Timeline of the Walk

Ian McClean Turner plants the first trees along Hovells Creek in Wingara Drive.

Kevin and Beverley Hoffman begin watering and caring for the trees which were planted by the subdivider, Ian McClean Turner

Kevin Hoffman starts cleaning up the Hovells Creek bank opposite his house, by removing rubbish and boxthorn

A significant flood causes damage to the creek banks, leading to the construction of a stone levee wall

A stone levee wall running parallel to Wingara Drive is constructed

Using the leftover soil from the levee wall construction, Kevin is inspired to beautify the space and begins planting out the area opposite his home, with Australian native trees and shrubs

Wingara Drive is sealed, and a water main is installed for further planting.

Kevin's photographs were exhibited at the National Gallery of Victoria for two months. Four of these photos have been included in the gallery's permanent collection.

Local landsape architecture student David Martin, is recognised internationally for a broader landscape masterplan that encompassed Kevin Hoffman Walk and the wetlands opposite known as The Duck Ponds — building on Kevin’s vision.

Wingara Drive receives an outstanding streetscape award, presented by the then Victorian Premier John Cain

As part of a flood prevention program, the Shire of Corio adopts David’s “Landscape Masterplan,” leading to revegetation along the creek corridor and integration with the Walk.

Kevin's photographs are exhibited at the Geelong Art Gallery

As part of the Lara flood mitigation program, higher levee banks were constructed, which included along the Kevin Hoffman Walk between Station Lake Road and Flinders Avenue

In an article titled "Streets Ahead", Your Garden magazine profiles Kevin’s transformation of a barren verge into an award-winning native streetscape — an early public recognition of the vision that led to the Walk.

In 1988, Lara’s largest recorded flood causes widespread damage throughout the community, prompting repairs and heightening of the levee bank in some sections.

Featured in the Geelong Advertiser in October 1988, the article “Kevin’s Native Refuge” shared Kevin Hoffman's nearly two-decade transformation of a barren creekside into a native garden — a story of resilience and community impact.

Published in the Board of Works staff magazine Mokera in 1989, the article "The Natives are Restful" profiled Kevin Hoffman, then a Werribee Farm employee, and celebrated his creation of a miniature botanic garden of native plants along Hovells Creek that gained recognition across Victoria.

In 1989, the story of the Walk was featured in the Community Projects section of Gardening News under the title The Hovell’s Creek Environmental Walk, highlighting Kevin and Beverley Hoffman’s transformation of a derelict creekside into the award-winning native garden now known as the Kevin Hoffman Walk.