Delay for Dingley Village’s monster water park

It promises zip lines and a massive wave pool, but the growling green frog, a fish and swamp skink are now holding up works on this massive southeast Melbourne water park. Here’s how long you’ll have to wait to get in the water.

Plans for Zagame's Wild Water Park in Melbourne's Dingley Village have hit a snag.

A massive indoor-outdoor water park proposed for Melbourne’s south east and revealed by the Herald Sun earlier this year has hit a snag.

The growling grass frog and the green wedge.

The City of Kingston have asked the developers behind the $100 million Zagame’s Wild Water Park project that proposes to bring uphill waterslides, zip lines and a huge wave pool to Dingley Village, to further justify their plans against the Kingston Green Wedge Plan.

They’ve also requested targeted surveys around “the likelihood of occurrence” of the frog, the eastern dwarf galaxias (a fish) and the swamp skink at the almost 4ha site.

Indoor and outdoor areas will feature alongside native greenery.

The animal surveys can only be conducted in December or January.

City of Kingston chief executive John Nevins said the project “couldn’t be advertised for feedback and considered by Council’s Planning Department” until the developer, the Zagame and Pellicano families, had responded to its requests for further information.

“It is anticipated this process may resume in March 2020,” Mr Nevins said.

The documentation being sought by council is required to satisfy a range of statutory requirements for the planning process.

Extensive attractions for relaxed and thrillseeking visitors are planned for the development.

Today a Pellicano spokesman said they would continue working “closely” with the council to “meet their requirements and ensure they are completely satisfied before issuing the permit”.

“We believe this project will be of real benefit to the community and look forward to bringing it to life,” they said.

The proposed development would span 18,200sq m inside — the largest indoor water park in the southern hemisphere — and 20,000sq m outside.

Among its features are a 423m long lazy river that floats beneath a giant freshwater aquarium, video-game-like water tunnels, waterslides with jets that can propel thrillseekers uphill, and a wave machine with room for up to four surfers at a time.

Further requests from council planners include: additional confirmation of vegetation to be removed from the site, amended architectural plans for its carparking, more information about its signage, updated traffic and engineering assessments, as well as more information about stormwater management.

The massive water park’s indoor component would be the biggest in the southern hemisphere.

They have also called for a cultural heritage management plan, and a sustainable management plan.

Designed by award-winning Peddle Thorpe architects, who designed the Melbourne Sports and Aquatics Centre as well as the Melbourne Aquarium, the development is expected to create 1184 full-time jobs in the region, including 600 at the water park itself.

A render showing the front of the proposed water park.

Pellicano boss Nando Pellicano has previously indicated it would take two years to build the attraction, meaning it is now unlikely to be operating until at least 2022.

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Previously they had hoped to have the park running as early as 2021.

The proposed location on Old Dandenong Rd, Dingley Village, has been owned by the Pellicano family for 30 years and occasionally used to store excess supplies for the development group’s industrial projects around Melbourne.