Our History

Virtually all land between Newport and South Australia was formed in volcanic eruptions four and a half million years ago. Eruptions occurred as recently as four thousand years ago. The lava covered the area to form a dense rock called Basalt, what we call Bluestone. Over this a thin, clay soil slowly accumulated.

For thousands of years this area was flat, grassland scattered with bluestone outcrops. These were Bunjil or Eagle Clan lands, the park was the site of an ancient hill used by the local tribes.

There are shells scattered on the higher areas indicating imported soil, a higher sea level or possibly even middens left from foraging for food although this has not been established.

European settlers called this area 'Goose Flats'. The area became part of the Parish of Cut Paw Paw and its 158 acres, referred to as CP D/sec 6, were granted as a farm and pastoral property to William Hall in 1852 after an auction in 1851. It appeared as Lot 10 and was sold for one hundred and seventy-three pounds and sixteen shillings. William called the property 'Stony Rises'.

Rate records from 1863 indicate that William Hall leased the property to Samuel Bunting and Charles Newport. William and Michael Durkin ran 157 acres as a farm.

Rate records from 1868-9 first record the property as a quarry and as occupied by Doherty. William Hall leased one acre of the property to James Horsley, quarryman and carrier, as a stone quarry for seven years from June 1869 for one hundred pounds per annum paid monthly. This arrangement carried on into the 1880's.

The bluestone quarried was used as ballast by ships returning to Europe from docks at Footscray, Newport and Williamstown. The bluestone was also an important source of building material in Melbourne. Early quarry work was carried out manually by British tradesmen.

In 1884, the quarry was shared in 16 perch areas between: William Byers, Robert Allen, Andrew Anderson, James Gibson, Donald McKenzie, Thomas Neill and Joseph Willis.

In the late 1880's, William Bannister leased an area of 32 perches. In the 1887-8 rates, William Bridges joined the other leaseholders. In the 1889-1890 rates, John Scriven and Robert Fenton joined the other leaseholders. In the late 1880's, Ernest Chambers, a solicitor, was rated for 150 acres for use as a farm.

William died in 1889 and willed the site to Thomas Hoad Hall. In the 1890's other quarrymen appearing on the rates were Phillip Ludlow, J Beanland, Henry Booker, Cameron & Lafferty, John Gandion, Alex McDonald, Neal & Sharp, Ben Serrivan and John Hughes.

There were fewer people listed in the 1890's depression including William Bannister, David Mitchell and Joseph Beanland, with Thomas Hall running the rest as a diary farm.

(Some of these names are familiar as streets and roads in the district: Hall St, Durkin St, Anderson St and Chambers Rd)

By 1900 only William Bannister, James Gibson and Joseph Willis still operated quarries and by the First World War only James Gibson remained with a 2 acre lease. His son, Joseph, (born 1864, married 1898) was also a quarryman and his great grandson, Cliff, was also connected with the building trade.

With the development of steam mechanization during the First World War, companies removed top soil and placed it along the foreshore but it was washed away in later years.

Thomas leased 98 x 66 feet of the property to Harry K Matthews in 1922 and the northeast corner to William Matthews for two years for fifty-seven pounds and twelve shillings per annum. Most of the property was leased as a quarry in 1921 to Pat, John and Daniel Sexton for five years for eighty-two pounds and ten shillings per annum. Thomas died in 1923 and his executors, Harry Emerton and Herbert Hamer, took over the property. In 1927 the title was converted to Torrens (see registration number RGO SN 461 25).

After WW1, there were three quarrying companies. Consolidated Quarries operated the largest quarry in the north-west hole, now called the North-West Plain. Pavey and Company operated in the south hole, now called Pavey's Park. Matthews and Son (or The Matthews Brothers of Newscastle Street with William Edwards) operated a 10 acre quarry in the eastern hole, now called North and South Lakes.

In the 1920's, L Hansen of Daylesford took William Edward's place as well as owning the 20 acre quarry addressed at Mason Street.

Matthew & Son employed 50 people and operated three teams of draught horses. The other companies employed as many as 200-250 people at the height of production. On hearing a siren, residents in surrounding houses had only minutes to get under cover.

In 1924, the City of Williamstown bought the first eastern block of the area, 5.5 hectares along Johnston Street up to north of Challis Street. Quarry Street, which no longer exists, ran through this block.

This quarry provided the City of Williamstown with aggregate building materials until the 1950's. It was leased first to Consolidated Quarries and then to Pioneer Quarries on an extraction royalty basis. The material excavated can be seen throughout Williamstown in the sea wall, roads and gutters.

The roads were constructed by hand in the 1920's. Large horse-drawn rollers crushed the rock producing a surface called 'roughten pitcher'. Areas of heavier traffic used 'tefford pitcher', triangular fragments of bluemetal fitted together with a sealing cap of crushed blue metal.

In the 1930's, Matthew and Son used steam-powered machinery to extend the areas of the works but reducing the number of laborers from 50 to 12.

By the 1940's, excavation provided crushed rock for the freezing works wet of the Champion Rd rail crossing. This building has been demolished.

An aerial view of 1945 shows the major quarry holes as well as complexes of store buildings off Johnston Street in the north eastern section of the site and what may be a large house yard and garden (the old farm?). There were more isolated buildings along the south side of the quarry site.

In 1968, the quarry was considered 'worked out' again and, after negotiations the land use zoning was changed from light industrial to public open space. The planning amendment number was 21968. The first objective of the City of Williamstown Council under the Melbourne Metropolitan Board of Works guidelines was to make the land reusable.

In 1973-4, the Melbourne Metropolitan Board of Works proposed a grant to be made available to the City of Williamstown under the condition that the land be used as a regional refuse disposal. The site would then be developed as public open space and remain in public ownership.

Pavey's Hole operated as a tip from 1975 until around 1982. In 1977, the Johnston Street edge of the area and the south-eastern corner were planted with trees.

The former quarries were left with vertical cliff faces and a child of four and a 40-year old mentally disabled man fell to their deaths from the cliffs at the north-western edge in the early 1980s.

Perimeter fences were erected and the cliffs were terraced, landscaped and planted from the late 1980s. Landscaping throughout the area created micro-climates where a variety of water plants could be established before water levels were raised.

Pavey's Hole, which is where the playgrounds are now, and the Arboretum, which was never quarried, were the first areas to be re-developed in the early 1980's. The Arboretum was landscaped and planted by Community Employment workers.

The first Friends group formed in 1984, until 1987, as an action group to stop The City of Williamstown plans to turn the northern lake into a tip.

There were many disputes within Council and the public against using the area as a tip as local newspapers of the time show.

On 27/2/1984, Council held a public meeting in the Town Hall supper room to discuss the future use of the Newport quarries. Council planned to use all the remaining holes as a "regional refuse disposal facility" (or a garbage tip in common language) to bring in a lot of income for council and reduce rates. Some councillors and the majority of the angry members of the local community at the meeting, were bitterly opposed to this and wanted the whole area kept as a public park.

At a subsequent council meeting, Labour Councillors Geraldine Schutt and Mary Burbidge voted against the caucus decision to fill the holes with garbage. Finally a compromise was reached to fill the north-west hole and to use the income from tipping fees to develop the other holes as a bushland park.

Work to re-claim the land started in 1987. The holes were originally nine metres deep, but quarry operations reduced this considerably.

The North-West Hole operated as a tip from 30 September 1987 until 1995. It accepted putresible and non-putresible waste from the public and the cities of Altona, Richmond, Williamstown and Port Melbourne.

In 1989, the Pavey's Park playground was built and Pavey's Hole opened as a park.

Between 1992-5, Maarten Hulzebosch planned the current reserve (he later worked with Werribee Open Range Zoo). He drained the lakes and made them shallower, about three metres. This was a safety measure.

There is also a gully through the Arboretum that could bring storm water from the streets of Newport into the park. Martin's plan was that this water would filter through the lakes in the Arboretum before it reached the North and South Lakes. Currently this system is not used. To maintain a lake depth of three metres, water from an aquifer 120 metres underground is pumped into the lakes by a bore in the Amphitheatre. Unfortunately, this water is brackish and not potable.

Seed was collected from wherever it could be found, grown and planted. This means that many of the trees in the Lakes are not indigenous but from South and Western Australia where they were locally adapted to dry conditions and sandy soils. As these trees grow we can now see they are not suited for the shallow, heavy clay soil conditions in the park. Many of these trees are breaking, their roots grow along the surface of the soil and some trees are dying. Other trees die as their roots breaks through the imported top soil into the rubbish of the old tips below.

Martin built the up the land and placed the stepping stones between north and south lake. He erected the dead gums in north lake as perches for larger water birds like Cormorants. Each tree cost $500 to plant. He sculpted the 20 metre drop of the cliffs surrounding North and South Lake in order to make them safer.

Between 1992 and 1995 several unemployed work schemes did more planting and weeding, built the toilet blocks, put up possum boxes in the tallest outer trees, produced a leaflet and conducted tours.

The reserve officially opened on 15 December 1995 although locals have used the area unofficially for decades. In 1996, members of Department of Education, Employment and Training programs devised educational tours and leaflets and undertook re-vegetation and fencing. Earth's Backyard created a display nursery of three gardens, a greenhouse and a display of worm farms and composting.

In the summer of 1997, the current Friends of Newport Lakes group formed after the disappointment of only three people (Valerie, Sarah Berry and Ron Bowman) turning up to an Earth's Backyard led meeting.

In October 1996, the Hobsons Bay City Council's (HBCC) developed a Masterplan for the Newport Lakes Reserve Bushland Park. There were two versions exhibited for public comment in the following year. The other plan included a shop/tearooms and an environmental educational centre. The following is an excerpt from the bushland plan:

"This plan sees the creation of a very simple bushland park. The lakes (eastern) area of the park, which is already open for visitors, will continue to be a bushland haven. Planting will be extended into the western half of the park. New picnic areas will be created on the sites which were formerly the tip holes and have now been "capped" with clay."

Implementation of this simple design could begin within a short period of time. The bushland park could then be added some of the types of activities outlined in the "Future Park Development Options" plan.

"Improvements to the park will include planting native trees and shrubs in and around North West Hole, Paveys Hole and the western part of the park. The native planting will encourage birds and wildlife into the park, allowing visitors to enjoy the sounds and sights of the bush. The arboretum area will be refined, with trees grouped into their country of origin, use or botanical features. A bicycle and walking track will be built through the park, with entrances off Margaret Street, Johnstone Street, Percy Street and Bruce Street. Walkers will also be able to enjoy strolling along a number of smaller walking tracks. Car access to the park will be restricted, with the only car entry off Margaret Street and with pedestrian entry off Bruce Street, Margaret Street and Johnstone Street. Picnic areas have been built around the lakes area, providing a peaceful setting for family gatherings. Additional picnic areas will be built at Pavey's Hole and NW Hole. To protect wildlife, dogs will not be permitted in the eastern (lakes) section. Dog walkers will be free to walk their dogs on leads in the western section. In the future, we hope to get support through a local friends group and through local businesses and institutions."

In 1997-8, the nursery closed and Earth's Backyard left Newport Lakes. The Friends start holding 7-10 public events a year planting, weeding and educating members.

Newport Lakes starts to become a regular venue for 'Blue Heelers', filming adverts, nude photography, weddings and funerals.

In 1998, HBCC released plans for BBQ shelters. The Friends ran a recycled watering project with Shell and Ecogen and built and installed bird boxes. The fence surrounding the Arboretum is finally removed.

In 1999, BBQ shelters were using poles donated, through the Friends, by AGL. Benches are built in the Arboretum. HBCC released plans for a playground to be built in the BBQ shelter area. This was not subsequently built. Some of the funds were used to improve the drainage of the area. The Friends ran a photo competition and set up its web site.

In 1999, HBCC released its first five-year Vegetation Management Plan. This expires in 2003. The plan splits the park into several similar zones. It describes what trees/plants are to be planted, where and when and what weeds are common where and when and how they should be destroyed. HBCC start to hold major plantings with schools and corporate sponsors (such as Toyota). FoNL received a $3500 community grant to create a bird hide, a mosaic bird trail and trail leaflet.

In 2000, HBCC re-tendered management of the park until 2002 accompanied by a Management Contract. The Friends found the contract inadequate and submitted an alternative structure with more rigorous key performance indicators.

This submission was ignored. However, staffing levels were increased slightly and the nursery was reopened under the tender of Greybox (Christine and Peter Wlodarczyk). Darren Enst became the Ranger. HBCC install new fences around the park and remove all the low vegetation (that tempted residents to dump rubbish).

In 2001, HBCC released its plans for the widened and improved park entrance for completion in 2003.

Andrew Webster became the Ranger. Susie Inglis, Ranger, held the first City of Hobsons Bay Friends Field Day.

The FoNL bird trail and leaflet was launched. HBCC launched its own trail and leaflet as well. The Friends ran a VUT Work for the Dole Program building paths in Pavey's Park.

During 1996, the DEET groups started to form a Friends group, but abandoned the idea, and us, when their funding was changed.

Three people, Ron Bowman, Valerie and Sarah Berry, who turned up to what we thought would be a meeting of the DEET led Friends in February 1997, found no one else there. We were annoyed and decided that we’d start a Friends group ourselves.

We invited a fourth member into our gang, John, who had been a part of the original action group stopping the new tip in the 1980’s.

We found out various pieces of information and decided to arrange our first community event in May, a tree planting to coincide with Arbor Week.

It was a great success, with more than 50 residents turning up and planting 500 trees and grasses. Afterwards we enjoyed a well-deserved sausage sizzle.