Community at odds with Parks Victoria over vision for Serendip Sanctuary

COMMUNITY concerns about the long-term viability of Serendip Sanctuary as a tourism attraction remain, as construction nears on the site’s new sensory garden, a project that is at odds with many locals’ aspirations for the site.

The sanctuary was once known for its captive breeding program for threatened and endangered species, but Parks Victoria started quietly removing native exhibits from the reserve in mid-2022, despite community feedback supporting the retention of the program.

It followed the release of a masterplan for the site, with $11 million committed to the revitalisation of the precinct, which incorporates the You Yangs, ahead of the 2022 state election.

Parks Victoria started quietly removing native exhibits from Serendip in mid-2022, with few animals now remaining.

While this masterplan makes mention of threatened species management programs, it is understood the form this will take is still to be “worked through”.

However, a business case for Serendip’s future, made public in 2023 after Lara Care Group successfully applied for the documents through freedom of information legislation, revealed Parks Victoria never intended on keeping the breeding program.

The group’s Barry White, who was until recently a member of the precinct’s Stakeholder Reference Group (SRG), said that unless Parks Victoria adopted a significant change in priorities and direction, the masterplan would be “disastrous” for a visitor attraction and will be “terminal” for the sanctuary as a tourism opportunity.

An abundance of the once-endangered magpie goose at the reserve has been put forward as an example of the success of the sanctuary’s former captive breeding program for threatened and endangered species.

“The true value for Serendip as a wildlife park must be recognised and restored…[it] should have been managed as a showcase,” Mr White said.

He believes Parks Victoria continues to view Serendip as a “liability” rather than a major state asset with the potential to become an attraction for locals and visitors similar in nature to Healesville Sanctuary and Kyabram Fauna Park.

Mr White’s withdrawal from the SRG, despite his years of advocacy for the revival of the sanctuary, followed what he described as a “systemic failure of process” and “lack of transparency” from Parks Victoria that had left the organisation with a “fundamental difference of view” to the community.

Indigenous trees, not long planted at the sanctuary, appear to have been forgotten, with many already dead.

With a contractor now appointed to build the new sensory garden, works are expected to begin in the coming months, while additional draft designs for the precinct are also expected to be released for public viewing, addressing upgrades to the sanctuary’s entrance, visitor facilities and wildlife walk.

In the meantime, much of the reserve’s existing infrastructure has fallen into disrepair, including seating throughout the sanctuary, while recent Indigenous plantings have also withered. The site’s display pond has remained closed for much of the past year after structural issues were identified.