By Corey Everitt
Cardinia Shire Council has endorsed a masterplan for new upgrades to Emerald Lake Park.
The plan includes changes to play areas, event spaces, hospitality, parking and maintenance with a total cost estimate of $12.13m.
To better manage the total cost, the council will split the plan into stages where top priorities are addressed first.
Priorities were managed through community consultation conducted through July and August 2022.
The community presented 3074 views to the council and 428 contributions online.
Cr Brett Owen, who moved the motion, was grateful for the feedback.
“I wanna thank everyone who provided feedback to this process, particularly I wanna acknowledge the Friends of Emerald Lake Park and also the committee for Emerald Museum and Nobelius Park,” he said.
“This is one of the jewels in the crown of Cardinia Shire, it has many international tourists, as well as our own Cardinia community attend this great asset of a park and precinct.”
Through consultation, stage one of the plan will include an upgrade to existing play spaces, more car parking, new shelter, picnic area and exercise hub.
For construction, the existing Emerald Lake Park Cafe will be removed with a new waterside cafe to be sought.
Cr Graeme Moore, who seconded the motion, spoke in support of the plan.
“It’s one of our gems in Cardinia Shire, it’s the park where Puffing Billy finishes, the big event up there is the Puffing Billy race – a fantastic event,” he said.
“There is a lot to be done to bring it up to the wonderful standard that it once used to be.”
The cost for stage one is approximately $5.3m.
The plan will need to be also endorsed in the council budget in June for the council to be able to source funding.
Cr Colin Ross explained the thought behind the masterplan.
“What we’ve done is set about looking at the priorities that would need to be done, we’re looking at stage one,” he said.
“As money would become available either through council budget, or through grants or government intervention, we will look at other stages being done.”
The motion was passed unanimously.
