History
History
“A meeting place for the Wurundjeri-willam people. A smouldering tip site. An orchard of grapes, loquats, mulberries and olives. Grazing land for dairy cows and horses. A quarry of workers blasting and crushing bluestone. The local park to walk the dog. A wild place for children to have adventures. The land known as Darebin Parklands has represented many things to many people over the past 200 years…
The history of the Darebin Parklands uncovers past events and perspectives of 33 hectares of land that provides a micro-study into environmental and social change in Australia. The parklands, an urban bushland reserve on the Darebin Creek, is well loved by the surrounding community, but that has not always been the case. Only 35 years ago, the parklands area was dominated by a municipal tip, was weed-infested and destined for industrial development.
In response to this threat, the Darebin Parklands Association was formed by local people who had a vision for ‘a new city suburban green area’ and the spirit to fight for it.
Fundamentally this is a story about relationship between people and place and the meaning people have drawn from the creek and its surroundings over time.
The story of the parklands is still significant as the boundary of Melbourne, like many Australian cities, continues to sprawl. Green corridors along rivers and streams are vital refuge for native fauna and flora, as well providing space and opportunity for people to connect with nature. These corridors are precious and are often only secured as public parklands through community activism…”
— Professor Tim Flannery
From the forward to Darebin Parklands: Escaping The Claws Of The Machine (Dr Sarah Mirams 2011)
Darebin Parklands: From quarry to tip to urban bushland
In the early 1970s what we know today as the Darebin Parklands was weed infested paddocks and a former municipal tip and quarry.
A proposal from Heidelberg City Council (now part of Banyule City Council) and the Board of Works to fill the wetlands to address mosquitos and clear the Darebin Creek to improve stormwater management ignited a community campaign across Ivanhoe and Alphington. The Rockbeare Conservation Group sought to have the area rezoned as open space and to bring back the bushland as an urban refuge for flora, fauna and residents.
At the time only the seven hectares east of the creek (Rockbeare Park) was publicly owned. Within four years the actions of this group drove the creation of the Darebin Parklands footprint as we know it today, encompassing approximately 100 acres including Rockbeare Park on the east side of the river and the former quarry site on the west side. The group was able inspire others to the area’s potential and successfully drove re-zoning of the land as open public space and worked with City of Northcote to raise funds to acquire the flood plain, old tip and quarry.
Critically, it was agreed by Banyule’s and Darebin’s predecessor councils that the Darebin Parklands should be jointly developed and managed across council boundaries. Together, the councils commissioned the Centre for Environmental Studies at the University of Melbourne to develop a landscape master plan. The plan was informed by new ideas about urban living, landscape design and environmentalism. This was forward thinking at the time in both its aspiration and delivery.
In the early days much of the planning, weed clearing and planting was undertaken by community volunteers. From 1979 professional rangers increasingly oversaw the development and management of the parklands. By the early 1980s the task had grown and the first fulltime ranger was hired in 1983, with a second fulltime ranger to follow in 1987.
Since then, the continued development of the parklands has been overseen by a joint management committee with representatives including Darebin and Banyule councils and community representation – first the Darebin Parklands Management Committee and now the Darebin Creek Management Committee Inc (DCMC).
Today, the rangers are funded by Darebin and Banyule Councils, and projects within the Parklands are funded through councils, Melbourne Water and other grants sourced by the Darebin Creek Management Committee.
