DANDENONG CREEK
The Dandenong community mourned the tragic loss of a loving mother and son who drowned in Dandenong Creek as history repeated itself.
The recent drowning of Fariba Hussainzada, 33, in an attempt to save her seven-year-old Farzad, started off conversations around the safety of children and community members especially at creekside playgrounds and unfenced reserves.
Ms Hussainzada had taken her children to a park in Doveton when her son bolted alongside the creek, overflowing after heavy periods of rain.
Family member Saleha Hussainzada shared with Star Journal the family will have discussions with authorities on the safety matter once they have grieved for their loss.
The Hussainzada family aren’t the only ones calling for increased safety, including fencing around parks and playgrounds.
Former Greater Dandenong councillor Peter Brown said it was “like deja vu” upon hearing the most recent heartbreaking drownings in the swift-flowing creek.
In 2015, Brown called for fencing to cordon off creekside parkland off Keneally Street and Dalgety Street after a three-year-old boy Ishnael Bagaie drowned in the waters rushing by a Dandenong Park playground.
The trio are among at least five victims drowning in the creek in the past 18 years, including a 12-year-old boy swimming near Kidds Road bridge, Doveton in 2008.
The 2015 incident prompted the council to install 25 metres of tall fencing at the Dandenong Park playground.
However, in November, a section of the fence was flat on the ground and in the process of being repaired.
In 2020, former councillor and now Greens state candidate Matthew Kirwan called for the Dandenong Park fencing to be extended beyond its playgrounds.
Currently, there are no barriers in front of a stepped platform and picnic-barbecue areas at Keneally Reserve near a fenced playground. Nor are there fences along a playground at Dalgety Reserve and picnic-barbecue areas at Dandenong Park.
Meanwhile, about a kilometre upstream in Doveton, Betula Reserve is currently being upgraded by Casey Council with no plans to upgrade its knee-high chain fence.
The council says the fence is “quite a distance from the creek” which is “separated by a road, the Dandenong Creek shared user trail and a 70-metre slope”.
Greater Dandenong Council and Melbourne Water have stated their heartfelt condolences to the family, but there’s so far no new information on whether fencing or other safety measures at creekside playgrounds are adequate.
Melbourne Water also confirmed it has no plans to modify the creek’s concrete channel or banks.
