Truganina Coastal Parklands facts for kids
The Truganina Coastal Parklands are a huge area of parks and natural spaces near Melbourne, Australia. They stretch along the coast of Port Phillip Bay from Altona to Altona Meadows. This amazing parkland was created by turning over 300 hectares of old industrial land and other areas into beautiful parks. It's now the biggest group of parks along Port Phillip Bay!
You can explore the parklands using many cycling and walking trails. There's a surprising amount of different landscapes, from beaches to wetlands. You'll find places for picnics, barbecues, and wide-open grassy fields. It's also a very important place for wildlife, especially birds. The wetlands here are part of a special area for birds called the Cheetham and Altona Important Bird Area.
Contents
What Makes Up the Parklands?
The Truganina Coastal Parklands are made up of several different areas:
- Truganina Park
- Truganina Explosives Reserve
- Truganina Swamp
- Kooringal Golf Course
- Altona Treatment Plant
- Apex Park
- Doug Grant Reserve
The Laverton Creek flows south into Port Phillip Bay. It separates Truganina Park and the Altona Treatment Plant on one side from the other areas. A wooden bridge called the Laverton Creek Bridge connects Truganina Park to the Explosives Reserve, making it easy to walk or cycle between them.
Truganina Park
Truganina Park is a 25-hectare park that was once the Altona Landfill Tip. It was closed in 1998 and then turned into this great recreational and conservation area.
One of the most famous parts of the park is the 100 Steps to Federation. This stone staircase is made from Bluestone rocks that were recycled from the old landfill. The steps lead you to the highest point between Melbourne and the You Yangs mountains. From the top, you get amazing views of Melbourne City, Port Phillip Bay, and the nearby Cheetham Wetlands. At the very top of this 17-meter-high hill, there's a sculpture called the Time Beacon, created by artist Cameron Robbins. It looks out over Port Phillip Bay.
Truganina Park is also home to a special and rare insect: the Altona skipper butterfly. A concrete drain that carries stormwater from nearby Altona Meadows has been changed to create the Truganina Wetlands. These wetlands help clean the stormwater and provide a home for many water birds.
The park has picnic and barbecue areas. There are also plans to add an adventure playground, a climbing wall, and more nature trails in the future. The Hobsons Bay City Council takes care of Truganina Park.
Truganina Explosives Reserve
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The Truganina Explosives Reserve is a 17-hectare area of land located near the mouth of Laverton Creek. From 1901 to 1962, this site was used to handle, store, and ship explosives. These explosives were made in Deer Park and then sent out from the Magazine Pier next to the reserve. They were used for things like quarrying (getting stone from the ground) and mining all across Australia.
In 2000, after a big effort by the community, the site was saved from being sold. It was then set aside to be a conservation area and a park. Scientists have studied the site and found it's very important for its history, geology (rocks and landforms), plants, animals, and industrial heritage.
A tall metal fence has kept people out of the site for over 100 years. This has allowed the land to stay wild and untouched by the surrounding buildings and roads. It's like a secret garden where a unique natural environment has grown. The fence makes the area feel peaceful and separate from the busy world outside.
Evidence shows that Aboriginal tribes lived here about 6,500 years ago. Many stone tools have been found in the area. The site is also important because of its unique landforms. It has several low ridges, up to 1.5 meters high, which are believed to have formed on the sea floor about 6,000 years ago.
The reserve has different types of plants, including native plants, plants brought from other places, and saltmarsh plants. These, along with the gentle hills of old sand dunes, create beautiful and varied landscapes that feel timeless. The reserve is home to three important bird species: the white-bellied sea eagle, the Nankeen night heron, and the brown quail. It also has four types of bats, eight types of mammals, and two types of reptiles.
The Hobsons Bay City Council and the Truganina Explosives Reserve Preservation Society are working together to restore the Reserve. They are bringing it back to its original natural state and restoring the historic Keepers Residence, which was built in 1897 for the officers in charge of the Reserve.
For now, you can usually only visit the site on special Open Days or with pre-arranged group tours. This is because the site has recently been cleaned up from any old explosive materials.
Truganina Swamp
This 175-hectare wetland is a mix of grasses, salt marsh, and sedges. It gets most of its water from Laverton Creek. Truganina Swamp is a vital home for two endangered species: the Altona skipper butterfly, which eats a plant called chaffy saw sedge, and the orange-bellied parrot, which feeds on plants like beaded glasswort.
The wetland is also a very important stop for migratory wading birds. Birds like pelicans, greenshanks, and royal spoonbills come here, some traveling all the way from Siberia! Many fish also live in the swamp, including black bream, common galaxias, short-finned eel, and yellow-eyed mullet.
This area is historically important because Kooris from the Woiworung and Bunurong tribes used to visit it often. They would gather animals, fish, and plants for food. Long ago, Truganina Swamp didn't have a clear way for its water to flow into Port Phillip Bay. As Altona grew, the swamp was taken over by Melbourne Water in 1961 to help with drainage and prevent floods. The Laverton Creek channel was built to drain water to the Bay and made wider to handle more floodwater. A raised bank was also built to protect nearby homes from floods.
In the past, Truganina Swamp became a place where people rode motorbikes and dumped rubbish. But in 1993, a group called the Friends of Westona Wetlands was formed. They convinced Melbourne Water to put up a fence to stop illegal vehicles and protect the sensitive parts of the Swamp. This environmental group also worked with local companies to build a bridge in 1997 and a bird hide in 1998. You can reach the bird hide from the entrance to Truganina Swamp on Bell Avenue. There's also a walking and cycling trail that goes around the swamp and connects to the Hobsons Bay Coastal Trail.
Ongoing projects for the Swamp include keeping an eye on the bird species, the Altona skipper butterfly, and the chaffy saw sedge. They also work on planting new vegetation and collecting seeds.
Kooringal Golf Club
The Kooringal Golf Club has an 18-hole golf course. It opened in 1946 as the Williamstown Golf Club. In 1958, its name was changed to Kooringal, which is an Aboriginal word meaning "by the water." This happened when Altona became its own separate town.
The golf course is special because it's the last remaining part of a long line of sand ridges that used to run along the coast. These ridges are important for understanding how sea levels have changed over thousands of years. They show that the sea level was once higher than it is today. The way the golf course is set up helps to preserve the shape of these old ridges.
Altona Treatment Plant
There are plans to open a unique art project to the public at the Altona Treatment Plant. It's called A Forest for Australia and was created by Agnes Denes, a famous artist known for her environmental art.
In 1998, she planted 6,000 endangered trees in a special way. She used different types of trees like red gum, she oak, and paperbark. She planted them in five spirals that cross each other. The tallest trees were planted in the middle of each spiral, with medium-height trees next, and the shortest trees on the outer edges. This made each spiral look like a step pyramid. Her spiral design carefully considered how tall each tree type would grow. This project also helps with land erosion and turning the area into a desert.
