Woodlands Park and Salmon Reserve

A long-term plan was created for the park to guide the improvements to the design, accessibility and water quality of Woodlands Park and Salmon Reserve as well as increase local biodiversity.

View the Woodlands Park and Salmon Reserve Master Plan 

As part of Council’s MV2040 commitment to creating a green and water sensitive city, the existing ponds at Woodlands Park were transformed from stagnant water into a functional wetland, as outlined in the endorsed masterplan.

Council teamed up with City West Water and Melbourne Water to transform the Woodland Park ponds into a Stormwater Harvesting project. Dirty water that flows through our streets and into nearby drains is now collected and treated by thousands of new native wetland plants in our ponds, taking up the nutrients and pollutants. As a result of these works, our ponds now look cleaner and will help improve our creeks and our bay.

Once it’s clean some of it gets used to water the park and gardens at Woodlands Park, with the rest continuing on its journey to Five Mile Creek and Moonee Ponds Creek, and then onto the bay.

As such, we now have a more sustainable water supply to irrigate Woodlands Park, as it collects and treats over 53 ML stormwater annually. The wetland will:

• Improve downstream waterway health (by removing nitrogen and pollutants entering Five Mile Creek and Moonee Ponds Creek as well as reducing downstream flooding and erosion),
• Provide a sustainable irrigation supply,
• Increase local biodiversity and improve habitat.

To discover more detail about the stormwater harvesting project at Woodlands Park click here.

As part of the construction works, we lined the ponds and installed new drainage infrastructure, new rock work, erosion protection, native wetland planting, an irrigation pump cabinet, an improved irrigation system and a small boardwalk.

This project is a brilliant example of Council’s collaboration with many collaborators including City West Water (contributing $580,000 through the Stormwater Harvesting Partnership Fund), Melbourne Water (contributing $300,000 through the Living Rivers Grants), Monash University, Essendon North Primary School, Strathmore Vet Clinic and local wildlife carers.

While our ponds are working to clean our storm water, it’s important to stop paint, chemicals and pollution from getting onto our nearby roads and into system. Please contact Council if you need advice on how to dispose of waste or if you see pollution or spills on your street.

The toilet block will be replaced with two automated toilets and construction is due to start in early March 2023. These new amenities will be wheelchair accessible and one will have a baby change table.

A temporary public toilet will be located nearby while works are underway.

Three new floating islands have been added to the wetland to provide protected habitat for local fauna to nest and sunbath on, away from predators. They contain native plantings that will also provide additional water treatment as the roots absorb nutrients from the water.

The islands were funded by the Australian Federal Government, who contributed $20,000 through the Communities Environment Program.

Healthier cleaner ponds means a better home for our native birds, fish and yabbies that live in Woodlands Park. The ecological benefits from the upgrades include greater local biodiversity, which will better support the ecosystem for native species such as the Buff Banded Rails, Herons and native aquatic species.

We’re already really excited to see a local heron who has been spotted returning to the ponds.

Landscape improvements were completed in 2020 and included upgrades to pathways, furniture and play throughout the park as part of the masterplan implementation works.

The landscape improvement works have enhanced the public amenity, and complement the initial wetland upgrade works

The landscape improvements include:

• Enhanced play experience through additional nature play elements including a new dry creek bed, logs, rockwork, steppers, balance beams, stumps, pebbles and planting to help children connect with nature and develop resilience, self-confidence, initiative and creativity. There are new opportunities for our younger residents to explore and play, with a new rope climbing structure and colourful spinning flower seats.
• Improved BBQ facilities and more bins, as well as an additional rotunda will now better support the already high usage of the park for group gatherings and outdoor parties.
• Increased furniture and seating across the site, including quiet seating pockets for contemplation, will assist our elderly residents who regularly use this as a rest stop on their walks. Additional bins will help prevent rubbish accumulating in the park and polluting the ponds.
• Exercise stations and a bike repair station will help everyone stay active in our community.

We would like to thank everyone, including local residents, for their contribution, patience and interest. We will continue to monitor grass and planting establishment as part of the ongoing maintenance of the park.

We heard from our community how important this unique sculptural garden is for imagination play, so it was retained in place and better integrated with the rest of the playspace upgrades with the extension and continuation of soft fall mulch, logs, rockwork and planting to make it even more magical.

Council has collaborated with the original Artist James Cattell, who has repaired and re-painted the sculptures to give it a breath of new life.

Woodlands Park Wetland is a natural water body, home to many native birds and aquatic species.

Carp and other introduced species including gold fish can quickly undo a lot of the work we’ve done to make Woodlands Park an environmentally friendly, native animal sanctuary.  Carp are incredibly invasive and have previously caused significant damage to these ponds. Carp damage our ponds when they suck up mud - stirring up silt and muddy the water, blocking sunlight to aquatic vegetation and native fish and lowering water quality.

You can find out more about the damage caused by carp here.

To protect the native fauna on site, Council removed hundreds and hundreds of exotic carp during the works, and introduced native fish species to create a healthier better-balanced ecosystem.

Woodlands Park is also not a home for Abandoned Pets. Please help us maintain this revitalised ecosystem for our native fauna species such as the Buff Banded Rails, Herons and native aquatic species.  Help us continue to keep our wetland healthy and free from Carp, as well as other pest species:

• Carp fish and Goldfish
• Exotic/Domesticated Ducks
• Pet turtles

Dumping pets at Woodlands Park exposes them to harm, threats and illness. Abandoned pets should be surrendered to the RSPCA or local animal shelters, who will take care of them properly.

Fishing at Woodlands Park is not allowed and is prohibited.

There’s plenty of great spots to throw a line in nearby in Moonee Valley, including the Maribyrnong River. Catching carp may be fun, but they have a devastated impact on our waterways and Woodlands Park is not a place for fishing. It’s why we’re asking for your help by not dumping unwanted pets in the ponds or introducing carp for fishing.

You can visit vfa.vic.gov.au to discover places you can fish in Moonee Valley. To report dumping or illegal fishing, please contact Council on 9243 8888.