FAQs

Alongside the endorsement of the Concept Plan Council has authorised the CEO to update the draft 2025/26 Annual Budget to allocate $2.4M for commencement of detailed design and implementation of Phase 1.

The City will continue to explore advocacy avenues for future phases.

• Phase 1 – Early Works and Targeting Inputs. These are immediate actions that can be implemented. They also provide time for refining, data collection and research for higher cost items in later phases, if required.
• Phase 2 – Establishing and Ecosystem and Improving Water Movement. This phase contains some more significant actions if the actions in Phase 1 are not delivering the water quality results desired, after gaining certainty and reviewing monitoring.
• Phase 3 – Treating the Water in the Lakes and Improving Overall Amenity. This phase contains the most expensive action (a wetland in Lake Bungana) to be designed and constructed. This may not be required if previous actions demonstrate success.

A Listening Post took place in November, which included a series of display panels that outlined current thinking. The consultants wanted to hear from the community about what the masterplan should focus on. Information was collected via an interactive online map. Site visits were also conducted with Traditional Owners. The system understanding was refined and presented to the Scientific Advisory Panel and Council to finalise an agreed system understanding, pathway and objectives.

The Scientific Advisory Panel (SAP) will meet with the consultant throughout the development of the Maylands Lakes Environmental Restoration Masterplan. The role of the SAP is to provide independent, impartial, expert advice. The SAP is advisory only and does not have a decision-making function. The recommendations of the panel will be considered by the City. 

The project team is led by Alluvium Consulting with Josh Byrne and Associates, Seashore Engineering and Bamford Consulting. The recommendations provided by the consulting team will receive oversight from the Maylands Lakes Scientific Advisory Panel and Griffith University.

The City has been allocated $450,000 towards the Master planning phase of the project from the Federal Government's Urban Rivers and Catchments Program.  

1. Identify ways to improve water quality in the Maylands Lakes system to achieve a suitable water quality.
2. Identify ways to resolve the ongoing midge problem that reoccurs in and around the Maylands Lakes system.
3. Design resilient and sustainable management options to fix these issues.

The lakes experience persistent water quality issues, with cyanobacterial blooms and non-biting midge. 

 Maylands Lakes requires significant rehabilitation to achieve long-term water quality improvements and to restore the amenity and health of the system. 

The preparation of the Maylands Lakes Environmental Restoration Masterplan will provide a way forward to restore the lakes.

Maylands Lakes were formed from former clay mines that were used by the nearby brickworks to supply raw materials. When the extraction of clay ceased in 1986, the pits were filled with water over time, and the current footprint of the lakes is not too different from then. The Lakes were formalised with landscaped edges and surrounds as part of the development of the Satterley Peninsula Estate in the 1990s - 2000s. They have since become an important part of the aesthetics of the suburb of Maylands in the City of Bayswater.

From the early 2010s, water quality issues became more prevalent. In recent times, frequent algal blooms and plagues of non-biting midges have caused considerable impacts on those living around the lakes.