Thank you for your submissions. We are still considering your feedback and will provide an update.
Background
We wanted to further discuss how the open space at Davy Lane Reserve could be used in future.
The Davy Lane site is located in Forest Hill, on part of the former Healesville Freeway Reserve.
Council looks to balance the needs of the whole community when planning our public areas. We take into consideration residential amenity, community participation through sport and informal activity, protection of the environment and other important factors.
Council held an initial community consultation about this site in June 2022. We’ve listened to community feedback and in response we've scaled back elements of the proposed concept plan which we released for a second round of consultation in October 2022.
Key themes we heard from the first round of consultation:
concerns about how formal sport would impact the current use of the site for dog walking and other activities
environmental concerns about vegetation removal and light spill from floodlighting if the site was developed for formal sport
sporting demand for the site on a shared basis (ten sporting clubs representing 2,950 participants made expressions of interest about using the site in the future)
small satellite pavilion to support competition and training
sealed car park
pathways through the reserve.
What has changed?
In response to the feedback received, we have updated the concept plan by:
removing the multi-use training enclosure (cricket nets) to reduce the site’s overall size and minimise vegetation removal
reducing the ovals to their minimum size in line with sporting guidelines for likely sporting codes to reduce vegetation removal
decreasing the pavilion size from a standard to a satellite pavilion (e.g., no social space) to reduce vegetation removal and provide only what is needed to support sporting training and competition
adjusting the location of proposed project elements to reduce vegetation removal
retaining the dual-oval concept for maximum sport and recreation participation opportunities.
What are the benefits of this proposal?
Upgrading Davy Lane Reserve would allow more locals to enjoy the area for a variety of purposes including walking and organised sport.
Providing facilities such as toilets and path networks for informal users (there are currently none).
Additional floodlit ovals would help meet increasing demand, including for women and girls players, for the overused sports fields in the east of Whitehorse.
Floodlights could be programmed for use at night outside of sporting activity for safe walking or with dogs on an on-demand basis.
There are limited opportunities currently in Whitehorsefor underused land to be developed for increased community use. Davy Lane Reserve provides a rare opportunity for this.
Davy Lane Reserve forms about 10.7% of the former Healesville Freeway Reserve. Parks Victoria are currently consulting with the community about $10.5m of upgrades to turn the rest of the reserve to public parkland including an east-west shared trail, car parking, play elements and other facilities. For more information on Parks Victoria’s upgrade plans and to provide your feedback on the wider Healesville Freeway Reserve visit https://engage.vic.gov.au/healesville-freeway-reserve.
Feedback closed on 7 November 2022.
Thank you for your submissions. We are still considering your feedback and will provide an update.
Background
We wanted to further discuss how the open space at Davy Lane Reserve could be used in future.
The Davy Lane site is located in Forest Hill, on part of the former Healesville Freeway Reserve.
Council looks to balance the needs of the whole community when planning our public areas. We take into consideration residential amenity, community participation through sport and informal activity, protection of the environment and other important factors.
Council held an initial community consultation about this site in June 2022. We’ve listened to community feedback and in response we've scaled back elements of the proposed concept plan which we released for a second round of consultation in October 2022.
Key themes we heard from the first round of consultation:
concerns about how formal sport would impact the current use of the site for dog walking and other activities
environmental concerns about vegetation removal and light spill from floodlighting if the site was developed for formal sport
sporting demand for the site on a shared basis (ten sporting clubs representing 2,950 participants made expressions of interest about using the site in the future)
small satellite pavilion to support competition and training
sealed car park
pathways through the reserve.
What has changed?
In response to the feedback received, we have updated the concept plan by:
removing the multi-use training enclosure (cricket nets) to reduce the site’s overall size and minimise vegetation removal
reducing the ovals to their minimum size in line with sporting guidelines for likely sporting codes to reduce vegetation removal
decreasing the pavilion size from a standard to a satellite pavilion (e.g., no social space) to reduce vegetation removal and provide only what is needed to support sporting training and competition
adjusting the location of proposed project elements to reduce vegetation removal
retaining the dual-oval concept for maximum sport and recreation participation opportunities.
What are the benefits of this proposal?
Upgrading Davy Lane Reserve would allow more locals to enjoy the area for a variety of purposes including walking and organised sport.
Providing facilities such as toilets and path networks for informal users (there are currently none).
Additional floodlit ovals would help meet increasing demand, including for women and girls players, for the overused sports fields in the east of Whitehorse.
Floodlights could be programmed for use at night outside of sporting activity for safe walking or with dogs on an on-demand basis.
There are limited opportunities currently in Whitehorsefor underused land to be developed for increased community use. Davy Lane Reserve provides a rare opportunity for this.
Davy Lane Reserve forms about 10.7% of the former Healesville Freeway Reserve. Parks Victoria are currently consulting with the community about $10.5m of upgrades to turn the rest of the reserve to public parkland including an east-west shared trail, car parking, play elements and other facilities. For more information on Parks Victoria’s upgrade plans and to provide your feedback on the wider Healesville Freeway Reserve visit https://engage.vic.gov.au/healesville-freeway-reserve.
Davy Lane Reserve Opportunities is currently at this stage
Consultation in June 2022, exploring the community's ideas for the future of the site and sporting club expressions of interest.
Open
this is an upcoming stage for Davy Lane Reserve Opportunities
This consultation is open for contributions.
Finalise Concept Plan - Late 2022
this is an upcoming stage for Davy Lane Reserve Opportunities
Finalise the concept plan following feedback from the community
Advocate for Funding
this is an upcoming stage for Davy Lane Reserve Opportunities
Following endorsement of a final concept plan, Council would advocate to external bodies for funding to support construction of a preferred option at the site