Thursday, 20 February 2025

Preston electorate water infrastructure

Nathan LAMBERT (Preston) (17:14): (1022) My adjournment is for the Minister for Water, and the action I seek is for the minister to join me in a visit to the Melbourne Water site on High Street in Reservoir to discuss the use of their landholdings across our area. As some members might know, the suburb of Reservoir is actually named Reservoir because it was the site of Melbourne’s first service reservoir, which was constructed back in 1863 as part of the original Yan Yean pipeline, and of course that pipeline and that service reservoir complex continue to operate today. The pipeline runs down Cheddar Road and along St Georges Road down into the city, and then we have a very large pipe that comes into our part of the world from the Maroondah Reservoir and runs from Norris Bank Primary under a long linear reserve that is well known up in that north-eastern corner of Reservoir. Then there are also pipes that branch off underneath JC Donath Reserve to head in the direction of the St Albans Reservoir and then another well-known reserve, where the pipe that heads across to Coburg and Essendon goes underneath West Preston in the Regent linear reserve.

I thank the CEO of Melbourne Water Dr Nerina Di Lorenzo and Vix Penko and all their team for the work they do to maintain all of that very important water infrastructure, which lets us all turn on our taps and have showers and so forth, but also the good work they do to ensure good environmental outcomes there and to allow the public access to their landholdings where that is appropriate. It is to that particular end that I would love to chat to their team and to the minister.

The linear reserves in particular come up a lot when we are doorknocking. They are essentially just flat areas of grass, like most utility reserves are; people walk through them, often because they are a convenient shortcut, and I know particularly if you live in the Benambra and Grampian streets part of West Preston, they are a very significant shortcut. If you are getting down to Newlands Primary School with the children or heading down to the Coburg Hill shops it saves you 600 or 700 metres on your journey. One thing we might discuss is the fact that the gates there only have a very narrow gap. It is fine if you are walking, but if you are pushing a pram or particularly if you are in a wheelchair or some sort of mobility scooter you cannot get through the gate, and that does mean those people then have a much longer journey.

It would also be great to chat about some other ideas that get around the community – certainly converting more of the linear reserves and creek reserves into bike paths, which was touched on by our northern trails strategy; planting more trees along the existing Northern Pipe Trail, particularly north of Preston station, where it is a bit sparser; and also potentially rerouting that Northern Pipe Trail, which is very popular, through the service reservoirs area, where it branches off from GE Robinson reserve.

I know the minister knows our part of the world very well. I actually ran into her by coincidence in Surly’s bar on High Street over the summer break; she is well acquainted with our particular suburbs. She is an excellent Minister for Water, and I thank her for her consideration of this adjournment matter.