Tate Papworth
The $11 million Stony Creek transformation project will finally be completed.
The project, which will transform a concrete drain back to a natural wetland, hit a standstill last year after costs blew out because of asbestos contamination.
The project was a joint venture between all levels of government.
Last year, Brimbank council undertook a public campaign calling for more funding for the project to ensure it wasn’t left with a hole in the ground after construction stopped.
Work has now resumed on the project, which is slated to be completed by mid-2020, albeit on a reduced scope.
Cr John Hedditch said it was a good starting point.
“It’s an example of a project that didn’t quite meet the outcomes that were expected of it, but I think the importance of this report is that it talks… about the importance of the continuation of advocacy for additional funding to complete the Upper Stony Creek Transformation project,” he said
“For the people of that area it is so important. What we have for the residents who live beside that creek now is a complete loss of the vegetation that was stripped out before the work started and now a whole bare section is there.”
Work will include wetland and associated vegetation, soil capping along the channel including a geotextile separation layer between new and existing soil, and the planting of trees, shrubs and grasses alongside the concrete channel to create an urban landscape.
Cr Sam David vowed to have the project completed to its entirety in the future.
“I wish we had the money to continue to finish the jigsaw, but eventually it’ll be done,” Cr David said.
“One day it will be done… and I hope I see it sooner rather than later.”
