Happy New Year to our Members

WCA continues to support the community through a range of activities including:

  • Bushfires! We recommend Bushfire Resilience Inc. on-line updates on bushfire protection. See the below for the latest BRI update.
  • Making our office at 168 Yarra Street available for use by community groups: Contact info@warrandyte.org.au for further details.
  • Working with Manningham Council on infrastructure projects such as the Pound Road footpath, the Beasleys Nursery to Alexander Road shared path, the missing link in the bike trail from the CBD to Warrandyte,  and the Taroona Avenue path
  • Making the Riverside Market happen each month as part of the Rotary market sub-committee, and return funds to community projects and organisations each year
  • Monitoring proposed new building developments to ensure that they maintain the character of Warrandyte
  • Providing appropriate accommodation for older Warrandyte residents through the Creekside and Riverside Community Housing Cooperative

The committee meets bi-monthly in the WCA office, on the second Wednesday of the month. Members are always very welcome to attend. Contact the secretary, Jan Davies if you would like to attend. Next meeting is February 12th 7.45pm WCA Office. Mobile 0414 223 790.

Council Elections

WCA congratulates Councillor Kim Cope who is a new councillor representing Sugarloaf Ward residents in Nillumbik and Councillor Carli Lange, who was re-elected to represent Yarra Ward in Manningham. We are fortunate to have two such outstanding people working to support Warrandyte. Warrandyte is facing many challenges including the pressure for housing development, increasing heavy traffic, potholes, environmental degradation, loss of animal and plant species and the continued threat of bushfires. The role of Council is critical in supporting our voice on these issues.

See https://www.nillumbik.vic.gov.au/Explore/My-neighbourhood/Sugarloaf
See https://www.manningham.vic.gov.au/about-council/how-council-works/find-your-local-councillor-and-ward/councillor-carli-lange

Bev Hansons Warrandyte

Local resident Bev Hanson and her family have lived in Warrandyte since 1969. Bev is a landscape designer and her influence on Warrandyte and has been spectacular and enduring.  She demonstrates the positive impact one determined person can have in a community.

Her fifty plus year career is captured in Bev Hanson’s Warrandyte, a book being sponsored by WCA and produced by long time Diary photographer Stephen Reynolds and local editor Jenny Browne. Through Bev and Stephen’s photos the book captures Bev’s creative influence on Warrandyte and beyond. The book will be launched in March and available at the Warrandyte Festival from the WCA stand. Launch details to follow. We asked Bev about the book.

Most of the stories and pictures in this book relate to the struggles that we, the people of Warrandyte, have had with the powers that be in the latter part of the 20th Century. Once Council added an Environmental Department many things changed for the better, particularly for rural areas. We, the Warrandyte Environment League, then the Warrandyte Advisory Committee and now the Warrandyte Community Association, did not have to keep such a close eye on what was going through Council.

Council now refers anything to do with Warrandyte onto the WCA. There are still issues and proposed developments to be dealt with. A good example of a more recent concern for the community and WCA was the proposed 24-hour Service Station beside Anderson’s Creek in Yarra Street. Many people joined forces to eliminate this out of character development. Another example was the proposed Shared Bike/Walking Track along Taroona Avenue which would have spoiled the serenity of the Manna Gum lined road adjacent to Anderson’s Creek. The Council engineers were very gracious in this case and apologised for their mistake in not reading the views of the locals correctly.

It is people power that has maintained this beautiful rural village atmosphere that we love and people power will no doubt take it on to the future, because we, the people of Warrandyte care…. Beverly Hanson

EV charges for Warrandyte

Following consultation with WCA and other community representatives, Manningham Council has dropped idea of locating EV chargers funded by electronic advertising, at the East End shops. We understand that they are now planning to site them behind the Community Centre.

Bushfire Resilient Inc.

Free Webinar Series

The webinar recordings for 2024 are now available on the BRI website.
You will find the 2024 Webinar recordings in the Resource Hub
https://bushfireresilience.org.au/resource-hub

For your convenience here are the direct links to each webinar.

Know about insurance for bushfire, storm or flood events – avoiding the pitfalls https://bushfireresilience.org.au/webinar-recordings/2024-webinar-1

Insurance and financial challenges after bushfire, storm or flood – when things go wrong https://bushfireresilience.org.au/webinar-recordings/2024-webinar-2

Houses & best practice bushfire risk reduction https://bushfireresilience.org.au/webinar-recordings/2024-webinar-3

Understanding our changing bushfire weather https://bushfireresilience.org.au/webinar-recordings/2024-webinar-4

We hope you enjoy the recordings and find the information useful in improving your bushfire preparedness.

For enquiries please email admin@bushfireresilience.org.au