Building Harkness Memorial Park: A Community Asset
Ron Megna, GMCT Cemetery Operations Manager, smiling outdoors at Altona Memorial Park.
Melbourne’s western suburbs are humming and busier than ever before. The City of Melton has welcomed tens of thousands of new residents in recent years, and with them has come an array of vibrant new cultures and faiths. For the first time, these communities will have a major memorial park built specifically for them, shaped by their own voices.
In the seventh video of our Building Harkness Memorial Park series, GMCT Cemetery Operations Officer and Melton local, Ron Megna, shares how Harkness Memorial Park is already adding to the community, even before its opening.
Local ownership from day one
Ron Megna has watched Melton transform. As both a GMCT team member and local resident, he’s seen the area evolve from a quiet outer suburb into one of Australia’s fast-growing communities. The numbers paint the picture – the City of Melton’s population surged by 6.6% between 2023 and 2024 alone.
“Melton has expanded quite a lot, especially over the last ten years,” Ron reflects. “But it’s not just Melton, we’ve got all the areas around us as well. It’s just become really nice.”
At Harkness Memorial Park’s community workshops, Ron has seen this growth in action. “I found it pretty fascinating to see the different cultures that we now have in Melton.”
More importantly, he’s seen these diverse communities actively shaping the park’s development.
“It’s bringing the community together to voice their opinion on what they would like to see,” Ron explains. “And then what Harkness can give back to the community at the same.”
Meeting a critical need
For years, families in Melbourne’s west have travelled long distances to access memorial services. Harkness Memorial Park will change that.
“What I’ve heard from a lot of people in the area, they’re excited to have something that’s closer by,” shares Ron.
This isn't just about convenience, however. Local access means families can focus on supporting each other during difficult times, not logistics.
The park will also become an integrated part of daily life – morning walks, family visits, community gatherings - transforming it from a place visited only in grief to genuine community infrastructure that provides comfort when needed most.
“It’s just giving something back to the people that’s closer to where they live.”
Real community connections
The consultation process has created something tangible. Workshop participants from different groups and backgrounds recognise each other around town, and chat about progress.
“I see people just down the street that will pull me out and say, oh, you were at the meeting, how’s it going with the site?”
The project no longer belongs to just GMCT – it belongs to everyone who’s contributed along the way.
This reciprocal relationship - where community input shapes the park’s design, and the consultation process itself strengthens neighbourhood connections - is exactly what GMCT hoped to achieve. Every workshop, every conversation, every piece of feedback is building something larger than a memorial park alone.
“The community is just involved,” says Ron.
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Harkness Memorial Park is redefining what a cemetery can be. As the Greater Metropolitan Cemeteries Trust’s (GMCT) first greenfield development, this landmark project will serve communities for generations to come.
Through a nine-part video series, titled Building Harkness Memorial Park, we’re taking you behind the scenes of Victoria’s largest new cemetery in the last century. Meet the people shaping this innovative space as we explore the vision, design, and community central to the park’s development.
Keep up to date with the project
The first stage of Harkness Memorial Park is expected to open in early 2027.
Keep up to date with our progress by subscribing for project updates or exploring our development timeline.