Heany Park

The Belgrave Reservoir was constructed on the Monbulk Creek about 1893 to supply water to Dandenong, and a storage basin was put in south of Wellington Road, near the junction of Bergins and Police Roads.

A pipeline connected the two storages and ran on to Dandenong. After this scheme failed the pipeline water was made available from 1924 to dairy farmers of Lysterfield for the next fifteen years but this arrangement caused constant trouble.

The creek users wanted sufficient water to flow down the creek but the pipeline users did not want any restrictions. In addition the holiday makers and residents of Belgrave wanted the reservoir as a swimming pool. One of the major concerns was that pollution by swimmers would make the water unusable by the dairy farmers.

The State Rivers, tired of the complaints and constant wrangling, threatened to take up the pipeline and remove it altogether. Ferntree Gully Shire Council, pressed by South Riding representative Violet Lambert, sought a lease of the pipeline and this was granted from 1940-1950 at 150 pounds per year, this amount to be recovered from the water users.

As the time for the lease to expire drew closer, Cr Lambert worked constantly to think up a scheme whereby the pipeline water would be safe for Lysterfield farmers. In 1946 she had instigated the holding of annual Swimming Carnivals at the old storage basin, now no longer required, and had successfully moved in Council that the area be used for recreation purposes and named after the Shire Engineer, Tom Heany, in the hope that this would encourage him to take an interest in its development.

These Carnivals were to help finance the maintenance of the pipeline and money raised was also used to repay the Council after it agreed to purchase the pipeline for 1250 pounds. This full amount was met from the revenue from Heany Park, as was the Park Ranger’s salary. The whole scheme was totally self-supporting and instead of polluting the water at the source, people could now swim at the end.

It is not known when these annual Carnivals stopped, or when the local people lost interest in the park and working for it was abandoned. There are results and official balance sheets up to and including the 1957 Carnival.

A group of vandals partly demolished the finishing platform the weekend prior to the 1956 event being staged. One elderly Park Ranger was powerless to stop such destruction and asked that his son be employed by Council to be full-time caretaker to see that all facilities were kept in order. This was refused and in 1959 Cr Lambert lost her seat on the Shire Council after 28 years as the South Riding representative, thus effectively removing her influence and support for the Lysterfield district through local government channels.

Gradual neglect and vandalism from that time wrecked all the work that had been done over more than ten years, including a specially built children’s pool, diving tower and other improvements.

There had earlier been proposals for a chlorinated plant being installed, but this was abandoned and eventually the pool was closed as unfit for swimming. “Herald Learn to Swim” campaigns had been held there, and the surrounding bushland made it such a delightful spot for family picnics. There was at one time, a move to open up the road in from Wellington Road, a much more direct means of access, but this also failed.

Once the purchase price of the pipeline had been paid and any costs of park maintenance were met, the considerable funds raised each year, not only from the annual Swimming Carnival but also from entrance fees to the Park, went to numerous charities and other causes.
(In about 1985, Knox Council upgraded the Park facilities prior to negotiating its use by the Knox District Scouts and Guides. Ed.)