A vibrant wall of flourishing plants has started to take shape at Lorne Parade Reserve as part of the Union Road, Surrey Hills and Mont Albert Road, Level Crossing Removal Project.
Lorne Parade Reserve is a prized piece of local open space and the vertical gardens have been installed to maintain a green outlook during construction for the residents who live nearby.
The vertical gardens are the handiwork of Jamie Papalia, Nick and the team from Vertical Gardens Australia, a proudly Australian owned company that uses custom built vertical gardens manufactured in Victoria.
The company also provides employment opportunities to Indigenous Australians through its work with RAW Recruitment, a 100% Aboriginal-owned and operated recruitment company.
RAW Recruitment has previously worked on other major infrastructure projects, including the Caulfield to Dandenong Level Crossing Removals, the Metro Tunnel Project and the Tullamarine Freeway Upgrade.
Nick is an Indigenous Australian from the Nunga people of South Australia who has been employed through RAW Recruitment and has been working with Jamie and Vertical Gardens Australia since 2021, and he played a key role helping to set up the walls of greenery around Lorne Parade Reserve.
The level crossings at Union Road, Surrey Hills and Mont Albert Road, Mont Albert will be removed by lowering the rail line into a trench beneath the 2 roads and a new consolidated, premium station will be built to replace the old Surrey Hills and Mont Albert stations.
Major works on the project started in February, with the boom gates to be gone in 2023, bringing the Lilydale Line one step closer to be level crossing free by 2025.
