Recently sited along the Back Creek, these birds have been thought to extend their territory and visit Melbourne's urban areas due to the re cent drought.
The photocopying of this newsletter is courtesy of Bob Stenholt local MHR for Burwood.
Greetings friends and other residents interested in Back Creek This is the 15th edition of BACKCREEK BRIEFINGS.
Progress made is as follows:
Membership subscription:
Membership subscriptions for 2004 are now due. If you would like to become a member and or make a donation, contact our treasurer Bob Strickland on 9830 0749 or print off a membership form from our website and send us your subscription. If you meet one of our members door knocking for membership or donation consider giving them some of your spare change. Membership costs just $5.00 per household.
Clean Up Day:
Our first working bee for 2004 was on Sunday March 4th 2004 "Clean Up Australia" day. Over 50 people participated including girls from year 8 Carey Grammar. This was FOBC's 4th year involved in Clean Up day so it took us by surprise that over 30 bags full to the brim of rubbish was colle cted. This is over half a tonne of rubbish! Thanks to all who attended. Photos showing some of our effor ts on the day can be seen on our website. The following is a list of dates when our community events will occur. Although we will be based at the Cornell Street end of the creek, each date shows where and what type of activity will take place Details of the FOBC event dates are as follows:
FOBC Website
We continue to update and add to our website so why not check us out. If you are interested in what we are doing and how, we plan to put on our website, details of our project plans for each of the 3 projects we have gained funding.
http://www.friendsofbackcreek.org
Annual General Meeting:
On Sunday 28 March at 4.00pm, FOBC held its 4th Annual General Meeting of members. The meeting was held at 3 Nichols dale Road Camberwell. Welcome to Malcolm Carre-Waddell, our newest committee member. Details of the AGM minutes, President's Statement and Treasurer's report can be accessed from our website.
Pathway Extension
Janyce McMurtrie from City of Boroondara outlined at the AGM their respective plans for the Back creek over the next 12 months. Specifically: Construction of the pathway extension at the Riversdale Road end above the tunnel, will commence sometime in May 2004. This will take approximately 6-8 weeks to complete. It will then enable safe continuous access from Linden Park through to Union Road in South Surrey Park.
In the 2004/05 year council plans to upgrade the Back Creek reserve fe nce line along Riversdale Road. This will mirror the fence line opposite at South Surrey Park. Melbourne Water: - Rivers & Creeks 2004 Booklet In March 2004 Melbourne Water released a booklet called Melbourne' Rivers and Creeks 2004. This publication reports on the environmental condition of Melbourne and neighbouring regional Victoria's rivers and creeks. It recognises that with over 100 million recreational visits to these waterways each year, With about one in three Melbournians living within 1 kilometer of a waterway, Melbourne Water's goal is to ensure that the quality and environmental health of our rivers and creeks is maintained and improved. Sadly the report shows that nearly 50% of our urban waterways are either in a poor or very poor condition with rivers and creeks closer to the city being worse due to run off from buildings & roads, loss of natural vegetation and litter. While it does not report on Back Creek the nearby Gardeners and Koonung Creeks are rated as very poor. Those interested in reading more can download a copy of the report fro m the Melbourne Water website
FOBC Committee:
President - Robert Brierley - 9836 3779
Secretary - Chris Walta - 9888 4461
(29A Cornell Street, Camberwell, 3124)
Treasurer - Bob Strickland - 9830 0749
Committee members: Barrie Gallacher, Eleanor Stephenson, John Cott, Jim Breen, Malcolm Carre-Waddell