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.

Friends of the Box Ironbark Forests monthly walks are a very enjoyable and relaxed way of discovering the local environment.

FOBIG are having a walk in Muckleford this Sunday, 21th September 2014. The walk will be led by Muckleford local and Friends member, Neville Cooper, who will take participants through the nature conservation reserve, up to the top of the hill for some 360 degree views, and back down to the Poppet Head Mine.

This is a good 3 hour walk with a break for lunch (byo). Participants meet at the Continuing Education building in Templeton Street at 9.30am, or meet at the start of the walk at 9.45 at the Poppet Head Mine at the start of the Red White and Blue Walk.

Call 5472 4609 or 0401 319 659 for further information.

The Muckleford Landcare Annual General Meeting was held on 15 October 2013 at the Muckleford Community Centre.  Attendees were greatly entertained and engaged by a presentation from our special guest speaker,  Bill Garner, who reflected on many aspects of camping in Australia.  Bill has recently published a fascinating book titled Under canvas: How camping makes us Australian.  This publication explores the impact that living under canvas has had on the Australian identity from the arrival of the first Europeans through to the modern day.

Bill’s presentation sparked numerous questions and lively discussion amongst the audience.  After the presentation guests enjoyed some very tasty soup and refreshments, with members then conducting the business of the Annual General Meeting.

Twenty people gathered on a beautiful sunny Sunday in the lovely 1873 Methodist church which now serves as the Muckleford Community Centre.  This was a combined event with Newstead Landcare with a focus on roadsides. The project is supported by a Strengthening Our Communities Grant from the Mount Alexander Shire Council.

After cups of tea and networking there were presentations from Kylie Stafford and Ben Goonan.  Kylie is the Natural Environment Officer from the Shire of Mount Alexander and she spoke about ways the Shire is going about improving their roadside vegetation management.  The Shire has recently adopted a new Roadside Management Plan and Kylie is working hard to get new procedures in place and train works staff in the biodiversity values of roadsides.

Next, ecologist Ben Goonan gave a presentation on his 4 years of work for the North Central Catchment Management Authority (NCCMA) collecting data on the quality of roadside vegetation and habitat on all the Council managed roads: 90,000 linear kilometres across 14 local government areas!  Ben explained the rating system, and demonstrated how we can access this information using iMap on the NCCMA website www.nccma.vic.gov.au/Resources/iMap/index.aspx

Ben emphasized that local people are the key to protecting roadside values.  He recommends recording (photographing) sites we value and being vigilant about “keeping an eye” on them.

Ben then joined us on a bus tour to several different sites describing as we travelled how the roadsides would have been rated and why.  At each stop we were able to demonstrate works that Muckleford Landcare has undertaken along roadsides, and some of the issues being faced.

Among the examples from the field day of what we can all do to help improve the habitat value of our local roadsides are:
* report any ‘special’ species we think may have been overlooked by the NCCMA survey (email to k.stafford@mountalexander.vic.gov.au  and bengoonan@hotmail.com;
* report to council any damage done to vegetation in grading of roads (phone 5471 700 and ask for the compliance officer);
* leave wood on roadsides for habitat, and report to council or DEPI or VicRoads (depending on whose road it is) anyone collecting wood from roadsides that are not in designated firewood collection areas;
* remove weeds from roadsides adjacent to your property
* increase the width of habitat corridors that roadside vegetation provides by planting indigenous plants on land adjacent to roadsides, or where some trees remain in the paddock but aren’t getting a chance to recruit then fence off the remnant to exclude grazing

It was a very informative 3 hours and we hope to arrange similar collaborations with Newstead Landcare in the future.

A REMINDER TO ALL OUR MEMBERS AND FRIENDS 

JOIN US FOR A PLEASANT AND INFORMATIVE MORNING NEXT SUNDAY – The hidden treasures of roadsides, how to discover and protect them. 

We will be gathering at the Muckleford Community Centre at 10 am for morning tea and two brief introductory talks before embarking on a short tour (bus provided) to several interesting local roadside sites.

This is a valuable opportunity to learn about our precious roadsides, their importance for the future of the local environment and learn to identify some of the plants that find refuge there.

In the last few months Mount Alexander Shire has issued a new Roadside Conservation Management Plan. A representative from Council will explain the aims of the plan and how they plan to implement it. They will also explain the rationale behind the changes to some of the Significant Roadside declarations you may have noticed taking place recently.

Ben Goonan who undertook a major biodiversity survey of roadsides in our region for the NCCMA in 2009-11 will talk about the results of his research and the criteria that he used to define high-value roadsides.

Frances Cincotta from Newstead Natives will also join us.

We hope you can join us for this early Spring gathering.

When: Sunday, September 15^th, 10am-1pm.

Where: Muckleford Community Centre, Muckleford-Walmer Road (former Methodist Church) between Pyrenees Highway and Castlemaine-Walmer Road.

Ring Paul Hampton at 0408566909 for more information.

Muckleford and Newstead Landcare groups are combining to host a morning tea and field trip on September 15. The focus will be our local roadsides.

Roadside vegetation is an extremely important resource for native biodiversity in our area, with some of the best patches of bush surviving alongside our thoroughfares. This field day will help us discover what makes a bit of roadside great, how to look after it and the very important questions of what can and can’t be done with roadsides and by whom.

We will meet at the Muckleford Community Centre at 10 am for morning tea and two brief introductory talks before embarking on a 2 hour visit (bus provided) to several interesting local roadside sites.

In the last few months Mount Alexander Shire has issued a new Roadside Conservation Management Plan. A representative from Council will explain the aims of the plan and how they plan to implement it. They will also explain the rationale behind the changes to some of the Significant Roadside declarations you may have noticed taking place recently.

Our second speaker is Ben Goonan who undertook a major biodiversity survey of roadsides in our region for the NCCMA in 2009-11. Ben will talk about the results of his research and the criteria that he used to define high-value roadsides.

Frances Cincotta from Newstead Natives will also join us. Frances and Ben will help us identify the surprising range and variety of both native and invasive species resident along our roads.

This will be an informative, practical and pleasant 3 hours. It is also another valuable opportunity to meet your neighbours and others interested in landcare.

When: Sunday, September 15^th, 10am-1pm.

Where: Muckleford Community Centre, Muckleford-Walmer Road (former Methodist Church between Pyrenees Highway and Castlemaine-Walmer Roads).

We would appreciate a RSVP. Email mucklefordlandcare@gmail.com or text Paul Hampton at 0408566909.

We look forward to your company.

This project is supported by a Strengthening Our Communities Grant from the Mount Alexander Shire Council.