Tuesday, 7 March 2023

 Mathew HILAKARI (Point Cook) (19:15): (74) My adjournment matter is for the Minister for Environment from the other place, and the action that I seek from the minister is to visit the electorate of Point Cook, see the progress and update the community on the upgrades to the Bay Trail project. Of course this is a very important project to the people of Point Cook. It takes a 3.8-kilometre detour that people currently need to take and shortens that to 400 metres with a terrific piece of infrastructure alongside our beautiful bay in the west. For those people who do not know about the beautiful bay in the west, they need to visit and they need to visit quickly. The bay in the west and the Cheetham Wetlands in particular are known as the Kakadu of Melbourne because they have as many bird species as those of Kakadu, so it is time for everybody here to get down to the west and visit the Cheetham Wetlands. This is the latest in a series of upgrades that will see the bicycle and walking paths extended to the Point Cook Coastal Park. This is part of a $21 million project by the government to upgrade 21 parks across Melbourne, a fantastic initiative that will see all parts of the community benefit.

The works will create a missing link, the missing link that I talked about between the Cheetham Wetlands and Sanctuary Lakes and Saltwater in the community that I represent. It leads to the Point Cook Coastal Park, an amazing piece of park infrastructure for Victoria. The link traverses some of the most important environmental areas in Victoria – Ramsar-listed sites – and that is why I am so pleased to hear about the initial design work, including elevated boardwalk-style paths to protect the landscape and an emphasis on environmental controls to protect those important areas. The Cheetham Wetlands, I might remind this house, were in operation as saltworks for more than 70 years, a great industrious part of Melbourne that is now great for the environment. The consultants that have already been appointed to undertake this detailed design work are getting on with this job. The link opens up the area to visitors from across the state and also importantly for northbound access to Saltwater for cyclists and pedestrians. Many residents from Saltwater and Point Cook are keen to hear about the next steps and how the minister intends to progress this fantastic and amazing project.