By Dongyun Kwon
A regular visitor of Maroondah Reservoir Park was shocked when he visited the park on Friday 27 September.
Warburton resident Brian Way found a number of serious potholes right after entering the entrance.
“We went out to Maroondah Dam last Friday afternoon [on 27 September] to enjoy it in the sun, and there were a lot of other people,” he said.
“When you turn into Maroondah Dam off the Maroondah Highway, which once was a sealed bitumen road [Maroondah Main Loop Road] that winds its way down into the dam, once it used to have a lot of azaleas growing there, they’ve had to go to wreck and ruin.
“But the main issue that struck us was the fact that there were so many very large potholes. They were not just normal potholes.”
After he drove through Maroondah Main Loop Road passing all the deep potholes, Mr Way arrived at the main car park where he couldn’t find any empty spot as the car park was full.
Then he had to drive through Henderson Main Loop Road, the gravel road, to find the empty parking space.
“It [Henderson Main Loop Road] had more potholes that were even deeper,” the Warburton resident said.
“How I felt about it was that it’s just a disgrace for the local area and for whoever looks after the Maroondah Dam, it just obviously needs some funding to get everything fixed up if they expect people to use it.”
Maroondah Reservoir Park is a popular visitor site attracting more than 180,000 visitors per year, primarily for its natural beauty, open spaces, heritage tree plantings and gardens.
Mr Way is concerned that the bad road conditions would affect the popularity of the place as a tourist attraction.
“Another issue is it really reflects badly on the area and I think it probably detracts tourists from coming into the area,” he said.
“Once they’ve been once, they probably wouldn’t come back because of the poor condition of the place.
“When it’s maintained, it’s an absolutely fantastic facility, must bring lots of tourists to the area.”
Maroondah Reservoir Park is managed by Parks Victoria.
Parks Victoria staff undertake quarterly road safety inspections.
Parks Victoria area chief ranger Conrad Annal said they intended to repair the potholes at Maroondah Reservoir Park.
“We are waiting for our insurer to release funds for the work,” he said
“Once that’s done, the roads will be repaired and the park will be back to looking its best.”
Repair works will include potholes, edge of road crumbling, vegetation encroachment and faded line markings.
