Harkness: reimagining the public cemetery

We are excited to join the City of Melton’s Djerriwarrh Festival for the first time.

Visit our stall to meet the team behind the new memorial park in Harkness, learn more about the project’s delivery, and take part in an interactive installation about the evolving role of cemeteries.

Djerriwarrh Festival is Melton’s premier annual event, a day filled with music, art, food, family fun, and celebration. We look forward to seeing you there!

Thank you to everyone who provided feedback on the proposed site name ‘Harkness Memorial Park’. Consultation closed at 5pm on Tuesday 29 October 2024.

We are currently reviewing all responses in line with Victoria’s official place naming rules and will share an update on the next steps in the coming weeks.

If you have any questions in the meantime, reach out to harkness@gmct.com.au or phone 1300 022 298.

The new memorial park in Melbourne’s west, set to be the largest established in Victoria in 100 years, is currently named Melton West Memorial Park.

We propose renaming it Harkness Memorial Park and seek your feedback as part of this process.

Why Harkness Memorial Park?

Harkness is a relatively new suburb in Melbourne's west. It is part of the rapidly growing City of Melton and home to a diverse and vibrant community that reflects the area's dynamic development.

The local community chose the name ‘Harkness’ for the area during a consultation led by Melton City Council in 2017, and it is familiar to the residents of the broader region.

We propose naming the site ‘Harkness Memorial Park’ to honour this connection and maintain the community’s sense of place and identity.

The naming process

The community, Traditional Owners, industry experts, and cultural and religious groups have been crucial in shaping the memorial park to date, and consultation on the site name is a key part of this ongoing process.

We are accepting feedback until 5pm Tuesday 29 October 2024.

At the end of the consultation period, we’ll review all feedback and share an update. Naming processes and procedures are undertaken in accordance with the statutory Naming Rules for Places in Victoria.

After that, a naming proposal will be prepared and submitted to the State Government for consideration. They ultimately make the final decision on the proposed name.

Once approved, the name will be published in the Victorian Government Gazette and updated across our platforms. This whole process may take several months.

Have your say

We welcome all feedback on the proposed name. Submit your views via this survey.

The Greater Metropolitan Cemeteries Trust (GMCT) is pleased to announce that we will break ground on the new memorial park in Harkness in the second half of 2025.

As the project progresses, we will continue to work closely with the local community, neighbouring residents and the site's Traditional Owners, ensuring that the park reflects the values and needs of those it will serve.

Artist impression by McGregor Coxall.

Staged approach to project development

The park’s design and development will evolve in response to the community’s changing needs, emerging through multiple stages with a master plan spanning the next 100 years.

In the initial phase, we will focus on establishing essential services and infrastructure, allowing the park to begin operating while additional features and facilities are progressively developed. This will include providing traditional burial and memorialisation services, as well as vital gathering spaces where the community can come together. 

Aerial satellite photo of the site, outlined in white. The red section marks where the initial phase of work will take place.

Thank you to everyone who attended our August 2023 workshops and shared their thoughts on our draft plans for the reimagined memorial park at Harkness in the City of Melton.

Just as our masterplan for the memorial park was informed by community consultation, so too are our detailed plans for Stage 1 of what will be the largest cemetery in Victoria in 100 years.

Right now, we’re applying your feedback to the plans. Watch this space for the Stage 1 designs. We will share them with you as soon as we can.

We’re holding two workshops in August 2023 to help plan Victoria’s largest new cemetery in 100 years.

We want people living and working in the City of Melton to come along and give us their feedback on our draft plans.

We now have a cemetery masterplan, which was informed by six months of community consultation. At the workshops we will show community members our stage 1 designs, explain how we’ve incorporated feedback and ask for more input.

This is a cemetery of the future. It will also be used for community, cultural and recreational purposes.

Workshops now closed

At these workshops we will:

• update you on the cemetery design
• check that the design works for diverse cultural and community groups and their funeral rituals
• talk and hear more about the community spaces at the site.

Engagement update

We’re working with diverse community members, faith groups, local organisations and others to understand their needs as we design the future cemetery at Harkness.

So far, we’ve reached out to people through:

• surveys
• advisory group meetings
• site walks
• community pop-ups
• community conversations
• specialist conversations.

So far, we’ve had 287 engagements, including:

• government groups and representatives 70 times
• community group representatives 65 times, which include,
  1. environmental groups
  2. historical groups
  3. advocacy groups
  4. CALD groups
  5. LGBTIQA+ community members
  6. sport and recreational groups
• religious representatives 20 times
• industry and innovation 22 times
• tertiary institutions 13 times
• community services 7 times
• neighbours 5 times
• Traditional Owners: ongoing engagement.

What we have learnt so far:

The demand for cremation services is growing and will inform our designs.

There is a desire for more storytelling, memorialisation, and inclusion in cemeteries. This includes for First Peoples, war veterans, and LGBTQIA+ community members.

Faith groups have provided insights into their funeral, burial and cremation rituals so that the cemetery’s spaces meet these needs. We will share our designs at the upcoming workshops to ensure they’re appropriate and fit for purpose.

Gardens, peaceful places, and natural elements for quiet reflection are valued.

The restoration of the Arnolds Creek corridor is well supported.

The reaction to using some of the land for playgrounds, picnic areas, walking trails and educational experiences has been positive, as long as peace and privacy for those visiting the cemetery areas are assured.

Occasional larger community events were flagged as a way to make the cemetery more widely loved by community.

We are pleased to release the Masterplan for our future site at Harkness.

This document builds on the summary released in November 2022 and provides an overview of the design, including how the development might be staged.

Detailed design has now commenced for Stage 1 and as we develop the designs in more detail, we will continue to consider community feedback and how to use that information to shape the plans.

During the detailed design process in 2023, our engagement approach will move from formal advisory groups to a community reference panel model. We will conduct targeted outreach with community reference panel members to understand their needs and how we can best incorporate them into our planning and design process.

We are always keen to hear from new community groups and organisations, so if you would like to join our community reference panel, please complete this short expression of interest form available on the "Get Involved" tab below.

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Have questions for the project team?

Check out this page to reach out.

Contact Us

Ph: 1300 022 298

Email: harkness@gmct.com.au

We are pleased to announce that the masterplan has now been completed and we are currently undertaking feasibility assessments with detailed designs for Stage 1 to follow in the new year. The masterplan provides a high-level overview of the proposed site layout and identifies seven key themes that will guide the design and construction processes.

In the meantime, the Master Plan Summary document provides a summary of what we heard from community in the masterplan engagement process. It also introduces some of the key themes presented by the masterplan but does not provide details on the design.

A version of the full masterplan will be available in early 2023. It will provide more detail about the design including how the development might be staged.

In November 2022, Advisory group members received a briefing which outlined how feedback was incorporated into the existing plan and explained the key themes and how community can continue to engage with the planning process.

A recording of the briefing session is available below.

As we move into stage 1 detailed designing in 2023, our engagement approach will move from formal advisory groups to a community reference panel model. We will conduct targeted outreach with community reference panel members to understand the specific needs and lived experiences of community groups and individuals.

Stay up to date by registering for project updates using the "Stay informed" subscribe button on this page.