Lysterfield Valley Significant Landscape Saved

The National Trust Dandenong Ranges Branch has welcomed a decision by the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (VCAT) to reject a proposal that would have seen 400,000 cubic metres of fill material dumped across 15 hectares of the Lysterfield Valley. Handed down in late June, the Tribunal’s 141-page ruling found the proposed use fundamentally at odds with the valley’s landscape and environmental significance, offering no net benefit to the community while leaving unresolved risks to Monbulk Creek — home to the last remaining platypus population in the Dandenong Ranges catchment.

Lysterfield Valley is an attractive pastoral landscape which forms a part of a “green wedge” between the suburban areas of Rowville and Dandenong North and the urbanised Ferntree Gully-Belgrave ridge of the Dandenongs. The National Trust classified the valley in 1981 (L10104) for its attractive landscape character and its importance as a buffer between Metropolitan Melbourne and the Dandenong Ranges.
For many visitors, the Lysterfield Valley forms the major “gateway” to the Dandenongs from the metropolitan area. The excellent views of this landscape from Glenfern Road and Mount Morton highlights its importance as a buffer between urban and rural areas and as a visual transition between the metropolitan suburbia and the elevated and forested slopes of the Dandenong. Extensive clearing of native vegetation in the past has exposed the bold hills and steep slopes of the Valley landform particularly in the east. The major attraction of this landscape is its simplicity in colour, shape and texture in contrast to the forested areas in the South and South-East, the suburban development to the West and the forest residential character of Belgrave.

The decision by VCAT is a vindication for the community, local residents and six environmental groups, who alongside the volunteer members of the Dandenong Ranges Branch dedicated time, energy, and resources to the case, in defence of this iconic valley. We extend congratulations to everyone involved in this fight, in particular, Carolyn Ebdon, President of the Dandenong Ranges Branch of the National Trust of Australia (Victoria).

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