Metamorphosis: from petrol station to pocket park

The brief

Pocket parks (small parks often less than 5000 square metres) are a popular solution. They’re often easily accessible, support both mental and physical well-being in addition to providing a place for the community to interact. At IES, we love the fact they also mitigate urban heat with clever landscaping that also helps councils meet (or increase) tree canopy goals.

We’re incredibly proud to have worked with the Moonee Valley City Council to prepare 371sqm of land at 177a Mount Alexander Road in Flemington for future use as a pocket park. 

Execution

The site was formerly a petrol station which was acquired by the council in 2019. Phase one of the project in late 2022 was to remove five petrol tanks left insitu. As is often the case when working on former petrol station sites, we found an additional seven tanks after we broke ground. Due to the metropolitan location, we deployed additional containment measures to manage any potential leaks during extraction. The site air quality was also constantly monitored and analysed to ensure the adjacent residents, Mount Alexander College next door and Flemington Primary School across the road were not impacted by vapours.

All 12 steel tanks, ranging from 1000–10,000 litres in size, collectively weighing a total of five tonnes were successfully removed (and recycled) from the site without incident.

Following tank extraction, environmental consultants assessed the soil to determine the extent of contamination from the site’s former use as petrol station and workshop. Due to the depth of the 12 tanks, it was deemed necessary to remove all contamination to a maximum depth of nine metres.

The small footprint of the site combined with the fact a lot of infrastructure (electricity, gas, sewage and data) runs along the side of Mount Alexander Road, required us to take an innovative approach to soil extraction. To ensure the footpath didn’t fall into a rather large nine metre hole, we needed to ensure the integrity of the property boundary remained intact.

We opted to extract the contaminated soil by drilling and backfilling to an average depth of 10 metres. The decision to drill and backfill also meant we didn’t need to deploy large earthmoving equipment on such a small 371sqm site which was surrounded by two heavy traffic roads. The process involved drilling in predetermined points, removing the soil and then filling each hole with a sand and cement mix for structural stability and residue containment. This process was repeated methodically throughout the site, extracting 1450 tonnes of impacted soil. Throughout the project, the roadside infrastructure and footpath remained untouched and in place. appropriate licensed facilities for secure offsite disposal.

With clearance certification in hand, processed soils were backfilled for re-use at each site and property fences reinstated (after being removed at the commencement of works).

Outcome

The pocket park project was successfully handed over to the council and landscapers on time in March 2024. It’s not often we are involved in a project from start to finish. Mooney Valley City Council did a terrific job keeping the community informed about what was essentially an incredibly positive undertaking. The council was also proactive in keeping IES updated on the project – even inviting us to the grand opening September 2024. Now, the park is a much loved and used community space teeming with trees, grass and seating.