Foreshore transformation: an eastern gateway to Perth city

There will be a volleyball net, hammocks in a shady grove, a mounded playground, skate park extension, playing courts added to with a BMX track and outdoor gym. The idea is to have something for all ages and interests.

Event spaces will remain in the park and pedestrian and cycle pathways will eventually be separated, with the cycle path to move back in line with those through Sir James Mitchell Park.

In another nod to modern sensibilities, Taylor Street will be upgraded with paving and flush edging to signify “a shared zone rather than a roadway.” The area at the end will be formed into a headland at first, and will later get decking. The vision is eventually a cafe or coffee van, and even a ferry stop.

“When they think Town of Victoria Park most people don’t think Swan River or Burswood Peninsula. They think Albany Highway cafe strip,” said TOVP chief operating officer Ben Killigrew.

“And yet we have some of the best access of any local government in the state … kilometres of river frontage.

“We have a very strong desire to create that linkage, especially for the peninsula, where many of our future residents will live in all those transit-oriented developments. We want to reintroduce the river to Victoria Park.”

Mr Killigrew said this approach would both protect the environment and “activate” the space. The river wall was way past the end of its useful life and was only a burden on ratepayers.

“Natural edge treatments will attract fauna, including black swans, back to the river, and that’s an important part of the ecosystem that’s not really happening right now,” he said.

While further state contributions are “warmly welcomed”, this project is considered a “priority” for the town with or without outside funding.

Urbis’ Peter Hillman said people were increasingly aware of their impact on the environment and saw river ecosystems as important, and also as beautiful.

“They want to go and stand on the beach and touch the water,” he said.

“This is happening in Sydney and Brisbane and Melbourne and probably in other cities across the world. I know of a number of projects along Sydney waterfronts and I would imagine the same reasons are behind it.

“To gather at a beach within the city is a really exciting thing for people of all ages.”

Works at Point Fraser across the river in the City of Perth have proved the effectiveness of reintroducing riverfront wetland systems to reduce pollution from stormwater.

Effectively reversing the previous urban expansion emphasis of infilling the river and foreshore, the $2.25 million project focused on reinstating original native vegetation, fauna habitat, three different wetland zones and mudflats in recognition of the barrier a hardwall posed both to people and animals.

Fourteen years after its completion, wildlife is returning to the area, and interpretative trails give both locals and tourists visiting the Ku De Ta redevelopment insight into the environmental issues and the area’s cultural history, both indigenous and European.