By Ethan Benedicto
A new car park for Wilson Botanic Park has been included in the City of Casey’s April meeting agenda, with a $310,000 projected cost.
The car park, which was first identified as a need in the Wilson Botanic Park 2022 master plan, was stated to provide an additional 66 parking spaces on site.
The master plan also detailed that if delivered, it “may alleviate some of the demand that exists on street parking at Kramer Drive”.
According to Casey’s manager of creative communities, Emily Clarke, it has been confirmed that a new “overflow car park” has been proposed in the 2025/2026 Draft Budget Report.
“The car park, identified in the 2022 Wilson Botanic Park masterplan, would be located off Kramer Drive and would be used during peak periods, such as weekends, school holidays, and a small number of special events.
“It won’t be a paved surface; instead, existing grassy areas would be strengthened to maintain the natural character and protect tree root systems,” she said.
Statistics from Casey show that visitation to Wilson Botanic Park has increased dramatically in recent years, placing more stress on the current parking capability.
In 2022 alone, visitation to the park was 589,591, which increased to 910,501 in 2024.
Kramer Drive resident, Sophie, who had been living in the cul-de-sac street well before the consultation period, said that she had heard nothing about the new proposed car park near her and her neighbours’ street.
“While I greatly appreciate the need for such a car park and the effort in making it environmentally viable in the park, there is no mention of Kramer Drive becoming a thoroughfare,” she said.
Sophie also added that it’s “the fact that our roads are bad enough to try and get out on a ‘normal’ day with dripping traffic from Kramer, Shute, Russel and Outlook”.
If the new car park were to follow through, it would be directly adjacent to homes on Outlook Drive, which are currently only backed into a thick nature strip and an array of tree canopies.
According to the 2022 master plan, consultation periods about general park improvements extended from January to April 2020.
This included 187 community intercept surveys, online Casey Conversations surveys, meetings with the Friends of Wilson Botanic Park, the Australian Plant Society Committee and the Community Reference Group.
Also highlighted in the document was that the current right turn lane on Princes Highway into the park is “challenging with two-lane 70-kilometre per hour traffic in both directions”.
Furthermore, there was an acknowledgement that active transport, such as biking and shuttle buses from Federation University, were encouraged, considering the limited 134 car parking spots provided.
With the increase in traffic in 2024, Casey has continuously advocated to the Victorian Government for traffic lights and pedestrian crossings to be introduced on Princes Freeway, just outside the park’s entrance.
“If funding is approved, the local community will be invited to participate in consultation regarding the final design of the car park to ensure it reflects community values and expectations,” Clarke said.
