Barwon Water restoring basin to community asset

WORK is underway at Barwon Water’s former Bellarine Basin in Wallington to decommission the facility, restore the headwaters of the Yarram Creek and transition the 30-hectare site into an environmental and community asset.

The site’s advisory group that includes Wadawurrung Traditional Owners, have renamed the area on the corner of Grubb and Swan Bay roads Murrk Ngubitj Yarram Yaluk, meaning ‘head waters of continuous flowing river’ in Wadawurrung language.

Yarram is a Wadawurrung word meaning continuously flowing.

“We are pleased to see a name for this site that reflects Wadawurrung history of use by travellers going east to west to access fresh water,” the Aboriginal Corporation’s language officer Stephanie Skinner said.

Barwon Water will be undertaking further community engagement on the project over the next six months with a concept plan showing the site’s proposed layout and activities to soon be available.

The water authority anticipates it will be open early 2023 and the community will be invited to help with ongoing revegetation work there.

Barwon Water’s Managing Director Tracey Slatter said the plans support the site’s cultural and environmental values, and the authority’s commitment to open it for public use and recreational purposes.

“Caring for country and protecting the natural assets we all depend upon is becoming increasingly crucial, and we are proud to be taking such responsibility with the Bellarine Basin rehabilitation project,” she said.

Works at Murrk Ngubitj Yarram Yaluk – a new space with benefits to the environment and local community – will be carried out progressively and will involve observing and responding to the environment, to ensure we protect and enhance the ecological values of the site at each stage.”