Davy Lane Reserve Opportunities

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)


What is now being proposed? 

Davy Lane Updated Concept Plan

  • two natural turf, floodlit sporting fields 

  • 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 Whitehorse for underused land to be developed for increased community use. Davy Lane Reserve provides a rare opportunity for this. 

  • Refer to the question-and-answer section of this page to read more. 

The Healesville Freeway Reserve 

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)


What is now being proposed? 

Davy Lane Updated Concept Plan

  • two natural turf, floodlit sporting fields 

  • 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 Whitehorse for underused land to be developed for increased community use. Davy Lane Reserve provides a rare opportunity for this. 

  • Refer to the question-and-answer section of this page to read more. 

The Healesville Freeway Reserve 

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.