New Urban Park for Melbourne’s east

A massive new urban park - ngarrak nakorang wilam park – will run from Forest Hill, through Vermont and connect to the Dandenong trail.

The trail across Melbourne’s east will bring families and communities together via the opening up the equivalent of 18 MCGs with wide open spaces and trails connecting suburbs.

The new park will include a 3.5km shared-use walking and cycling trail, toilet block, and open recreational space for visitors to enjoy all year round.

The shared-use trail will run the entire length of the park and will feature seating, drinking fountains, lighting, and signage at key locations to support cyclists, runners, and walkers along the route.

Dedicated activity spaces along the trail will include play equipment, picnic tables, shelters, barbecues, and accessible toilets. Construction began this week and is expected to finish mid-2026.

The ‘ngarrak nakorang wilam’ name means ‘Mountain Meeting Place’ and was chosen by the Wurundjeri Woi Wurrung Cultural Heritage Aboriginal Corporation. The name celebrates Wurundjeri Traditional Owner connections to Country and vividly expresses how parks bring people together.

The park was designed in consultation with local community to make sure it meets the needs of the community and has the right amenities in the right location.

A comprehensive vegetation strategy will also enhance the area’s biodiversity, with new plantings providing habitat for local wildlife including gang-gang cockatoos, kookaburras, and echidnas.

The strategy also includes weed control and habitat improvements like nesting boxes to improve the area’s local wild life and environment.

The Victorian Government is investing $10.5 million to the creation of the new park on the previously underutilised 35ha tract of land known locally as the Healesville Freeway Reserve.

For more information visit parks.vic.gov.au.