When Sarah Cornish opens her back gate, she sees piles of broken and twisted metal, mounds of rock and dirt, a concrete drain surrounded by weeds and many, many rabbits.

Key points: A project to revitalise a key waterway in Melbourne's west has been stopped after more asbestos than predicted was found

A project to revitalise a key waterway in Melbourne's west has been stopped after more asbestos than predicted was found The local council is asking the State Government for $8 million to continue the project

The local council is asking the State Government for $8 million to continue the project The project would create a natural cool zone for people living in some of the hottest parts of the city

"We had 50 gum trees out there but they were all chopped down early last year," she said.

When the trees came down, the microclimate in her garden changed. It became hotter, windy and dry.

She had to install blinds to keep the hot afternoon sun from heating up her house.

Ms Cornish lives in Sunshine North in Melbourne's west — one of the hottest places to live in the city's summer due to a lack of trees, rainfall, green space and water.

A $11.35 million revegetation project outside her house was meant to create a natural cool zone for the community during a heatwave.

It involved converting a 1.2 kilometre stretch of Upper Stony Creek from a concrete drain into a revegetated creek and developing a wetland.

The Upper Stony Creek Transformation project was meant to be finished by October.

But three months ago, construction was put on hold because the extent of asbestos contamination was more than expected and the cost of remediation had exhausted the original budget.

The area that was meant to be transformed into a wetland. ( Supplied: Brimbank Council )

In August, all equipment and site huts were removed from the land, which was owned by the State Government.

"All that's left is just dirt. It's a shocker," Ms Cornish said.

'Really sad for the community'

Brimbank Mayor Lucinda Congreve accused the State Government of walking away from the plan and said it was an issue of environmental justice for people in Melbourne's west.

The concrete channel in Sunshine North was meant to be a revitalised creek with walking tracks, trees and a wetland by now. ( ABC News: Rachel Clayton )

"This part of Sunshine North is classified as an area of high social disadvantage. A lot of people here can't afford air conditioners," she said.

The project was meant to be the first purpose-made cool zone in the Southern Hemisphere that could mitigate the impacts of heatwaves by using stormwater to cool down the area using irrigation.

"What we are faced with now is an unfinished project, a whopping great big hole surrounded by temporary fencing. It can't stay this way — our community needs this project to be completed," Cr Congreve said.

"It's really depressing. We've gone from having trees to have a worksite. Rabbits are breeding and they're out of control.

"It's really sad for the community that this wound has been left on the environment."

A DELWP spokesman sayid asbestos in the area did not pose a threat to the public. ( ABC News: Rachel Clayton )

Cr Congreve has asked the State Government to commit at least another $8 million so the project could be completed soon.

"If additional funding doesn't come through, the project partners get to walk away, but the people who live here will continue to live with this mess like we always do."

Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning (DELWP) spokesman Michael Pollock said the Government remained "committed" to the project.

But the department would not answer questions about whether extra funding would be allocated, when works would resume, or when the project was likely to be completed.

The concrete was meant to be torn up and the area turned into a revegetated creek. ( Supplied: Brimbank Council )

"To date, around 11,220 cubic metres of material containing asbestos has been found and remediated throughout the retarding basin and channel," Mr Pollock said.

"Remaining asbestos within the project area does not pose a risk to the public."

St Albans state Labor MP Natalie Suleyman said in a statement that the "first priority has to be cleaning up the asbestos on site".

Cr Congreve said the Government "remaining committed" was not enough.

Brimbank Mayor Lucinda Congreve (second from right) is pleading with the State Government to continue funding the project. ( Supplied: Brimbank Council )

"What it actually needs is more time and more money to kick-start this project again," she said.

A petition set up by the council, with more than 600 names, is expected to be tabled in Parliament in October.

The joint-venture project was funded by the Federal Government ($4.76 million), DELWP ($2.04 million), Melbourne Water ($1.82 million), City West Water ($1.22 million), Development Victoria ($987,000) and Brimbank council ($100,000).

Melbourne Water and City West Water referred all media inquiries to DELWP.