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Welcome to our 6thedition of the WSN Restoring
Our Waterways Croaker Newsletter for 2011.
We have had a busy start to
September and there is a lot
coming up in October and
November. September started
off on the 1st with the Official
Opening of the ECO Centre at
the HB Barr Reserve in the
morning which was well
attended. That night was the WSN information night
on the campaign to deal with Fruit Fly which was also
well attended by a variety of organisation, business
and community members. Monday 5th was ROWs
monthly meetings 2pm ROW Activities and 5.30pm lots
of information and questions to be answered in the
September minutes. Wednesday 7th Gill and I meet
with the two different groups of CLC students to talk
about what sort of activities they were going to do
with ROW and they will be working with us on 14th &
21st and after the school holidays. Friday 9th Landcare
Celebration, Saturday the Official Opening of West End
Place and Sunday 11th Sustainable House Day.
A VERY DISAPPOINTING FINDING NEAR OUR
WATERWAYS
Article by Diane Farmer
On Sunday the 14th
September I saw a
TV dumped near 15
Mile Creek so I wentin to check it out and
while I was there
decided to check an
area where I have
found rubbish dumped before and sure enough some
members of the Wangaratta community had started
their own Transfer Station open 24/7 and its FREE.
There was so much rubbish in that area, I could not
believe it. Carpet underlay, empty oil containers, bags
of sawdust, old lawn mower, buckets and several
green waste dumps all around a drive through area.
Upon checking another area close by I found more
dumpings of an old
air cooler, bedding
and other items as
well as more green
waste. I reported it
to council and I
went to the council
meeting on the
Tuesday to bring the subject up in question time. I
was given some answers saying there is not much
they can do but I also gave some ways to help stop
this sort of thing so I will wait and see what comes of
my suggestion. Some of these were:
Consider giving a discount voucher to
pensioners and concession card holders
Put solar powered cameras in areas that are
prone to this sort of problem
Have a roadside pick up once a year
Make green waste free at the transfer station
once every couple of months
Here are a couple of photos of what I found.
I also went for a walk at Yellow Creek Reserve and
Contents
Introduction 1
A Very Disappointing Finding Near Our
Waterways 1 - 2
Wednesdays with CLC Students 2 - 3
Wangaratta Community Pride Activities 3 - 4
Sustainable House Day 4
Whats Cool in the Common 4
Upcoming Events 5 - 6
WSN Groups and Information 6
October , 2011 Issue #
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October 2011
found some more rubbish;
printer, old mattress covered
in weeds that were growing
very nicely and of course
green waste dumped. The
most upsetting thing out
there is the amount of 4 Wheel Drive damage to the
area, this was also reported to council with a plea to
block cars and 4 Wheel Drives going in there dumping
rubbish and destroying such a beautiful area.
Diane Farmer, Coordinator, WSN Restoring Our Waterways
0439 020 448
PO Box 772 Wangaratta VIC 3677
WEDNESDAYS WITH CLC STUDENTSArticle by Diane Farmer
Wednesday 7th September
Gill and I met Mat,
Jack and Brian at 9am
at the school where
we sat out in the nice
sunshine and talked
about Activities ROW
had in mind and they
spoke about what sort
of things they would like to do. There was quite a
variety of ideas so we asked them to work out a
weekly Wednesday Calendar ready for next week. Gill
will be meeting them at 9.30am on the 14th Sept to go
down to the Phillipson Street Wetlands to have a look
around and do some Water monitoring and I will catch
up with them a little later down at the Wetlands. We
then met up with Alex M, Alex D and Jeremy to talk
activities and to get
them to also set a
calendar for the next
few weeks and then
for after the school
holidays. I will bemeeting them at 1pm
on the 14th to do a
little Macro testing and check out if we can find any
Eastern Gambusia near the school in One Mile Creek.
There are lots of great things the two groups want to
do along our waterways and its environment.
Wednesday 14th September
Gill met with the 6
students at 9.30am and
headed down to the
Phillipson Street Wetlands
to do some water
monitoring in the two
large pond areas. I
arrived with the Macroinvertebrate kit and meet up
with them to finish off the water monitoring then we
started putting the net in the first pond. The boys dida great job getting samples. Firstly a few Eastern
Gambusia, 1 nymph, 1 beetle and a little Carp Gudeon
fish (I took a photo and ID by Scott Raymond). They
then started to catch juvenile carp near the large
drain, we ended up with 5 small carp all within a short
time. They were put into a container of pond water for
me to take home and find out how to dispose of them
correctly. In the afternoon I met the 2 Alex s and
Jeremy and I took them down to the Perry Street
bridge to check out the rubbish and the 4 trolleys
under the bridge so they would know what some ofthe areas along One Mile Creek are like and what the
problems of littering is like in our waterways. Then we
went to the area near the Wareena Wetlands to check
for Macros. After putting the net in a few times the
only thing there were a few Eastern Gambusia. Then it
was time for our session to end.
Wednesday 21st September
Met with Alex M, Alex D and Jeremy
at 9.15am at WHS and we talked
about a project to map the drains in
the school and where the drains
enter our waterways. In the
afternoon Andy Kimber and I met
up with 5 of the students at the
bridge in Williams Road, teacher
Toby Hill dropped the boys off in the bus. We first
went under the bridge to do Macroinvertebrate
checking but nothing was caught in the net, so we
went to the walk/bike path and took samples in the
first pond on the right hand side where we caughtnative Carp Gudgeon (photos taken and sent which
were ID by Scott Raymond) and 3 Eastern Gambusia.
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They also netted a fresh water shrimp and a mayfly; a
good mixture of Macros and fish in that pond. The
students took turns of getting samples in a couple of
other ponds but nothing there. Donna Lane one of the
groups teachers joined us as we checked several
areas along Three Mile Creek but nothing else found.
One of the students spotted a net caught up in the
tree that lies across the creek and spent a long time
trying to get it out but had no luck. The students
walked back to school and Andy and I walked back to
the bridge with all the Macro gear. It was a beautiful
day for walking our waterways and checking what is
living in them.
Wednesday 12th October
There will be a little fishing by the students to seewhat can be caught and where.
Next term it will be removal of Alien Fish in our
waterways.
WANGARATTA COMMUNITY PRIDE
ACTIVITIESArticle by Diane Farmer
Opening of West End Place
On Saturday 10th September I attended the Opening
of the new community meeting place and barbeque
area at West End. Although rather cold, the
atmosphere was so warm and friendly that it didntmatter; to see everyone enjoying themselves was
great.
Ruth Tai welcomed Tim McCurdy (MLA Murray Valley)
and the Mayor Anthony Griffiths, who thanked all
those who had worked so hard to get this great area
up and working.
The Rural City of Wangaratta supplied the barbeque
and the Wangaratta Lions Club built the structure,
creating a very inviting area. Wangaratta Community
Pride donated the paint for the wall which the childrendesigned and decorated and now the wall belongs to
them.
Coral Clarke, Tim Watkins,
Robyn Fenlon and Shirley
Nicholas should feel very
proud of this great community
project. The children were
having the time of their lives
enjoying the jumping castle
and joining in with The Centre
CARN staff on the fun games
they had set up. The CARN
Crock was there shaking hands with the kids and I
even got a cuddle.
The barbeque and salads for lunch were delicious.
Thank you to council staff for helping with that. In the
future they plan to have a water tank, community
garden and a playground with equipment to makefurther use of this great place.
It was a fantastic day and shows what members of the
community can achieve when they come together with
one thing in mind.
Well done to all who had a part in the project.
KABV Tidy Towns Sustainable Communities
Regional Presentation
Tuesday 27th September 2011 at High Country
Library
What an exciting afternoon with all the groups and
people nominated by Wangaratta Community Pride
reaching the finals. Ruth Tai welcomed everyone then
the Mayor Anthony Griffiths and Tim McCurdy (MLA
Murray Valley) congratulated the finalists and praised
all the hard work that Marg Pullen and the committee
did to encourage council to join KABV in order to enter
some of Wangarattas hard working groups and
individuals so they could be recognized by such an
important organisation. Some 25 people attended
including Cr. Ron Webb and Cr. Rozi Parisotto. Tim
McCurdy introduced each recipient and spoke about
their achievements, with Gary Mogford from KABVassisting. Following the presentation and a photo for
the Chronicle everyone gathered for some light
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October 2011
refreshments. The event was organised by council
staff Wendy and Leonie.
A special thank you to Marg Pullen for all the years as
chairperson of Wangaratta Community Pride and all
the running around she did for the Awards. TheAwards night is on the 22nd of October at Rutherglen.
Hopefully Wangaratta walks away with a handful of
the awards, including the next Tidy Town.
Launch of Wangaratta Community Prides New
Logo and Banner
On the same day, the
Wangaratta Community Pride
launched their logo and
banner. A great deal of hard
work went into this project byMarg and the committee.
Thank you to Emma Phillips
for designing such a great
logo and banner. Watch out
for the new banner, it will be
popping up here and there as the committee continue
to be active in the community.
SUSTAINABLE HOUSE DAYSunday 11thSeptember 2011, Article by Rowan O'Hagan
Sustainable House Day on September 11 was very
successful WSN would like to thank everyone who
opened their houses for the day - Pam, Mary, Ian and
Prue, Ian and Yvonne and the Eco-Living Precinct -and
an especially big thank you to Jim Lewis for the
enormous effort he put in to organise the local event.
WSN received assistance from Eko Energy who supply
and install photovoltaic solar panels locally which
enabled us to provide visitors with relevant
sustainability information on a USB thank you to
Tony Lane and Eko Energy for this support the USBsare still available if anyone would like one.
Contact Rowan OHagan, Ph. (03) 5721 8231
WHATS COOL IN THE COMMON?Friday 30thSeptember 2011, Article by Di Farmer
Well the Common is Cool. I always just thought it was
a neglected spot of grasses and that was it, but after
Fridays walk around it I discovered it is another one of
Wangarattas hidden treasures.
The weather was perfect and about 25 people, smallchildren to older members of the community, turned
up. What was to be a couple of hours walk turned into
two and a half hours
of learning about
native grasses and
plants and we never
got to see the whole
lot of this very
interesting area. The plant I liked the best was called
Drumsticks, although I referred to it as a yellow pom
pom plant when I asked what it was. The range of
plants and grasses was just amazing, although they
werent all out in full flower. Certain areas will only
grow a particular type of grass or native plant. There
was quite a lot of water around which promotes
particular kinds of growth. My favourite spot was
called a Gilgai where grasses raise themselves up out
of the water; nature is a very remarkable thing whenleft alone to do its own thing.
The only disappointing thing was the usual thing
people walk through there and leave empty cans and
bottles around but on the whole not too much and
some of it was picked up along our walk. The exit to
Greta Road had a good collection of bottles (might
need a rubbish bin there).
We enjoyed a great cuppa at the end of the walk and
it was great to meet new people, catch up with some
WSN members, and I am sure everyone had a great
morning learning about the Common. Thanks to Matt,
Mary and Glen from DSE, I have been left wanting to
learn more about the native plants and grasses here in
Wangaratta. I know I will be there next year in
Biodiversity Month.
NORTH EAST NATIONAL WATER WEEK
SHORT FILM COMPETITION FINALISTS
Congratulations to Di
Farmer and Joshua Newth,
finalists representing WSN
Restoring Our Waterways
(ROW) in the North East
National Water Week 2011Short Film Competition.
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October 2011
UPCOMING EVENTS
Wednesday 12thOctober at 8am
Walk to Work or Town
8am
Walk details
Route 1- Starting at Apex park
Route 2- Kicking off at Vincent Road Bridge
Route 3 -Beginning at Phillipson Street Bridge
All walks will finish at Wangaratta GOTAFE campus,
Docker St where a FREE breakfast will be served for all
participants.
(registration forms will have complete Route details)
Wear comfortable walking shoes and loose-fitting
clothes, a hat and sunscreen and bring a water bottle.
To register contact Diane Farmer (03) 5722 3823
Information onwww.wangarattasustainability.org
Ride to Work or Town
7.45am for 8am start
Starting at GOTAFE and going on a mystery ride
around Wangaratta for 30 to 45 minute returning to
GOTAFE where Breakfast will be served.
Meet at
GOTAFE Docker St grass area
For more information contact:
Elysia Milne, The Centre (03) 5721 0252
National Recycling Week
Monday 7thSunday 13thNovember
Do you know where
your waste is reallygoing? Why do we
have to recycle? Want
answers? Then you
should attend the
travelling waste
seminar, held during national recycling week (7-13
November 2011) an educational bus tour that takes
the community directly to the issues. Further
information please contact the Rural City of
Wangaratta on (03) 5722 0888.
THE FUN OF HAVING GOOD FRIENDS
A friend saw this cartoon below in the newspaper and
went to great lengths to give it to me with the
statement
I saw this in the newspaper and I thought of you
I changed one word in the cartoon so it would be me
to a tea as friends call me Di Queen of Wangarattas
rubbish.
Hope you like the cartoon.
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October 2011
National Water Week
16 - 22 October 2011
Free family activities
Fishathon
Horseshoe Lagoon
Sunday 16 October 2011
11 4.30pm
EGL
Wodonga Wastewater
Treatment Plant Tour & BBQ
Wednesday 19 October 2011
Noon
Library Story Time Sessions
Wodonga Library &
High Country Library, Wangaratta
Come and join us in catching fish.More prizes than you are likely ever tocatch!! Prizes donated from localbusinesses e.g. tackle, rods, reels...
Location: Horseshoe Lagoon, Albury
Contact:Allan Hruz Ph: 02 6023 8745Email:[email protected]
Ever wondered what happens to yourwater once it leaves your house? Enjoya tour, BBQ and presentation.
Location:
Wodonga Wastewater Treatment PlantOld Barnawartha Rd, Wodonga
Bookings essential.
Contact:Diane Doyle Ph: 02 6022 0580Email:[email protected]
Wodonga Library
Wodonga Library and the NEWEducationOfficer will run 3 pre-school sessions
on water education.
Times:Monday 17th October 10am & 11amWednesday 19th October 10am
Contact:Heather Ph: 02 6022 9117
High Country Library, Wangaratta
High Country Library Story Time willfeature Whizzys Incredible JourneyBook, which introduces children to
water in a fun way.
Time:Friday 21st October 2011 10am-11am
Contact:Jason Smith Ph: 03 57212366
North East Water
Wangaratta Treatment Plant
Tour & Breakfast
Thursday 20 October 2011
7 9am
North East Water
Yackandandah Treatment
Plant
Tour & Breakfast
Friday 21 October 2011
7 9am
All Things Water
Mini Expo
Wangaratta Post Office
Arcade
Friday 21 October 2011
10 2pm
Wonga Wetlands
Night Walk
Saturday 22 October 2011
5 9pm
Enjoy an egg and bacon muffin beforetouring your local water treatmentplant. Learn how your water is treatedand delivered to your tap 24/7.
Location:Wangaratta Water Treatment PlantFaithful Street, Wangaratta
Bookings essential.
Contact:Diane Doyle Ph: 02 6022 0580Email:[email protected]
Enjoy an egg and bacon muffin beforetouring your local water treatmentplant. Learn how your water is treatedand delivered to your tap 24/7.
Location:Yackandandah Water Treatment PlantCemetery Lane, Yackandandah
Bookings essential.
Contact:Diane Doyle Ph: 02 6022 0580Email:[email protected]
WSN Restoring Our Waterways, TheRural City of Wangaratta & SESpresent:
All Things Water Mini Expo
Come share in a BBQ whilst learningabout water sustainability andconservation.
Location: Post Office Arcade
Contact:Diane Farmer Ph: 03 57223823
Come enjoy a family BBQ (BYO meat,facilities provided) then stroll throughWonga Wetlands listening to frogs andspotting birds and bats.
Location:Wonga WetlandsRiverina Hwy
Contact:John Hawkins Ph: 0418 267 805Email:[email protected]
OTHER WSN GROUPS
Publicity/Advocacy Food Sustainability Home Energy Waste Action Group (WAGS)
Membership Now Due!
For more information contact:
Dr Rowan OHagan- Secretary/Treasurer Email: [email protected]
12 Deakin Court, Wangaratta VIC 3677 Website: www.wangarattasustainability.org
Ph. (03) 5721 8231
This Newsletter designed by the Volunteers at Community Skillsbank, Wangaratta.
Under the umbrella of the
Wangaratta UrbanLandcare Group
Family/Household/Organisation $10 per year
Single $5 per year
Student $2 per year
NEW MEMBERS
WELCOME ANY TIME
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