The projects are part of the statewide Platy Patch project and will be delivered by Glenelg Hopkins CMA and project partners at four sites around Warrnambool.

A total of almost $1,652,000 will be invested in the projects locally, with funding from both the Australian Government through the Natural Heritage Trust under the Urban Rivers and Catchments Program and Victorian Government through the Rivers of Warrnambool Flagship Waterways Project.

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JUNE 2025: Jubilee Park works create Platy Playground

Platypus playground and habitat pieces placed in the Merri

Warrnambool’s platypus have their own playground alongside Jubilee Park on the Merri River with 15 new habitat pieces installed this week.

The project removed aged cypress trees – some of which had already naturally fallen in storm conditions – from banks and placed pieces of timber into the waterway for platypus to forage around for food, and should they be inclined, play on and around.

In coming months, revegetation of the banks with native species will occur.

The Jubilee Park works were undertaken in partnership with Warrnambool City Council and funded through the Platy Patch project.

August 2025: Jubilee Park reveg day with schools

More than 120 school students from Warrnambool’s Emmanuel College and Woodford Primary School got the job done planting on the banks of the Merri River in glorious sunshine last week.

The students raked, dug, planted, guarded and staked hundreds of locally indigenous native trees and grasses on the banks to both support the riverbank, and provide shade over the water and limbs for additional river habitat in the future for platypus.

The riverbank habitat was planted as part of a wider project supporting the local Platypus population around Jubilee Park by Glenelg Hopkins CMA and Warrnambool City Council.

It has included removal of introduced tree species, placing of habitat logs in the river, and now, extensive riparian plantings, as one of the 14 sites in the Platy Patch project across Victoria.

FEBRUARY 2026: Works begin on Merri Platy Patch sites

Works on the Merri River in Warrnambool will begin next week as we start our Platy Patch project work on the riparian zone of the river in preparation for new plantings over winter.

What’s the riparian zone?

That’s essentially the riverbank. Where we will be removing invasive plant species like Willows , Poplars and Hawthorn. These will be replaced with native species as part of the project, together with habitat for platypus and native fish species in the water.

We will be working on the Stewart Court and Jellie Reserve project sites where signage has been up advising locals of the works for the last few months.

If you’re walking along the Merri River and come across a project site, please give it a wide berth and be aware of signage and safety markers.

The landmark $24 million Platy Patch project, jointly funded by the Australian Government’s Natural Heritage Trust under the Urban Rivers and Catchments Program, the Victorian Government and One Tree Planted, will work to improve critical habitat at 14 sites across Victoria over the next four years under the guidance of Victoria’s leading ecological research centre, the Arthur Rylah Institute (ARI).

Catchment Management Authorities, Melbourne Water, Coliban Water, One Tree Planted, Zoos Victoria, the Australian Platypus Conservancy, various local governments, Parks Victoria, Landcare and DEECA will work together with ARI on the restorative project.