are working on.”
The only upgrade left to complete is a lookout over the quarry itself, due to be finished by June 2023.
Cr Baker said the multi-use park was available for people to fish, bring their children down to play in and so much more.
“It could be to throw a Frisbee or kick a footy, it’s for multiple generations to come down and enjoy,” she said.
“I’m looking forward to the lookout, that’s a new project at the Quarry Reserve.”
Ferntree Gully Quarry Reserve was previously mined for bluestone to be used in the construction of roads and railways around Victoria for 100 years before being decommissioned in 1996.
It features a manmade lake that has been stocked with fish by Fisheries Victoria. The lake is currently closed for fishing and swimming because of elevated levels of bacteria.
