The Chinaman Creek Draft Plan has been available for comment for several weeks and some valuable feedback has been received. Now it is time to commence the implementation phase.
We will meet this coming Saturday, January 19 for an afternoon tea and discussion. By the end of the meeting we hope to have an initial project idea to work on.
Anyone interested in the Chinaman Creek valley and its environmental future is welcome to participate.
Chinaman Creek at Lewis Road
The meeting will be hosted by Mark and Kerry Perry at their property at 69 Creasy’s Road. The entrance is on the north side of the road, approximately halfway between the Castlemaine-Muckleford Road and Woodbrook Road. Our banner will be displayed at the gate so it will be easy to spot.
When:
Saturday, January 19, 2.30-4.00pm.
Bring a chair to sit on and a contribution to afternoon tea if you wish. We look forward to seeing you.
The latest draft of the Chinaman Creek Landcare Plan was released at a pleasant pre-Christmas afternoon tea on December 5. Printed copies of the plan were distributed to those who attended and digital copies are now available on-line for those who could not make it (simply click on the following link to download a copy) Chinaman Creek Valley Community Plan _ DRAFT_V.01
Local landowners discussing the draft Chinaman Creek strategy
We now need to hear what you think.
The plan is still in draft form. It has lots of information about the valley – its history, vegetation, the current state of farming and environmental health and initial project ideas from those who responded to our survey. We now need to decide how to implement the plan. First we need to refine and elaborate the detail in the plan:
Do you have perspectives and views that are not currently articulated in the plan?
Do you have any particular project ideas that can be added to the plan?
How do you see the plan being implemented?
The current draft plan is just the starting point. We would like to use it as a base to support the creation of tangible, funded projects in 2013.
On January 19, we will hold another get together to develop specific project plans and initiate appropriate funding. We will send further details about the time and place soon. Please put the date in your diary.
Let’s make 2013 the year for the Chinaman Creek valley renewal!
A warm, sunny day, lots of activities and a large crowd combined to create a carnival atmosphere at Mucklefest 2012, held at the Muckleford Railway Station on Sunday 28 October.
Muckleford Catchment Landcare was on hand to meet with community members, explain our focus and highlight some of our recent projects, and to gain feedback on future activities. A detailed map of our project activities within the catchment region proved to be a great talking point.
In addition to information about our Landcare group, we were able to provide copies of the FOBIF guide to native wildflowers and the NCCMA weeds identification guide for Central Victoria.
A regular stream of people stopped by our booth during the day to meet our representatives, to gather information, to discuss specific landcare and environmental issues, and to exchange ideas. A number also became members on the day.
All in all, Mucklefest 2012 proved to be a great success.
This Sunday, October 28, Muckleford Landcare will have a stand at Mucklefest.
Mucklefest is a country fair held annually at the Muckleford Railway Station. There are lots of activities, competitions and food stalls throughout the day. It’s quite a big event these days.
We will be there hoping to make contact with potential new members and others who might be interested in landcare. Consider paying us a visit – or even better sitting at our table and meeting people for a short period of time.
We would certainly like to catch up with members and friends and there will be lots of other activities to entertain you – and the kids too.
Following the success of the presentation by Don Watson at this year’s AGM, Muckleford Landcare is busy working up an exciting program of projects and events for the year ahead.
To ensure that you stay in touch with the range of activities we encourage you to become (or renew) your membership of the group. The cost is just $25 per household (or $15 concession).
A membership form for 2012/13 is attached for your information.
Following the talk from Don Watson, the Annual General Meeting was held.
Muckleford Landcare wishes to welcome several new members. We are developing plans and activities to keep all our members engaged and active for the next 12 months.
We particularly wish to welcome Ross Luscombe to the committee. Committee meetings are held monthly and anyone is welcome to attend. The next is due to be held on Monday October 22, 12 pm at the The Hub in Barker Street.
The committee for 2012-13 is:
Paul Hampton – President
Sue Slaytor – Secretary
Barry Sutton – Treasurer
David Griffiths
Frank Forster
Ross Luscombe
Muckleford Landcare particularly wishes to express its thanks to David Griffiths for his leadership over the past few years. David remains on the committee where his expertise and passion for the cause are greatly appreciated.
At the AGM we would particularly encourage you to consider joining our committee. Nomination forms will be available on the night.
We are currently looking forward to a very active year and your voice will help us plan, implement effectively and deepen our community connections.
The committee meets once a month. If you are interested and wish to know more please contact the Secretary, Paul Hampton, tel 54742189.
A reminder that our AGM is scheduled for Castlemaine Golf Club at 8.15pm on October 10. The formal meeting will be preceded by Don Watson’s talk about ‘The Bush’ at 6 pm, soup and light refreshments. The bar will also be open. We expect the whole evening to be concluded by 9:30 pm. If you intend to come along please let us know by Wednesday October 3.
This will be a great night to meet people and hear an outstanding thinker and writer. We look forward to seeing you.
Annual memberships are due on the night. We encourage you to take a membership. The small fee involved (currently $25) helps to support our basic functions: stationary, mailing, equipment etc.
Don Watson is one of Australia’s wittiest, original thinkers and raconteurs, and is currently completing a book on the Australian bush. He will be revealing some of his insights into the Australian landscape as a prelude to the Muckleford Catchment Landcare Annual General Meeting on Wednesday 10 October. Don’s presentation will commence at 6pm, will be accompanied with soup and refreshments, and will be followed by the AGM at 8.15 pm
This landmark event is being held at the Castlemaine Golf Club, Pyrenees Highway, Castlemaine.
Members of the public are very welcome to join us for the talk and soup prior to the AGM.
Don Watson was an academic historian for 10 years before resigning to write political satire for TV and the stage (including The Gillies Report), and speeches for the Victorian Premier John Cain.
After time as a research fellow at The University of Melbourne he became Prime Minister Paul Keating’s speechwriter and adviser. He remained in that position until Keating’s electoral defeat in 1996. His account of this time, Recollections of a Bleeding Heart: Paul Keating Prime Minister (2002), remains a best-seller to this day
Don’s columns, articles and essays have appeared in all major Australian journals and newspapers.
In recent years Don has become internationally famous for his scathing yet hilarious books about the deterioration of contemporary language – Death Sentence: The Decay of Public Language (2003), and Watson’s Dictionary of Weasel Words, Contemporary Clichés, Cant & Management Jargon (2004).
His book American Journeys (2008) won The Age Non-Fiction and Book of the Year awards, the inaugural Indie Award for Non-Fiction, and the Walkley Award for Non-Fiction.
His latest release Bendable Learnings: The Wisdom of Modern Management follows on from Death Sentence and Weasel Words.
His views about a subject that is both dear to our hearts and culturally complex are bound to provoke much fresh discussion and thought.
If you are interested in farming, landcare and the future of ‘the bush’ then this talk is a must.
So that we can cater appropriately we would appreciate a RSVP. Please let us know you are coming at – mucklefordlandcare@gmail.com
The balmy burst of spring weather certainly played its part and we had a good turn-out for our Sunday morning working bee in Creasys Road to celebrate Landcare Open Day. We managed to remove several hundred of our re-usable tree guards and join together for an amiable morning tea in the sun.
Muckleford Landcare members enjoy a break in amongst the plantings at the Creasys Road corridor
Below you will find the information leaflet about the project prepared by Sue Slaytor and made available to the participants. It has been an impressively successful project and well worth visiting if you are in the vicinity.
In the meantime, we encourage all landcarers to enjoy the other events this week, the details for which are available at the Connecting Country website.
And we recommend that you pencil our next event in your diary. On Wednesday, October 10, well-known author Don Watson will give a talk about his forthcoming book on the Australian bush. Not to be missed.
Creasys Road Corridor Project
Purpose: To link roadside vegetation in Turners Lane to Chinaman Creek by planting over 35 native species along a treeless section of Creasys Road.
Area: Approx. 2.1 hectares (3 private properties and south side of Creasys Road)
Support: 4 landholders, NCCMA (2nd Gen. funding), Mt Alexander Shire Council, CFA
Density: Average of 2,860 plants / hectare in a corridor 18 to 35 metres wide.
Vibrant growth in the Creasys Road corridor
Site Prep: Spray Blackberry, St John’s Wort and Phalaris in January 2009, burn dead weeds in June, fumigate and collapse rabbit warrens. Prepare site with Yeoman’s plough/rotary hoe combination to open subsoil without inverting soil profile, cultivate topsoil and provide mechanical grass/weed control. The east site was netted to prevent rabbit entry.
Planting: Stock grown in Hiko trays was planted by two people using Pottiputki planters. Planting occurred intermittently. Planting Turners Lane commenced in late August 2009 and project planting was completed at the east site by early November.
The plants were not watered-in either at planting or afterwards. When planting within the last area the roots were dunked in wetted water absorbing crystals (temperatures had reached 30oC by then). The drought did not break until January 2010. Limited rainfall had managed to get deep into the soil profile because of the site preparation.
Plants survived and thrived on the residual soil moisture.
Messages: Installing guards was the most time-consuming aspect of the project. These guards have been used on a number of projects and have proved cost-effective. But if adequate rabbit control is undertaken then guards do little more than identify plant locations. Is the time/effort of guarding worthwhile??? Get a machine to prepare the site- it will suppress weed (no chemicals) and makes planting easy. Plant in spring – plants establish quickly and can compete with annual grasses. Watering is not necessary – because of soil preparation plant mortality has been minimal, in fact a number of plant species suffered from receiving excess water several months after planting.
mucklefordlandcare.org 