Cookies help us to understand how you use our website so that we can provide you with the best experience when you are on our site. To find out more, read our privacy policy and cookie policy.
Manage Cookies
A cookie is information stored on your computer by a website you visit. Cookies often store your settings for a website, such as your preferred language or location. This allows the site to present you with information customized to fit your needs. As per the GDPR law, companies need to get your explicit approval to collect your data. Some of these cookies are ‘strictly necessary’ to provide the basic functions of the website and can not be turned off, while others if present, have the option of being turned off. Learn more about our Privacy and Cookie policies. These can be managed also from our cookie policy page.
Strictly necessary cookies(always on):
Necessary for enabling core functionality. The website cannot function properly without these cookies. This cannot be turned off. e.g. Sign in, Language
Analytics cookies:
Analytical cookies help us to analyse user behaviour, mainly to see if the users are able to find and act on things that they are looking for. They allow us to recognise and count the number of visitors and to see how visitors move around our website when they are using it. Tools used: Google Analytics
Social media cookies:
We use social media cookies from Facebook, Twitter and Google to run Widgets, Embed Videos, Posts, Comments and to fetch profile information.
Share Harkness: reimagining the public cemetery on FacebookShare Harkness: reimagining the public cemetery on TwitterShare Harkness: reimagining the public cemetery on LinkedinEmail Harkness: reimagining the public cemetery link
Victoria’s largest new cemetery in 100 years is coming to your community.
The Greater Metropolitan Cemeteries Trust (GMCT)is proud to be developing a memorial park at Harkness –a 128-hectarecemetery and public park 40km northwest of Melbourne CBD. Here at GMCT, it all started with one question: What should a cemetery be?
We envisioned a reassuring sanctuary where people could connect to nature and each other, but we also believe that it should be what youneed. So, we invited you all to reimagine the public cemetery with us.
Engaging with the Traditional Owners of the land, the Wurundjeri people, and the local community has been central to our design process. With your help, we’ve master planned a memorial park that embraces Wurundjeri culture, creates a place for peaceful reflection and remembrance, and celebrates life through a multi-use space for the public.
Thank you for your feedback
We sincerely thank everyone who has contributed their ideas so far. Across the project, we’ve had more than 280 engagements, including surveys, advisory group meetings, site walks, community workshops, and pop-ups.
But the journey far from over.
Subscribe for updates
We will be looking for and welcoming your honest feedback at each step of the design and construction process. Below,you will find engagement opportunities and regularupdates about the project.
Subscribe to project updates by entering your email under 'Stay Informed'.
Victoria’s largest new cemetery in 100 years is coming to your community.
The Greater Metropolitan Cemeteries Trust (GMCT)is proud to be developing a memorial park at Harkness –a 128-hectarecemetery and public park 40km northwest of Melbourne CBD. Here at GMCT, it all started with one question: What should a cemetery be?
We envisioned a reassuring sanctuary where people could connect to nature and each other, but we also believe that it should be what youneed. So, we invited you all to reimagine the public cemetery with us.
Engaging with the Traditional Owners of the land, the Wurundjeri people, and the local community has been central to our design process. With your help, we’ve master planned a memorial park that embraces Wurundjeri culture, creates a place for peaceful reflection and remembrance, and celebrates life through a multi-use space for the public.
Thank you for your feedback
We sincerely thank everyone who has contributed their ideas so far. Across the project, we’ve had more than 280 engagements, including surveys, advisory group meetings, site walks, community workshops, and pop-ups.
But the journey far from over.
Subscribe for updates
We will be looking for and welcoming your honest feedback at each step of the design and construction process. Below,you will find engagement opportunities and regularupdates about the project.
Subscribe to project updates by entering your email under 'Stay Informed'.
The Greater Metropolitan Cemeteries Trust (GMCT) welcomes your views on the proposed name for our new 128-hectare memorial park in Harkness, Melbourne’s West:
Harkness Memorial Park
The new memorial park, 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 to reflect the name of the surrounding locality.
Why Harkness Memorial Park?
Harkness is a relatively new suburb in the City of Melton, nestled within the historic volcanic plains of Melbourne’s west—one of Australia’s fastest-growing regions. Home to a vibrant and diverse population, Harkness represents the changing face of this thriving community.
The local community chose the name 'Harkness' during a Melton City Council-led consultation in 2017, andthe name isfamiliar to residents of the broader region.
To maintain this connection to the community’s identity and sense of place, we propose naming the site ‘Harkness Memorial Park’. The park will be a major community asset,promoting diversity through inclusive spaces and visitor experiences.
It will be a significant landmark for Melbourne’s western suburbs, providing a place where people can gather, reflect, and celebrate life in a welcoming, multi-use environment.
Our commitment to consultation with the site’s Traditional Owners, local residents, and cultural, faith, and community groups is instrumental in shaping the park’s design. Their feedback ensures that the park remains a space that honours the past, serves the present, and embraces the future.
We are incredibly proud of what has been achieved through collaboration with the entire community and look forward to continuing this work as the memorial park grows alongside them—offering a sanctuary for all.
Naming processes and procedures are undertaken in accordance with the statutory Naming Rules for Places in Victoria.
Submit your views on the proposed name via the following survey. If you have any questions, contact harkness@gmct.com.au.
The consultation will close at 5pm on Tuesday 29 October 2024.
Share Naming the new memorial park at Harkness on FacebookShare Naming the new memorial park at Harkness on TwitterShare Naming the new memorial park at Harkness on LinkedinEmail Naming the new memorial park at Harkness link
Page last updated: 15 Nov 2024, 09:28 AM
Acknowledgement of country
The Greater Metropolitan Cemeteries Trust acknowledge the Wurundjeri people of the Kulin Nation as the Traditional Owners of the lands on which this project is to be delivered, and pay our respect to their Elders past and present.
