Moonee Ponds Creek protected in landmark Memorandum of Understanding

A KEY waterway that runs through metro Melbourne will be transformed after stakeholders agreed to protect the vital creek.

A memorandum of understanding has been signed to protect Moonee Ponds Creek. Picture: Luis Enrique Ascui.

THE GREY, concrete section of Moonee Ponds Creek will be pulled out as part of a project to protect and enhance the stream.

A memorandum of understanding between Moonee Valley Council, Melbourne Water and 13 other organisations, signed last month, will transform the creek into a biodiverse waterway.

Significant issues across the catchment included poor water quality, introduced species and poor storm water management.

Part of the creek was replaced with concrete in the 1970s, in what the Victorian Division of the Planning Institute of Australia called one of the state’s worst ever planning decisions.

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Friends of Moonee Ponds Creek President Kelvin Thomson said he wanted the creek to be visually appealing to riders and walkers and be a healthier home to native plants and animals. Picture: Luis Enrique Ascui.

The catchment starts in Greenvale and extends through Broadmeadows, Glenroy, Essendon, Moonee Ponds, Flemington, Kensington, North and West Melbourne and then into the Yarra River.

Moonee Valley Council is seeking a $6 million committment from the State or Federal Government for the removal and revegetation of the concrete section of the creek around Brosnan Cres, Strathmore as a first step in a plan to revitalise the creek.

Many walkers, runners and cyclists use the Moonee Ponds Trail next to the creek everyday. Picture: Luis Enrique Ascui

Friends of Moonee Ponds Creek president Kelvin Thomson said between 1940 and 1980 the Melbourne Metropolitan Board of Works, now called Melbourne Water, concreted the creek from Strathmore to Flemington Rd, in an attempt to stop flooding.

“That was a theory without any merit,” Mr Thomson said.

Mr Thomson and other Friends of Moonee Ponds Creek members have been fighting to revitalise the creek for more than 30 years.

Mr Thomson said he wanted it to become “an asset for generations to come”.

Friends of Moonee Ponds Creek have been fighting for the creek to be protected from decay and pollution for decades.

Melbourne Water team leader Christine Jones said the collaboration was one of the first of its kind, and was a new way of working on projects that spanned different areas.

“All our partners are saying ‘we can’t just work in isolation, we need to come together’,” she said.

Ms Jones said the collaboration could set a precedent for the protection of other waterways.

“Moonee Ponds Creek has been so successful because so many organisations have come to us saying ‘can you help us’, they are all committed and passionate. We would love to see it occur in other areas,” she said.

The next step was to form three working groups to facilitate the project going forward, she said.

One group will look at planning controls to define what housing developments could occur along the creek to ensure it is protected.

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