NNeewwss ffrroomm Creek Dates for your Diary 2013 :

th DDaarreebbiinn CCrreeeekk - April 28 10-1pm Building Nest boxes – DCMC - May 26 th Planting Trees Hunters Lane Whittlesea AApprriill 22001133 th - Wed 19 June – Committee meeting – possibly Latrobe sanctuary walk - June 30 th Planting at Abercorn Avenue Ivanhoe - July 28 th National Tree Day planting Gronn st Reservoir th - Wed 14 August – Committee meeting - DCMC - August 25 th – Weeding and Planting Green Street Ivanhoe th - September 29 – Planting 105 Hunters Lane Whittlesea th - Wed 16 October – Committee meeting - DCMC - October 27th – Broom control at Electric Spur, Heidelberg West - November 24 th – Woody weed removal Cherry St Macleod - Friday December 6 th – Friends Xmas party – Furlan Club

TThhee FFrrriiieennddss oofff DDaarrreebbiiinn 1) AGM MEETING WITH SPEAKER IAN PENROSE CCrrreeeekk wwaass fffoorrrmmeedd iiinn 11999955 FROM YARRA RIVERKEEPERS tttoo pprrroottteeccttt,,, rrreesstttoorrree aanndd 20 TH FEBRUARY conserve the Darebin conserrve tthe Darrebiin Crreek and iitts adjjacentt Creek and its adjacent “What’s happening to Our ?” ppaarrrkklllaannddss aass aa nnaatttuurrraalll

eennvviiirrroonnmmeennttt fffoorrr ttthhee eennjjjooyymmeennttt oofff ttthhee Ian gave us a history of the Yarra up to the current day starting ccoommmmuunniiitttyy... with some photos of swimming in the Yarra in the 1950’s at Rudders Grange and then looking at the floods of 1952.

The Yarra of course starts all the way at Mt Gregory in the Upper Yarra valley near Marysville and has Yarra Falls in its catchment the tallest waterfall in Victoria – but unfortunately not accessible. It then winds its way down through the Big Peninsula Tunnel, past Warburton and finally getting to Yarra Bend Park (sight of the Lunatic Asylum in the 1860’s) and then to Dight Falls, which had a mill with power wheel until 1863. Of course the joins with the Yarra a little before this near the Latrobe Golf Course.

Some other interesting facts are that the Royal Botanic Gardens Lake is actually an old Billabong of the Yarra and Herring Island is essentially a manmade island formed out of an old quarry. The Yarra is essentially the reason for ’s existence and the centre of the local aboriginal tribe the Wurundjeri’s way of life.

Interesting Facts about the Yarra

70% of Melbourne’s water comes from the Yarra 35% is used for domestic /35% for industrial and farming. Short finned eels are common in the Yarra, also Macquarie Perch, Pobblebonk Frog (certainly found in the Darebin Creek as well). Platypus is found in the and Yarra, Rakali or “water rat” is indigenous and found locally. Easter Water Dragons, Darter “Snake Birds”, Powerful owls, and even wombats in the silty banks near Warrandyte plus Rosella Spider orchids. Ian then went on to describe the Yarra river keepers which is one group of 200 river keeper groups worldwide and part of the Water Keeper Alliance.

They actively work to protect the Yarra and even have a boat for regular patrolling which can also be used for showing problems to politicians and journalists and community leaders.

They are vigilant about pollution and inappropriate development. They hold riverside bike rides with experts to explain issues to the public plus the Yarra Yabber bus tours.

One of the major issues with the Yarra currently is the extraction of water from the flows – normally about 50% of flow is removed from the Yarra but in drought times such as in 2009 – the river volumes dropped down to 25% of normal flow. A campaign to improve and increase these flows has begun and there is now a program in place since 2011.

One of the other major issues the river keepers fight is the clearing of Yarra river banks. The banks are very critical for the waterway and for animals and people.

Clearing for golf courses, illegal cattle and construction of new houses are some of the major dangers. The river keepers actively get involved in fights against these developments – one house in Toorak which was built and illegally destroyed some river bank areas is still being pursued though VCAT for reparation works. But it is a hard fight and it takes media exposure from radio and television and a lot of community support and vigilance.

One current major fight is at 12 Coppin Grove Hawthorn where the council collaborated with the River keepers to reduce the development to 2 stories but there are still problems with the proposal and the fight is still on.

If you want to be involved in the Yarra river keepers or just read more about them – their website is http://www.yarrariver.org.au/about.html

Plus some interesting books to read about the Yarra River are

“Yarra” by Kristin Otto “Explore the Yarra” by Ron Amor “The Comforts of Water” by Maya Ward

The river keepers’ boat

2013 AGM commenced after light supper.

Apologies : Sheryl Sibbison. Present : Peter Grenfell, Helen Walker-Cook, Phillip Orth, Adrian Hotchin, Maureen McDermott, David Ford, Margot Hitchcock, Chris Walker-Cook. Minutes of AGM 2012 – moved by Peter, seconded Phillip. General Report : Helen - Listed events, speakers at meetings, volunteer awards at Banyule and Darebin.

- New Facebook page set up by Todd Hunter.

- Former member Karen Lee remembered.

- Foam in the creek a number of times during 2012. Frustrating for members.

Treasurers’ Report and membership update : Tabled and discussed by Helen Walker- Cook. - 59 financial memberships current. 11 new members.

Committee Elections : Phillip Orth Convenor: Sheryl Sibbison Secretary (Meeting): Peter Grenfell Secretary (Public Officer): Helen Walker-Cook Newsletter Coordinator: Phillip Orth Events Coordinator: Adrian Hotchin Media Liaison: Elisabeth Donaghue (resigned) Membership Secretary: Sheryl Sibbison Treasurer: Helen Walker-Cook Assistant Treasurer: Maureen McDermott Festivals and Promotions organiser: unfilled . General Committee: unfilled .

General Business :

• Incorporation changes meeting – Adrian and Helen attended. Public officer is now the Secretary. FODC will now have a Meetings Secretary and a Public Officer Secretary.

• Review 2013 Calender Activities and Festivals.

2013 Quarterly meetings: Wednesday evenings best for everyone.

17 April – Wed, 19 June – Wed, 14 August – Wed, 16 October – Wed.

Location of upcoming (3 March) Clean Up Day event changed from Dougharty’s

Drain to Southern Rd Wetlands. Emma from Banyule Bushcrew informed via email.

Website events page and Facebook updated. - Nesting box day April 28 at Environment Centre, Darebin Parklands – suggestion of BBQ and extend activity until 1pm.

- Xmas dinner first week on Friday 6 Dec. at Furlan Club.

• Discussion of possible speakers for this year’s meetings.

Martin Roberts from City of Whittlesea. Other suggestions: Friends of Merri Creek, possibly Ray Radford. Cam Beardsell from on wildflowers and orchids. Possibly an event at LaTrobe Wildlife Sanctuary – either a talk or spotlight night. Peter to contact La Trobe. • Kite Festival. Adrian H – one big marquee for all enviro groups. 1pm – 8.30 at Edwards Lake. Roster – who can attend – Therese, Adrian H, Phillip. Environmental Bingo – photos, A1 sheets of card to hang around.

• Website revamp quotes – Peter G has come up with rough outline to get 3 quotes. Aim to get it done for under $2,000. Will need a grant – DCMC can look for grants over coming months. Options include a page to become a member and/or pay for membership.

Meeting closed at 9.50pm.

2) Darebin Kite Festival

Saturday, 2 March 2013 Edwards Lake Park, Reservoir

The Festival has gathered a large following in recent years and attracts kite flyers and festival goers from all of Darebin as well as from other parts of Melbourne. With hundreds of colourful kites flying to a backdrop of live music from across the globe.

Friends of Darebin Creek again had a stall in this event and had an impressive array of creek photography plus of course our Environmental bingo courtesy of Adrian Hotchins. The environmental bingo again was a big hit – but due to the event being in Reservoir didn’t attract as many people to our database as in recent years in All Nations Park Northcote.

Regardless Edwards Lake is a wonderful venue to host the Friends of Darebin Creek, the revegetation of the lake is a fine example of what can be achieved with urban waterways. A stroll around as part of the conducted tours or individually was very rewarding. If we didn’t fill the database we had some compensation in witnessing the recovery of the local biodiversity. With some big last Sunday of the month turnouts perhaps the FODC can get some comparable outcomes further down the track.

Edwards lake Reserve Environmental Bingo

Successful revegetation

2) CLEAN UP AUSTRALIA DAY EVENT Sunday 3 rd March

By PETER GRENFELL

Friends Clean Up Southern Road Wetlands

To kick off this year’s Friends events, City of Banyule Bushcrew member Damien ran a Clean Up Australia Day site. The aim was to clean up the wetlands located just south of Southern Road, along the Darebin Creek shared trail. This year, Damien handed out some fancy tongs (like pictured) to make it easier to pick up rubbish.

In case I needed any convincing that such tongs are a good idea for clean ups - Robert saw a tiger snake in the long grass as we walked to the wetlands from where Damien had set up. I would not have enjoyed reaching under shrubs to pick up bottles and cans with just my gloves after seeing a snake.

The wetlands bushland and surrounding area had a fair amount of rubbish, some of which had been washed in by storm water from surrounding streets and a small amount that had been discarded or dumped.

We had about 8 people turn up, which was a little disappointing, but they did do a great job. There was a small contingent of Friends as well as some local residents, who may have joined in after seeing Damien setting up while they were doing their morning walk. It was great seeing local residents working with Friends to clean up the creek. The weather was a bit wet at the start, but turned into a nice morning for picking up litter around the wetlands.

The total weight of rubbish collected was 60kg. We had roughly six very full bags of each (recycled and general rubbish). Thanks to Damien and City of Banyule for assisting us in keeping our creek clean.

MELBOURNE STRATEGIC PLAN FEEDBACK 25 th March 2013

By Phillip Orth

Some members of the Friends committee – including myself, Sheryl Sibbison and Helen Walker Cook recently met with facilitator Richard O’Byrne to discuss the new metropolitan planning strategy the government is trying to implement for Melbourne.

The Discussion Paper refers to five outcome principles: Principle 1: A distinctive Melbourne Principle 2: A globally connected and competitive city Principle 3: Social and economic participation Principle 4: Strong communities Principle 5: Environmental resilience

Essentially we answered 10 questions regarding this discussion paper (any member wanting to look at our answers – I can email on request), of course making our case that the environment needed to be taken much more seriously and have more resources devoted to its not just resilience but improvement and growth. Our answers have now gone into the community input for the government to review at the end of March.

Committee Meeting 17 th April – DCMC offices Darebin Parklands Minutes by Peter Grenfell, Article on Paul Prentice by Sheryl Sibbison

Welcome: Sheryl Speaker: Paul Prentice.

Paul gave a delightful talk on his more than 20 years cleaning up litter along the Merri Creek and other areas. He has been the litter co ordinator for the Friends of Merri Creek since 1989. Paul runs a monthly clean up day, sometimes he's the only one but other times he has a group turn up to help. He walks, rides or runs along the creek paths regularly and always takes plastic bags with him to collect what rubbish he can. Another factor which he is meticulous about is recycling whenever he can and gets the council to pick up larger bags when they won’t fit in his recycle bin. He entertained and informed us with anecdotes of things that have happened over the years. Thank you Paul.

Meeting commence: 8.25pm Apologies: Phillip Orth, Todd Hunter, Maureen McDermott. Present: Sheryl Sibbison, Helen Walker-Cook, Peter Grenfell, Adrian Hotchin. Minutes of AGM 2013. Moved by Sheryl Seconded by Helen. Membership Report: 2 new members this year. 15 renewals, 2 of which are corporate.

General Business Adrian was contacted by a Ben Slattery 93261662 [email protected] of the Sport and Leisure planning group At Leisure re an indoor stadium to be constructed as a redevelopment of the existing outdoor hockey fields at the end of Banksia St Ivanhoe (Cyril Cummins Reserve). Mel 31 C4. Adrian suggested the following issues should be considered. -rubbish from the centre in the creek be addressed -sightlines from the Darebin side be considered -impact into the valley from the centre be minimised -construction be kept to the Liberty Pde side of the Reserve.

Helen attended Feb DCMC meeting. Helen would like to attend the next DPA meeting on May 28 to see if any DPA members would like to come along to FODC events.

Metropolitan Planning Strategy for Melbourne's future. Sheryl, Phillip and Helen produced a discussion paper with the assistance of Richard Byrne as facilitator.

Report on Kite festival - Adrian. Report on Clean up Day – Peter and Helen. Report on progress of web site and possible grants – Peter. We have 3 quotes for an updated website of up to $2000. We are now looking for a suitable grant to pay for the majority of the cost, DCMC and Friends can pay for the rest. Adrian suggested a Melbourne Water grant.

Review upcoming activities:

Sunday April 28 10am to 12.30pm. Darebin Parklands Environment Centre. We will construct a range of nesting boxes for different bird and possum species, to be installed along the Darebin Creek later in 2013. BYO favourite drill. To be followed by BBQ lunch.

Sunday 26 May. 105 Hunters Lane – tree planting in property at the top of the Henderson’s Creek Catchment. City of Whittlesea have been granted funds to plant 12,000 trees from DSE’s 2 Million Trees Project. Need details of meeting point etc. Wed 19 June – next meeting. Helen and Sheryl to bring soup and mulled wine. Note early start - 6.30pm.

Sunday 30 June. Planting day at Abercorn Avenue, Ivanhoe. Abercorn is just upstream from Mandell Ave, where Friends planted last year, and is an entrance to the Darebin Creek shared trail. The site is near where extensive work has been done by Melbourne Water to remove willows in the Darebin Creek. Melway 31 C8.

Other business.

• Bird Survey – possible date. Sunday 13 October 8am – Bird Survey near La Trobe Grasslands. Jess from La Trobe / Janelle Thomas from Birdlife Australia - M 0425 712 908, T 9347 0757.

• La Trobe guided walk / meeting. This year we are meeting on Wednesdays, which fits in with 2 dates of La Trobe Wildlife Sanctuary Twilight Tours - 19 June (5.30 – 7pm) and 16 October (8 – 9.30pm). It was decided to put this idea on hold until we get more active members.

• Speaker or activity for other meetings, including 14 August? Martin Roberts from City of Whittlesea?

Next Meeting Date - Wed 19 June at Gleeson Centre. Meeting closed at 9.30pm.

Membership Renewals

Membership renewal forms were sent to those members whose memberships were due last month. Thanks to all those who have already renewed their support for the friends group especially the two corporate memberships. If you have questions regarding membership please contact Sheryl Sibbison on [email protected]

It's still not too late to renew your membership. Renewal Forms are on the website.

Friends Photos

Please see our Facebook page – quite a number of new photos have been added.

Does anyone know what this is?

We welcome any interesting photos from our members – just email to [email protected]

Get Involved in Darebin Creek Events in 2013 ☺☺☺

- April 28 th 10-1pm Building Nest boxes – DCMC - May 26 th Planting Trees Hunters Lane Whittlesea - Wed 19 th June – Committee meeting – possibly Latrobe sanctuary walk - June 30 th Planting at Abercorn Avenue Ivanhoe - July 28 th National Tree Day planting Gronn st Reservoir - Wed 14 th August – Committee meeting - DCMC - August 25 th – Weeding and Planting Green Street Ivanhoe - September 29 th – Planting 105 Hunters Lane Whittlesea - Wed 16 th October – Committee meeting - DCMC - October 27th – Broom control at Electric Spur, Heidelberg West - November 24 th – Woody weed removal Cherry St Macleod - Friday December 6 th – Friends Xmas party – Furlan Club

Got anything to say? Contributions to the FODC newsletter always welcome. Please forward to [email protected] or [email protected]

Contact Numbers

Water Pollution? (quote drain sign’s number) 9695 2777 Convenor/ Sheryl 9467 1370 (h) Melb Wildlife Sanctuary & 9479 1206 Membership Sibbison Indigenous Nursery Officer Shopping Trolley Hotline 1800 245 022 Adrian Hotchin Events 0409 133 049 Litter Report Hotline 1800 352 555 Phillip Orth Newsletter 0419376244 Wildlife Rescue Hotline 0500 540 000 Darebin Creek Management 9499 4454 Vic Police Motorcycle 9380 7283 Committee Squad

NOTE: The Friends of Darebin Creek Membership Brochure comes complete with map and information in seven languages. Call Sheryl (tel no above) for copies to distribute to neighbours, schools and clubs, and other centres.

Visit our website at www.friendsofdarebincreek.org.au