Cement Creek Redwood Forest facility upgrades

Project status

May 2023:

Project timelines for the Cement Creek Redwood Forest facility upgrades have been delayed, while we work through significant and necessary assessments and permits. The project has undertaken a number of design iterations that work to protect the natural and cultural values of the park, and ensure that any works complement and are sympathetic to this stunning environment into the future. We will provide further updates as this progresses.
The Cement Creek Redwood Forest is currently closed to all vehicle and pedestrian access via Cement Creek Road due to works being delivered by Yarra Ranges Council to upgrade the Cement Creek Road Bridge. Visitors can access Redwood Forest by bike or on foot via the O’Shannassy Aqueduct Trail, however please note this is a 16km round trip. For more information please visit the Yarra Ranges Council project page.

The project

This project is being delivered on Wurundjeri Country.

The Cement Creek Redwood Forest in the Yarra Ranges National Park has become an increasingly popular site for visitation over the last few years thanks to the enchanting and photogenic Californian Redwood trees.

Visitors to the Yarra Ranges National Park will soon enjoy greater accessibility, new facilities and increased protection of the environment through a new project at the Redwood Forest.

Parks Victoria, Melbourne Water and Yarra Ranges Council are working together to deliver improved visitor facilities to manage increased visitation at the site while ensuring the environment’s natural values are protected. These works will include:

Parks Victoria works:

Adding additional car parking spaces
Construction of an accessible public toilet facility
Installation of a visitor safety gate
Construction of a visitor weather shelter
Formalising sections of the existing trail network

Melbourne Water works:

Construction of boardwalks, viewing platforms and fencing to support visitor accessibility and additional open space opportunities
Re-vegetation along the Cement Creek and the Yarra River to improve river health and provide habitat

Yarra Ranges Council works:

Upgrading the Cement Creek Road Bridge to increase the load limit
Re-surfacing of Cement Creek Road between the bridge and entrance to Redwood Forest.

Environmental and cultural heritage assessments will inform exactly where, when and how components of the project are delivered.

Project benefits

Visitors

The improvements delivered through this project will improve access for diverse visitors to experience the Redwood Forest, with a new accessible public toilet and wet weather shelter.

Environment

The project includes environmental protection works from both Melbourne Water and Parks Victoria to minimise the impacts of visitation to the site. This includes formalising sections of the existing trail network, building boardwalks, viewing platforms and fencing, re-vegetating areas along the Cement Creek and the Yarra River, and closing some informal trails to allow for re-vegetation of the surrounding environment.

Community

The project involves adding more car parking at the site, which will reduce the traffic impacts and safety issues on the road for the local community, and also support tourism opportunities in the area which may benefit local business.

Project funding

This project is being made possible thanks to the following funding:

$2.3 million from the Victorian Government's $46 million Regional Tourism Investment Fund
$400,000 from Melbourne Water
An additional $300,000 from the Victorian Government

Project timeline

Subject to on-ground and construction industry conditions, and environmental and cultural heritage assessments, the timeline for Parks Victoria's portion of works is estimated below:

Mid 2023: Draft designs shared with the community
Mid 2023: Town Planning permit application and Heritage Victoria permit application
Late 2023: Final designs released
Late 2023: Procurement of construction contractor
Early 2024: Construction commences

This timeline will be updated as the project progresses.

Environment and cultural heritage management

A key objective of this project is to complete environmental protection works and to minimise future impacts of visitation. This will be delivered through formalising sections of the existing trail network, re-vegetating the creek and riverbed and closing some informal trails.

We are working with Wurundjeri Woi-wurrung Cultural Heritage Aboriginal Corporation to develop and implement a Cultural Heritage Management Plan for the site, to ensure the cultural values of the site are protected.

Who we're working with

Access changes

Yarra Ranges Council Cement Creek Road bridge works: Road access closed

Yarra Ranges Council is completing important works to rehabilitate and upgrade Cement Creek Road Bridge.
While the Cement Creek Redwood Forest itself is not closed, vehicle and pedestrian access via Cement Creek Road will remain closed into 2023 as bridge works are being completed.
Visitors can still access the Cement Creek Redwood Forest by bike or on foot via the O’Shannassy Aqueduct Trail, however please note this journey is approximately a 16km round trip.
Information about the Council’s Cement Creek Road Bridge upgrades and expected construction timelines are available on their website.

Parks Victoria Cement Creek Redwood Forest facility upgrades: Works to upgrade the visitor facilities at the Redwood Forest have not commenced. Some areas of the park may be closed to the public while we complete the upgrades, to ensure the safety of our visitors and staff. For up-to-date information on access changes in the park, please refer to the Redwood Forest park page on the Parks Victoria website.

Related information

FAQs

What is being delivered as part of the Warburton Redwood Forest facility upgrades project?
The project is set to deliver additional car parking spaces, accessible toilets, visitor safety gates and shelters, the formalisation of trails and new boardwalks and viewing areas along Cement Creek and the Yarra River.

Why are you upgrading the Redwood Forest?
The Cement Creek Redwood Forest in the Yarra Ranges National Park has become an increasingly popular site over recent years due to the enchanting and photogenic Californian Redwood (Sequoia sempervirens) trees. Parks Victoria and Melbourne Water are improving visitor facilities to manage increased visitation at the site while ensuring the environment’s natural, cultural and historical values are protected.

How will formalising the trails assist in protecting the habitats and ecosystems at the Redwoods?
As with many of our special green spaces, the Cement Creek Redwood Forest site is made up of various ecosystems, and provides important habitat for local plants and wildlife. Increased visitation means that the park’s unique Californian Redwood (Sequoia sempervirens) trees and the surrounding habitat are regularly exposed to the impacts of foot traffic, causing damage over time. By formalising the trails through the park, visitors will be able to explore the wonders of the park’s towering forest and bubbling waters of Cement Creek and the Yarra River, while ensuring that the surrounding plants and wildlife can not only survive, but flourish.

When will the upgrades be built?
Construction of Parks Victoria's portion of works is expected to start in early 2024, subject to on-ground and construction industry conditions, and environmental, Aboriginal cultural heritage and Heritage Victoria approvals.

How is the project being funded?
The Victorian Government has invested $2.6 million to uplift the visitor experience at the Cement Creek Plantation. Parks Victoria will deliver extended carparking, an accessible public toilet, a safety gate and wet-weather visitor shelter, and will manage visitor impacts by formalising the existing trail network. An additional $400,000 funded by Melbourne Water will support visitor accessibility and revegetation along the Cement Creek and riverbank by constructing boardwalks, viewing platforms and fencing.

What Aboriginal cultural heritage protection is being undertaken?
We are working with the Wurundjeri Woi-wurrung Cultural Heritage Aboriginal Corporation to develop and implement a Cultural Heritage Management Plan to ensure the cultural values of the site are protected.

Will there be access restrictions to the Redwood Forest while the Parks Victoria upgrades are happening?
Some areas of the park may be closed to the public while we complete the upgrades, to ensure the safety of our visitors and staff. For up-to-date information on access changes in the park, please refer to the Redwood Forest park page on the Parks Victoria website.

When will the access restrictions be in place?
Construction of Parks Victoria's portion of works is expected to commence in early 2024, subject to on-ground and construction industry conditions, and environmental, Aboriginal cultural heritage and Heritage Victoria approvals. For up-to-date information on access changes in the park, please refer to the Redwood Forest park page on the Parks Victoria website.

Why has the Redwood Forest been added to the Victorian Heritage Register?
The Cement Creek Plantation in Warburton (which includes the Redwood Forest) has been added to Victorian Heritage Register due to its aesthetic, historic and scientific significance.

During the 1920s and 1930s, the plantation was a site of the Melbourne and Metropolitan Board of Works’ (MMBW) (Melbourne Water’s predecessor) scientific program to ensure water purity in catchment areas that had been degraded through decades of farming, fires and logging of native forests. Part of an extensive revegetation program, this experimental plantation tested the potential of Conifer species to improve land and water quality, as well as for their commercial timber potential. While it’s now understood that Victoria’s land, water and forest ecology is better served by revegetation with native species, the MMBW’s Conifer experiments represent an evolutionary phase of water and forestry science in Victoria. Comprising of approximately 1,500 trees, it’s one of the largest scientific plantations of the twentieth century in Victoria.

The Cement Creek Plantation is aesthetically significant for its cathedral-like atmosphere created by trees up to 55 metres tall, which are closely-planted in regular formations. The place is noticeably quiet as few native birds or animals are attracted to non-native conifers. The visual and non-visual aspects of this commanding landscape inspires awe, peace and mystery. The close planting of Coast Redwoods in Plot 1 has particularly unusual sensory qualities, being dark due to its closed canopy and silent as a result of the thick Redwood bark absorbing sound.

How will this impact the upgrades planned for the Redwood Forest?
In April 2023, the Heritage Council Victoria determined that the Cement Creek Plantation in Warburton (which includes the Redwood Forest) is of state heritage significance under the Heritage Act 2017. This means that while the Cement Creek Plantation has been included on the Yarra Ranges Shire Council heritage overlay for many years, the process to obtain heritage permits will now be run by Heritage Victoria, and it will run in parallel to the Yarra Ranges Shire Council planning permit process.

The draft designs for the upgrades have been developed in consideration of the site’s unique cultural and environmental values, and aim to protect what it is that makes the Redwoods so special. Pending the outcomes of the Heritage Victoria permit assessment and the Yarra Ranges Shire Council planning permit assessment, we expect that the project scope to deliver improved visitor facilities and formalised trails will not vary significantly.

Where can I find out more information about the Victorian Heritage Register?
To find out more about the Victoria’s heritage places and assets, and how they are protected, visit the Heritage Victoria website and the Heritage Council Victoria website.

How can I stay up-to-date with project progress?
For more information about the project and to stay up to date with progress, subscribe to our community newsletter or email us at engage@park.vic.gov.au.