Wangaratta Urban Landcare Group
President Treasurer Secretary Newsletter Autumn Dear members and friends, We are saddened by the death of Joy Rosser who was a cherished inaugural member of our group and a great friend of the environment. We have wonderful memories of Joy as she put her heart and soul into all her many activities. We well remember how she and Bill helped us in Kaluna Park, keenly weeding and encouraging us with their interest and enthusiasm. She will be sadly missed by us all. Our deep sympathy to Bill and the family. Adrian Twitt PO Box 584 Sally Carr Elaine Jacobsen Helen Curtis [email protected] No. 68 March 2012
notify Sally Carr ([email protected]) of your preferred area and then collect the information as listed.
Timing The initial information should be given to Sally in the next 4 to 6 weeks. Areas already nominated are Large Reserves managed by Parks Vic, Big Kaluna Park, Three Mile Creek between Shanley St. and the golf-course, OneMile Creek, Yellow Creek, Northern Beaches and Kaluna Park.
Contacts: Sally (as above) and Ian Davidson ([email protected]). Kaluna Park
Since December the scene in the park has changed
Discover Wangaratta Our Group has a new project to map, record features, and describe access to the many areas of public land including wetlands and reserves in Wangaratta. This information will be compiled and put into a pamphlet/guide so that locals and visitors can easily find and enjoy these public assets, many of which are not well known. Method Based on a map of Crown Land and roads, Wangaratta will be subdivided into areas. Members and interested people are asked to record relevant information about these areas for inclusion in the pamphlet/book. The following information will be required: * Location e.g. River reach between X and Y. * Accessibility e.g. Pedestrian access via walking track, gravel road etc via X. * Site features e.g. Vegetation, views, beaches, birdlife, walks, good fishing, canoeing etc. * Site photos Notification Members of WULG, WSN and interested friends are invited to contribute. Just
very dramatically as a response to the floods, sun and rain of 2010/11. There has been regeneration of many native herbs but the one most dominant species has been Persicaria lapathifolia (Pale Knotweed). This has spread from a few previous sites to densely cover much of the park, including several tracks which thankfully have now been reopened by the brush-cutting of Bush Regenerator, Andrew Snowdon. Young Melaleucas (Rough-barked Honeymyrtles), Acacias (Wattles) and Melicytus (Tree Violets) died after being under water for long periods. We are finding tiny Tree Violet seedlings, a few Wattles but no Melaleucas as yet. Several other native species which were flooded or washed away have not yet regenerated. However, recently we were delighted to see flowers and seed on our daisy, Senecio longicollaris. And we are seeing strong young Red Gum seedlings. Callistemon sieberi (River Bottlebrush) is one species which has survived flooding and is doing very well in many parts of the park.
As was recorded
in previous Newsletters a large number of Red Gums and Wattles fell following the heavy rains. This has left the hazard of much fallen timber to deal with while weeding and wood stacking. The weeds have gone quite berserk For example two Conyza sumatrensis (Tall Fleabanes) were measured at 2.5 meters. That is half a meter taller than the height recorded by the National Herbarium of Victoria, and much taller than Peter!
proposals, and over 1850 signatures on petitions were collected in 4 days !! In the Chronicle 24/2/12 RCW advertised that it would undertake further consultation with key stakeholders. It welcomes submissions from the general public. Submissions should be addressed to: Rural City of Wangaratta, PO Box 238, Wangaratta, 3676 or emailed to [email protected]. Submissions close at 4pm on Friday 9th March. Clean up Australia Day Sunday 4th March WSN Restoring Our Waterways. One Mile Creek. 8am at the Rowan St. Bridge, 9am at Batchelors Green and the White St. Bridge. Free barbecue at 11am. For more information contact Di on 5722 3823. North Rural Pride Group Clean-up along Bowser Rd., Nth Wangaratta. Meet opposite North Cedars Tourist Park at 9am. Contact Marg 5722 2718. Tuesday 6th March 6pm-8pm Guided Nature walk at North Beaches, with kids activities. Meet at Scout Hall, College St. Register at RCW 5722 0888 for any of the sites.
Campaign against RCWs plan to increase parking in Merriwa Park
In 2005 the Rural City of Wangaratta (RCW) formed a broad interested community group to act as a steering committee to develop a Master plan (MP) Merriwa and Kaluna Parks. After the draft was finalized it was put on public view for comment. It was finally adopted by the Council for implementation. Later advice was received that Council was ready to implement the Master Plan. To our horror, in June last year the Council announced it planned to increase the number of allday parking in Merriwa Park using two unwanted tennis courts acquired from the Tennis Club. Adrian responded with a letter of protest in the Chronicle. This promoted a lot of adverse criticism of the Councils proposal. Resulting from this adverse publicity the Council invited representatives of our group to meet with them namely Adrian, Elaine and Peter. They were shown a draft of Councils proposals which made no reference and bore no resemblance to the traffic movements required by the Master Plan. And they called that meeting a consultation!! Further contact with the Chronicle from our group in January resulted in greater public concern and outrage at the parking proposals. At the Council meeting in January, Councilors, other than Ron Web and Rozi Parisotto, passed the changes to the MP. The February meeting passed a motion to return the matter to the steering committee for community input. Editorial comment and letters to the Chronicle have all been opposed to the Council
An extract from a positive Age news item
The Ultimate in Urban Landcare. London is set to claim gold as the most environmentally friendly Olympic Games the world has ever seen. London won the Games partly because it said it would reduce, re-use, and recycle. It started with the greening of the site that was to be the home of Olympic Park. The abandoned industrial estate in the East End suburb of Stratford was a scar on the face of the city, full of rubble from the Blitz, abandoned cars, tins of paint and industrial solvents. The mounds of garbage were as high as 15metres above sea level, burying the old landscape including the River Lea. Two hundred buildings were demolished and 1.3 million tonnes of waste removed; but not dumped elsewhere. Ninety five % of the demolished material was reused in new buildings and contaminated soil was cleaned. The land around was repopulated with native animals newts, lizards etc. and gardeners reseeded the landscape with grass and wildflowers. Much of the woodwork will be unpainted, allowing the wood to be recycled afterwards. To top all the expected cost will be less. If you have not updated your Membership you will receive this Newsletter in the mail with a membership slip attached. We will welcome your continued support. Thank you and best wishes Helen
Clean energy. Despite the turbulence in the global economy, the world invested a record $251 billion in clean energy in 2011, with the US streaking ahead of China in green spending and boosting confidence among climate action advocates. Australia also hit a record, spending $4.7 billion on clean energy in 2011, a jump of 11% on the previous year, mostly from increases in rooftop solar.
