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Voice Bellarine
MOVING MURAL - PAGE 2
DECEMBER 2017
BELLARINE’S NUMBER ONE NEWSPAPER
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New park is a real sanctuary
Geelong MP Christine Couzens with City of Greater Geelong Community Life director Linda Quinn and children of Leopold Primary School at the new playground.
The City of Greater Geelong and the Victorian Government officially opened the new Gateway Sanctuary playground in Leopold. Located on the corner Melaluka Road and the Bellarine Highway, the new and larger playground is based around nature play, incorporating the sanctuary’s natural surrounds and allowing children of all ages to play and immerse themselves in the natural environment. Leopold Primary School students tested out the new play equipment, which features a rope bridge, tunnels, mud pits, logs, sand, fossils, magnifying glasses and water play. Designed with a sustainability focus, the playground features more than 2000 mostly indigenous plants, recycled and re-purposed timber and mulch, local stone, low-carbon concrete and recycled crushed rock. A further sustainable aspect of the project involved Highton, Geelong and Flemington Rotary clubs and the MG Car Club Geelong dismantling the old play equipment and sending it to Sri Lanka to be re-used as part of the Sputnik Children’s Park and Toy Library project.
Better for boats Boating access along the Bellarine Peninsula will be easier this summer due to the completion of the Clifton Springs boat harbour upgrade. The boat harbour upgrade has been jointly funded by the Victorian Government and the City of Greater Geelong. New housing and infrastructure developments along the Bellarine Peninsula have placed pressure on local marine infrastruc-
ture, resulting in a three-year upgraded. The upgrade was divided into three stages. Stage one included the construction of two concrete boat ramps, a 35-metre causeway to assist boat launching and retrieval, and the removal of built-up sediment at the end of the boat ramps. It also included resurfacing and expansion of the boat trailer parking area. Stage two included the extension of the harbour entrance to allow for more water traf-
fic, the construction of the new western beach rock groyne and the establishment of an allability fishing platform. Stage three included the completion of the final phases of land reclamation in the eastern section of the harbour, renourishing the eastern beach with sand, increasing the available recreational beach space, as well as establishing a roundabout to assist with traffic circulation.
The boat harbour is complete, though dredging of sediment will continue to allow safe passage in the opening of the harbour. “The City will continue to apply for funding to improve recreational boating facilities at Clifton Springs,” City of Greater Geelong’s city services director Guy Wilson-Browne said. “The sand from future dredging will continue to improve this area, however, this may take another two to three years to complete.”
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