A reminder that our end-of-year get-together is on this Thursday.
We particularly welcome new-comers and recent members to join us.
Muckleford (and Muckleford Landcare) is undergoing a generational and social change.
What are the challenges and opportunities now emerging from this change?
What do you expect from Landcare in the immediate future?
We need your ideas.
Please join us for a pleasant early evening social gathering.
When: Thursday, November 27, 5.30 – 7.00 pm.
Where: Garden at the rear of The Hub, corner of Barker and Templeton Streets, Castlemaine.
Light refreshments from The Good Table. Drinks can be purchased.
Please RSVP (return email) by Tuesday morning.

We would like to invite you all to our end of year gathering.

It will take place on Thursday, November 27, 5.30 pm in the garden at the rear of The Hub in Castlemaine.

We will provide finger food from The Good Table and you can buy your own drinks from the same venue.

Paul will give a brief summary of our work this year and we will have some informal discussion about ideas for the next 12 months.

We are interested in any thoughts you may have for Landcare work on and/or near your property. We are particularly hopeful that we can have some representation from all of the local pockets that make up the Muckleford catchment: Walmer/Ottreys Scrub, Chinaman Creek, Bassett Creek, Muckleford South and other parts of the valley.

We would like to develop a long term children’s project, so kids are welcome to join us.

This is a lovely venue for an informal, early summer gathering: good food, drink and good company.
We hope you can join us.

Please RSVP with a return email if you want to attend.
When: Thursday, November 27, 5.30 pm.
Where: Garden at the rear of The Hub, corner Barker Street and Templeton Street, Castlemaine.

It has been a busy and productive weekend for Muckleford Landcare and we have another small working activity planned for next Sunday. Please read on…

Chinaman Creek
On Saturday afternoon the property owners who participated in the first stage of the Chinaman Creek Community Landcare Plan gathered for afternoon tea at Brett Tyler and Liz Caffin’s property to mark the end of the initial work. The five participants were presented with a laminated poster showing a map of the project area and five key bird species to monitor in the future. They also received information on follow up blackberry control work from contractor Matt McEachran of Bushtech. Thankyou to everyone who attended. We hope to start planning the next step of this long- term project in the next few weeks.

Mucklefest
On Sunday we set up an information stall at the annual Mucklefest at Muckleford Railway Station. It was a warm sunny day and there were large crowds of people enjoying the varied attractions, many of whom stopped by to inquire about landcare, buy plants supplied by Newstead Natives and pick up information brochures and pamphlets.
We enlisted five new members, most of them new to the area. Muckleford is starting to undergo a fairly radical social transformation and Muckleford Landcare is keen to engage newcomers in our projects and vision.
Thanks in particular to Frances Cincotta of Newstead Natives for helping set up and providing the plants which were a major attraction and to Beth Mellick and family for meeting, greeting and engaging with the many visitors.

and…Sunday Weed on Bassett Creek
Next Sunday, November 2 at 11 am, we will be gathering to remove some weeds at the point where the Bassett Creek crosses Golf Links Road. This is the site of a major past project of Muckleford Landcare and we want to ensure that locals stay aware and engaged in the long-term care of the area.
This is a short 1-2 hour session and we hope that people who live in this distinctive locality will turn up and participate. You will need to bring secateurs or some other pruning implements and gardening gloves. We will be employing the cut-and-paste technique – very hands-on, effective and satisfying.
If you want any more information ring Beth or Nev on 54724609.

Our blog, Twitter and Facebook
At the moment we send direct emails to members and friends and also duplicate the notices on this WordPress site. I plan to rationalise this system soon so that people only receive one or the other. I assume that people who subscribe to our blog don’t need a direct personal email as well. Please let me know if you wish to receive both.
We also Tweet on a fairly regular basis. Tweets are largely of broader environmental interest and if you are keen to access information and debate on wider issues this may suit you. Go to Twitter, join if you need and then search and follow Muckleford Landcare.
We also have a Facebook page which is currently languishing. If someone is keen to moderate this site for us please let me know.

All the best,
Paul Hampton

The annual Mucklefest is on this Sunday, October 26 from 10am – 4pm at Muckleford Railway Station. There are lots of activities to entertain and interest everyone and it is a great place to meet people.

Muckleford Landcare will be setting up an information stall at the event, so if you plan to attend, drop by for a chat. If you would like to help take care of the stall for an hour or so that would be appreciated.

Even more useful would be for someone to help Paul set up the stall at 9 am. Ring Paul at 0408 566 909 if you can help.

Afternoon tea on Chinaman Creek

An afternoon tea to mark the first stage of the Chinaman Creek Community Landcare Plan. An opportunity to spend an hour or so on a successful creek-line re-vegetation site. This should be of particular interest to those who live in the Chinaman Creek valley. We need to start talking about ‘What next for Chinaman Creek catchment?’

Saturday October 25, 2.30-4.00 pm. See the previous post for further details.

Muckleford Catchment Landcare would like to invite you to an afternoon tea and creek walk on Saturday October 25 to mark the end of first stage of the Chinaman Creek Plan.

Five landowners on the creek have contributed to blackberry control work and the establishment of a habitat corridor. This is a significant achievement and the afternoon tea is in part to thank them for their participation.

We will be meeting at Brett Tyler and Liz Caffin’s property on Lewis Road. This should be of great interest to anyone who would like to see close-up, the dramatic changes brought about to the environment of the creek as a result of a successful revegetation project and dedicated weed control. It is a place of great beauty and diversity these days.

There will also be a short address from a Connecting Country representative on their Woodland Birds Project. Connecting Country is partner with Muckleford Landcare in the Chinaman Creek Project. Enhancing the biodiversity of the creek will help create new habitat and aid the survival of their priority ‘Feathered Five’.

We will offer tea, coffee and light refreshments but you may like to bring your own folding chair.

Where: Lewis Road at the point where the road crosses Chinaman Creek. Our banner will be hanging on the fence. Simply step over the fence to enter the property. Parking space is limited on Lewis Road. You might prefer to park on Woodbrook Road and walk the 100 meters west along Lewis Road to the creek crossing. (*Please do not enter the Chinaman Creek House gate further west on Lewis Road as they have guests in residence for the weekend).

When: Saturday October 25, 2.30-4 pm.

We would appreciate a RSVP if you intend to come along. Call Paul at 0408 566 909.

We hope you can join us for this relaxed, informative spring community gathering and creek walk and information session.

We were blessed with a glorious, sunny morning for our golfing day at Castlemaine Golf Club on September 28. We met at 10 am for a short talk from local Deb Worland about the bird life we could expect to see as we set out to play nine holes.

For those of us who had only ever sighted the course from a car, it was a pleasant revelation. The course is a Land for Wildlife site and the course proper is lined with a wide variety of site-appropriate indigenous vegetation and the dams created by the water recycling scheme contain much bird habitat in the form of dead trees with hollows.

Most of us were keen to exercise our skills at the game. Some were experienced players and others like myself had never held a golfing club. I have heard it said that golf is ‘God’s game’ because you have to acknowledge that you can get all the technical stuff right and after that the results are in ‘his’ hands. Given that my technique is minimal I wasn’t able to fully test that hypothesis. Nevertheless, I did experience one or two moments of transcendence as a ball traveled unexpectedly in the right direction. But overall it was God’s day.

The kids played cricket in the vicinity of the club house and we all returned for sandwiches and beer at 12.30.

At 1.30 we convened our 2014 AGM. The minutes were included in our last post.

We still have one obligation to fulfill as part of this small project. We need to get together again to get some weeding done near the road on Bassett Creek. We will let you know a time and date soon.

Thanks to Beth Mellick for coming up with the idea and sourcing some funding.

Maybe we should make it an annual event?

A reminder that we Tweet general environmental and landcare news on a fairly regular basis. If you a re a Twitterer you can follow us at MucklefordLcare.

cheers

Paul H.

MUCKLEFORD CATCHMENT LANDCARE INC
ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING
Castlemaine Golf Club

September 28, 2014 – 1.30 pm

MINUTES
1. President, Paul Hampton welcomed participants to the meeting.
2. Present: Paul Hampton, Barry Sutton, Beth Mellick, Brendan Sydes, Jane Staley
Observer: Max Schlachter (Landcare Facilitator)
Apologies: Sue Slaytor, Tony Cordy
3. The minutes of the previous AGM (October 10, 2014) were read.
Motion: ‘That the minute of the AGM, October 10, 2013 are approved as an accurate record of proceedings’
Moved: Barry Sutton
Seconded: Beth Mellick
Carried.
4. Paul Hampton tabled the Presidents’ Report for the year 2013-2014 (attached).
Questions regarding the Chinaman Creek Project. It was noted that planting may well be too late to implement this year because of dry conditions. Will the plants from Neangar be put aside till next year? Will it be necessary to negotiate an extension of the project t from the funder? These issues to be followed up a.s.a.p.
5. Treasurer, Barry Sutton tabled the Financial Report 2013-2014. Several amendments were made to account for new invoices. The amended report is attached.
Motion: ‘That the Financial Report as amended be accepted by this meeting.’
Moved: Barry Sutton
Seconded: Brendan Sydes
Carried.
6. Election of Officebearers (chaired by Max Schlachter)
President.
Nomination: Paul Hampton
Nominated: Barry Sutton
Seconded: Beth Mellick
Duly elected.
Secretary:
Nomination: Sue Slaytor
Nominated: Paul Hampton
Seconded: Barry Sutton
As Sue was not present the meeting decided that the nomination stand and Sue would be
approached regarding her willingness to continue in the position.
Treasurer:
Nomination: Barry Sutton
Nominated: Beth Mellick
Seconded: Jane Staley
Duly elected.
7. Election of general members of the committee. As there were no nominations, the committee will be made up of office-bearers for the duration.
8. General business.
The meeting canvassed some ideas for events aimed at engaging with residents in various parts of the catchment:
• A planting in the vicinity of the cricket club
• Local cycling/walking tours (get to know your neighbourhood) followed by discussion about environmental and related community engagement and enhancement
• Bassett Creek: a cycling/walking event to look at the nature reserve (former gravel reserve), the Steiner School, Golf Club and the Bassett Creek Landcare Project (completed 2005)
• At least a couple of ‘whole-of-catchment’ events
The meeting closed at 2.30pm.

MUCKLEFORD CATCHMENT LANDCARE
ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING
SEPTEMBER 28, 2014
PRESIDENT’S REPORT

Muckleford Landcare has implemented one significant project in the year 2013-2014. The first stage of the Chinaman Creek Community plan was funded with a Victorian Landcare Grant of $5785. Four properties along the creek have had blackberries sprayed and a connecting corridor has been created on another, linking the creek with remnant woodland on the slopes. All participating landholders have contributed with cash or labour in-kind. I would like to thank all the landholders who joined the project. We hope that it will be the beginning of long-term improvements to the environment of Chinaman Creek valley. I also thank Landcare Facilitator, Max Schlachter for his assistance in making the application. We now need to start thinking and talking about the next stage of the plan.
The committee has met on an irregular basis throughout this year. I thank Barry Sutton, Sue Slaytor and David Griffiths for their continuing support.
Clearly, the committee numbers are not sustainable and we could do with some new members but it has proven difficult to recruit people in the last few years and that is probably a reflection on our inability to engage consistently with a sufficient number and range of residents. It is a fairly common predicament amongst many landcare groups. However, our situation is also distinctive in many ways. Muckleford Catchment Landcare covers a large and diverse area. Unlike many other local groups we have no natural community centre. We are a collection of fairly isolated semi-urban pockets scattered across an area of a relatively few large rural holdings.
I have thought for some time that the best strategy for reviving landcare in the area is for Muckleford Landcare to offer an umbrella for the development of smaller, neighbourhood interest groups. As an incorporated association MCLG can provide both expertise and a legal/financial framework for the initiatives of residents who want to get together and address environment issues in their immediate area. Landcare can be a potent vehicle for developing community energy and vision. Groups could develop on this model for example at Bassett Creek, Chinaman Creek, Walmer and Ottrey’s Scrub, all of which have semi-urban population densities.
I would like to thank Beth Mellick and family for conceiving and organising the event today at Castlemaine Golf Club. It is an initiative that we hope might lead to a strengthening of the landcare ethos and a stronger sense of community in the Bassett Creek neighbourhood.
If you wish to contribute to this or any other related discussion, I hope you can join us on Sunday, September 28 at Castlemaine Golf Club. Perhaps you might even feel motivated to join the committee?
Paul Hampton
President
Muckleford Landcare

A reminder to all that we have our Sunday at the golf course this weekend.
At 10.30 we will have a stroll around the course. For those who want to exercise their skill at the ancient game, we will provide some clubs and a little advice. We will be accompanied by a local who knows the course and its bird life intimately. There are still a number of swift parrots around and a Latham’s Snipe has recently been spotted.
Activities for children are also being organised.
After the walk there will be a light lunch at the club house. The bar will be open.
At 1.30, for those who are interested, we will convene our AGM. This year there is no guest speaker and we will be covering the formalities as efficiently as possible. I will be sending a President’s Report tomorrow.
Our committee is presently at a low ebb in terms of numbers and we would love to get a couple of new members. The duties are not onerous as we usually meet monthly or bi-monthly. If you are interested you can discuss it with us on Sunday.
This is a perfect way to spend a spring morning, get to know a special part of the Bassett Creek environment and meet locals.
It is important that you RSVP so that we know how many sandwiches to make. Ring Beth Mellick at 5472 4609 or 0431 219 980 to book a spot.

Those who attended our AGM in 2012 when our guest was author Don Watson will be interested to know that his book ‘The Bush’ has been published and the reviews are extravagantly good. Chase it up.