Wednesday, 27 November 2024

Preston electorate ministerial visit

Nathan LAMBERT (Preston) (19:16): (958) My adjournment matter is for the Minister for Environment, and the action I seek is for the minister to visit some sites of environmental interest in Preston and Reservoir. The first potential stop for the minister could be Clements Reserve. I think the Minister for Development Victoria at the table will know Clements Reserve, which is about 100 metres from his electorate on Dunne Street on the way into Kingsbury.

Colin Brooks interjected.

Nathan LAMBERT: What is that? A lovely part of the world – and as the minister will know, Darebin council has been in discussions with the Department of Transport and Planning for about six years now to acquire some land at the reserve, which currently has a children’s playground on it and a few eucalypts and melaleucas and the like. Unfortunately, those discussions have been complicated by the discovery of both asbestos and lead at the site, reflecting its likely previous use as a dumping ground for building materials and prior to that its use as a shooting range in the 1920s for the Northcote Gun Club. For anyone interested there is a comprehensive write-up of this issue by Serena O’Meley on her Darebin Independent Observer website. We would appreciate the minister coming out to have a look, and we can perhaps discuss the slow progress on the park’s remediation and how the EPA is assisting Darebin council in restoring it to full use. We are very pleased to have a new-look Darebin council in our part of the world, including a new councillor for that area, Vasilios Tsalkos, and we look forward to working with Vasilios and the EPA to progress that issue.

The second potential stop for the minister could be Edwardes Lake and the Edgars Creek Wetlands. The minister will get to appreciate all the work that Friends of Edwardes Lake have done there to make it a fantastic refuge for native flora and fauna, including some very significant recent plantings that were funded through our government’s Green Links fund. Notably, Friends of Edwardes Lake recently won the most Outstanding Friends Group Award from the Victorian Environment Friends Network. I know the member will know that well, and we congratulate Kate Jost and all the volunteers on that. Unfortunately, their good work over many years has been marred by some recent cooking oil spills. I have referred to them previously in this place. I will not go into further details now, but suffice to say, the minister’s visit would be an opportunity for him to update them and us on that issue, given the involvement of his agencies.

Finally, the minister might drop into the EPA northern metro office on Albert Street in Preston, where we could thank the team generally for their good work led by Lee Miezis and Jeremy Settle, who is a local team leader there with a great team, and we might take the chance to discuss a couple of other issues related to noise pollution and waste to energy. We are grateful to the minister and his team for their consideration.