This newsletter is to update you with news and events related to Christmas Hills Landcare.
Included in this newsletter:
1. CHills Lounge - Friday, 1st April6. Bushfire recovery video series on YouTube
7. Community Environmental Recovery Action Plan for Christmas Hills - community workshops Sunday, 1st May & Sunday 22nd May8. Draft Port Phillip and Western Port Invasive Plants and Animals Strategy - feedback due by Friday, 15th April
1. CHills Lounge - Friday, 1st AprilThe CHills Lounge (Christmas Hills Community Happy Hour) has been cancelled due to lack of interest.
Just kidding - April fools! - CHills Lounge is on again from 5:30pm onwards this Friday 1st April (tomorrow) at the Christmas Hills North Fire Brigade Station on the corner of Ridge and Muir Roads. A great way to meet and socialise with your neighbours, these are held on the first Friday of every monthBruce Fuhrer, author of “A field guide to Australian fungi” (considered the most comprehensive photographic field guide on Australian fungi yet published) will deliver an illustrated talk on local fungi, and then lead us on a field walk to see what fungi we can find. This all takes place from 2pm to 5pm on Saturday, 9th April at "Four Winds" the property of David Lang and Joan Stephens. More detail in the attached flier.
3. Want to play for The Ashes on the SCG? - Sunday, 3rd AprilSt Andrews and Christmas Hills residents are invited to join together to take on the Strathewen residents in the inaugural "Ashes" cricket match on Sunday 3rd, April. Both teams are seeking as many people as possible from their respective communities to swarm to the SCG (Strathewen Cricket Ground, Chadds Creek Road) on the day and play a part in helping their community to take home the Ashes. Whilst only eleven team members will take to the field at any one time, teams can have as many members as they wish, as all participants - young and old, male and female, sporty and not so - will have an opportunity to play on the day.
The Diamond Creek Rotary Club will provide a barbecue lunch and refreshments during the match. The action takes place on field from 11am to 1pm and concludes with an afternoon of off field mingling with neighbours and friends. For more information, please contact Warwick Leeson on 0439 347 797, or simply turn up before 10am.Melbourne Water is developing the new Healthy Waterways Strategy, a follow on from the current Regional River Health Strategy. The strategy will be MW's plan for how they manage and improve rivers, estuaries and wetlands from July 2013.
Melbourne Water is running a series of engagement workshops across the region, and you are invited to a workshop to contribute your knowledge and share your passion on what you care about most in our waterways, and also hear some snap shots on current projects that have been successfully implemented in your local area.
Your feedback and views will help shape Melbourne Water’s work by influencing the upcoming Healthy Waterways Strategy to be implemented from July 2013.
A consultation workshop, one of 13 being conducted around the region, is being held for the Middle Yarra area (includes the Christmas Hills area) on the evening of Monday 4th April:
Time: 5.00pm registration and light supper for a 5.30pm start - concludes 8.30pm
Where: Function Room 1, Manningham City Council, 699 Doncaster Rd Doncaster (free parking on site)
Bring: Yourself and what you know about your local waterways
The RSVP date has passed (28th March), but I am assured that you can just turn up and participate.
5. Native vegetation management training for Friends and Landcare groups - four Saturdays, 16th April, 30th April, 14th May, 17th SeptemberNillumbik Shire Council is holding a series of workshops on bushland management just for Friends and Landcare groups this autumn. Presented by leading ecologists, Randall Robinson and Darcy Duggan, these workshops aim to expand your understanding and inspire a dynamic, ecological approach to managing your patch.
Workshops are free to all Friends and Landcare group members.
The workshops are:
For more information, refer the attached flier, or contact Alison Hickey, Environmental Works Officer, on 9433 3219 or email alison.hickey@nillumbik.vic.gov.au
6. Bushfire recovery video series on YouTubeThe Port Phillip and Westernport Catchment Management Authority (PPWCMA) has prepared a series of short documentary videos using the learnings from bushfire recovery after the 2009 bushfires that focus on land recovery and address some of the common land issues that private land holders can expect to face in the initial years following a bushfire.
Each video can be viewed online:
Two workshops have been scheduled to involve the Christmas Hills community in further development of the Community Environmental Recovery Action Plan (CERAP) for Christmas Hills. Both will be held at the Blue Wren Theatre at the Christmas Hills Primary School, with the first to be held on Sunday, 1st May and the second on Sunday, 22nd May. Please put these dates in your diary now, and further details will be circulated when available. Please also encourage others to participate and have a say in the design and content of a land management and fire recovery action plan for our community.
As part of gathering local knowledge to inform these workshops, the consultants undertaking the Christmas Hills CERAP (EnPlan Partners) are offering to meet small groups of 2 or 3 neighbours on site to hear their views on land management issues, priorities and practices in their neighbourhoods.
It is also an opportunity for landholders to find out a bit more about the Christmas Hills CERAP and how it is expected to benefit them.
To arrange a visit, please contact Darrel Brewin of EnPlan (mob: 0417 185 071; wk ph: 5261 5229; email: dbrewin@pacific.net.au8. Draft Port Phillip and Western Port Invasive Plants and Animals Strategy - feedback due by Friday, 15th April
The Port Phillip & Westernport CMA has developed a draft Port Phillip and Western Port Invasive Plants and Animals Strategy. The draft strategy sets out principles and objectives to guide government agencies, industry and the community in the coordinated management of weeds and pest animals across the region. The strategy also outlines broad actions that are considered a priority.
A period of community consultation is being undertaken. The PPWCMA is inviting comment on the draft strategy from interested organisations, local governments, businesses, community groups, landholders and others. Feedback can be submitted using an on-line survey by 15th April 2011. The feedback will be analysed and used in the finalisation of the strategy. The final version of the strategy will be released in mid 2011.
The survey and a copy of the draft strategy is available on-line at: http://www.ppwcma.vic.gov.au/environmental-planning/draft-invasive-plants-and-animals-strategy.aspx