Melbourne’s green spaces are growing. Earlier this month, Parks Victoria announced the launch of a 2.5-kilometre lakeside trail and a magical five-kilometre bushland track in Jells Park, and now they’ve revealed the details of a huge new urban park in the city’s east. Due to open in mid-2026, the $10.5-million public parkland will occupy the 35-hectare stretch of land known locally as the Healesville Freeway Reserve – a meandering pocket of land equivalent in size to 18 MCGs.
Coming to life on the lands of the Wurundjeri people, the park will be titled ‘ngarrak nakorang wilam’, a name chosen by the Wurundjeri Woi Wurrung Cultural Heritage Aboriginal Corporation, meaning ‘Mountain Meeting Place’. The name celebrates Wurundjeri Traditional Owner connections to Country, and the role of parks in bringing communities together.
To transform the unused stretch of land into public parkland, the Victorian Government is investing $10.5 million into land restoration and construction. The key feature of the park will be a 3.5-kilometre shared-use walking and cycling trail running the length of the park, which will be lined with dedicated activity spaces including sheltered seating areas, playgrounds and barbecues. Construction will also involve lighting along the path, as well as accessible toilets and drinking fountains. To support the local ecosystem, a vegetation strategy will be put into place to enhance the area’s biodiversity, with new plantings providing habitats for local wildlife including gang-gang cockatoos, kookaburras and echidnas.
“The new facilities, walking trails and green space at ngarrak nakorang wilam park will transform how our community connects with nature and spends time together outdoors,” says Member for Glen Waverley John Mullahy.
Construction is due to start soon, with the park set to open in mid-2026. Keen to know more? You can learn more over here.
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