Yr 12 Geography - Fitzroy Gasworks Fieldwork

This term the Year 12 Geography class conducted their fieldwork to explore a local area impacted by land use change. This involved a day excursion to Fitzroy Gasworks and a number of opportunities to speak with experts in person and online.

3km northeast of University High School, is the Fitzroy Gasworks project; where the 2024 Year 12 Geography Class explored to learn about the effects of this land use change upon the local area regarding three factors (social, economic and environmental).

On the edge of Fitzroy, the local Gasworks is home to construction of the developing site that aims to build a residential site and a new section of the Wurun Senior Campus located right behind the Gasworks. The Senior Campus is now part of the gasworks being upgraded to be more modern having a new basketball court built on the roof of the school as well as future sports centres to be built. Currently the Fitzroy Gasworks is empty land waiting for a buyer to purchase the site to fund the construction.

The students were trying to answer the following question:

To what extent has/will the land use change at Fitzroy Gasworks socially OR economically impact the surrounding region AND will the process of change at the Fitzroy Gasworks yield environmental benefits to the fieldwork site?  

The students task was to map out the site by doing a rough sketch of the area showing not only what it currently is but also what it used to be; originally being a gasworks which was decommissioned after the switch to electricity. This would result in later transforming to be a community council. 

Throughout this adventure, the class visited Reyes Park, Wurun Senior Campus, many different local businesses and the gasworks to develop their understanding. Each area involved meeting an expert and local residents to hear their perspective on the Fitzroy Gasworks and the effects upon their business or work environment.

What this excursion has done for the students has shown them the land use change of the Fitzroy Gasworks over time, close to 4 decades of it. Even now after all this time the site is still changing and will be done in 2030, allowing for the next Year 12 students to continue studying gasworks in the future.

Harun Yasin & Srivi Raghavan - Year 12 Geography Students