Linking Rockbank is a place-based project which was first identified by Western Health in 2017 in response to the emerging challenges of rapid population growth and infrastructure.

Linking Rockbank has emerged following the earlier efforts and initiatives by the Melton City Council who have engaged with the local community of Rockbank and Woodlea (previously part of Rockbank) since 2014. In late 2017, the suburb boundaries changed and largely reduced the size of the suburb.

Goal:

To promote a socially inclusive and connected community in Rockbank, capable of responding to local aspirations and community needs.

2020-21 Current projects:

Sheep in Rockbank Art Project

The Health Promotion team have acquired 6 fibreglass life-sized sheep that will be painted and homed in Rockbank and the surrounding estates. The aim of this art project is to increase social connection and mental wellbeing whilst also paying tribute to the history of Rockbank. Rockbank has a proud farming history with much of the surrounding area being grazing land for sheep.

Once Covid-19 restrictions ease sufficiently, the 6 sheep will be given artistic paint jobs by the Mount Atkinson Art group and primary school students and be delivered to their new homes to act as conversation pieces and spark joy.

The sheep will be homed at the Sundowner Caravan Park, Rockbank Primary School, Aintree Primary School, Rockbank Preschool, Rockbank Football Club and Mount Atkinson Community Centre.

If you’re organisation is based in Middle Melton and is also interested in having a painted sheep, please get in touch at healthpromotion@djhs.org.au

Blooming West

Over the summer of 2020-21 the Linking Rockbank project supported local residents and businesses to plant sunflower seeds in a new initiative called ‘Blooming West’. This lead to a wonderful spectacle in March 2021 with the sunflowers in bloom; creating a wonderful local spectacle that delighted both residents and visitors. The largest site of sunflowers was at the Woodlea town centre, where over 50 kilograms of sunflower seeds were planted leading to a large field of sunflowers for residents to view and enjoy.

You can find the evaluation report here.

Blooming West is planned to return for the 2021-22 growing season, with hopefully even more sites involved to create a sea of beautiful yellow flowers in the Rockbank area.

Magic Harvest

Magic Harvest is a garden-to-plate style community cooking and gardening program that has had a successful first season between May and September 2021 teaching gardening and cooking skills to Rockbank, Aintree and Mt Atkinson residents. Magic Harvest involves supplying participants with a range of seasonal vegetable seedlings and teaching the group members skills across a full growing season. The group became more confident vegetable growers and learnt garden-to-plate cooking skills whilst at the same time building community and increasing their food security.

You can find the evaluation report here

Covid-19 restrictions allowing, a new Magic Harvest season with spaces available for new participants set to start in November where the group will grow summer vegetables and become part of a cohort of like-minded residents as we continue our mission to build a local food network in Middle Melton, increasing social connections and food security.

Summer Pop-Up Activities

We plan to catch up with as many people as possible across Rockbank. Keep an eye out for flyers about free BBQs, community events and various free activities that will be available to community members. Activities will be planned and delivered across Rockbank and the surrounding estates once Covid-19 restrictions begin to ease.

Please get in touch with any ideas for your neighbourhood at healthpromotion@djhs.org.au

Planned Activities

We encourage local community members to come up with ideas about how they can make Rockbank an even better place to live, work, learn and play! We have funding set aside to help to bring these ideas to life and will support you and other community members to run these events and activities.

For project updates, flyers and photos, please like our Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/healthpromotionatwh

Contact Information

For enquiries call our Health Promotion Team on:

Ph: (03) 9361 9301

Email: BenjaminT@djhs.org.au

See us in action:
healthpromotionatwh/videos

Check out our Facebook page!

Our Projects