Wednesday, 23 February 2022

Severe weather event

Ms BURNETT-WAKE (Eastern Victoria) (18:20): (1769) My adjournment request is directed to the Minister for Energy, Environment and Climate Change again. The action that I seek is for the minister to take the necessary action to have bridges repaired along walking tracks in the Dandenong Ranges. The Dandenong Ranges are one of Victoria’s premier tourist destinations. People flock to the hills every weekend, on public holidays and on school holidays to soak up the scenery and enjoy what the villages have to offer. As a local I constantly see the entrances to our state parks flooded with cars and with hundreds of people enjoying the forest for a bushwalk or a hike.

It was heartbreaking to see these much-loved parks in the Dandenongs damaged during the 9 June storms last year. Trees fell and damaged multiple bridges and tracks across the mountain, and eight months on they remain damaged. Visitors are being encouraged to come and visit these beautiful parks only to find areas of the parks closed and bridges broken. Many people are still visiting the area and ignoring the closures. At the moment the whole of Sassafras Creek Nature Conservation Reserve remains closed awaiting repairs. The Friends of Sassafras Creek group have advised me that many people are still visiting the area and dangerously removing barriers on the tracks. What is worse is that some of these bridges have been damaged for over two years, including bridge 9 at Lyrebird Falls, bridge 18 at Baynes Park Road and the bridge on Wattle Track, in Sherbrooke Forest.

This is deeply concerning in terms of safety and in terms of the lack of funding allocated to repairing and preserving our parks. Friends of Sassafras Creek requested the status of repairs from Parks Victoria and have been told some bridges will not be funded until the next financial year, as part of the bigger asset replacement project. Others are still awaiting an insurance assessment.

The lack of funding for Parks Victoria to enable the timely repair of these bridges and assets is simply unacceptable. These towns in the area are built on tourism. They suffered months without tourists due to the longest lockdown in the world coupled with the restricted access in the area following the June 2021 storm. The action I seek is for the minister to prioritise the repair of bridges in parks across the Dandenong Ranges so that locals and tourists can get back to enjoying these parks safely.