New Mobile Phone Base
Service Stream has notified WCA of a Proposal to install a new mobile phone base station at Growlers Hill Reservoir, 16-18A and 16-18B Blooms Road, Warrandyte North Vic 3113. Hopefully this leads to better reception and coverage. Additional information is available at www.rfnsa.com.au, site reference number: 113005.
Sewerage in North Warrandyte
A few years ago Yarra Valley Water’s Community Sewerage Program was rolled out in North Warrandyte. While many residents chose to connect, there is still a proportion of property owners using septic systems. Some of these are well maintained, but there are many out-of-date and poorly maintained septics.
These pollute our local waterways, including Stoney Creek and the Yarra River. Given the shortcomings of older septics, Yarra Valley Water’s Community Sewerage Program is encouraging connection to sewer where it’s available. Contact Yarra Valley Water for more information on 9872 2551 or communitysewerage@yvw.com.au
Australian Institute of Disaster Resilience (AIDR)
VOLUNTEER LEADERSHIP PROGRAM
The Institute is hosting a Volunteer Leadership Program. It explores leadership and management strategies in the context of volunteering. AIDR covers the costs of the course, accommodation and catering. Applications are now open for the Melbourne program, which will be 16-18 August 2024. If you are interested and would like to discuss the program or apply, please contact Georgia Ryan, the Engagement Officer – Emergency Management at Manningham Council Email: Georgia.Ryan@manningham.vic.gov.au
Nillumbik Community Showcase Celebration Part II
WCA will be showcasing its work in the community at the Nillumbik Community Showcase Celebration Part II, to be held from 7-9pm on March 27 2024 at the Eltham Community and Reception Centre 801 Main Rd, Eltham VIC 3095.
It is an opportunity to hear from an impressive range of Nillumbik community groups working to create better outcomes for people and the environment. Share fabulous food, rich conversations, exchange ideas and create new opportunities to collaborate!
Bookings are essential. Spaces are limited.
https://events.humanitix.com/community-showcase
Warrandyte Festival
The Warrandyte Festival will be held on Friday April 19th and Saturday April 20th. WCA will have a display on the riverbank. Please come and visit us. Please contact Jan Davies on 0414223790 if you can help at our display for an hour on Saturday.
The focus this year will be on the 1962 bushfires, and based on a selection of newspaper articles from the time. 60 years on, they are a stark reminder of the devastation caused by fire.
We will be promoting the latest Warrandyte book titled: ‘Bev Hanson’s Warrandyte’. Bev, a landscape designer, was a founding member of the Warrandyte Environment League in the early 1970s, and its spin-offs, the Warrandyte Advisory Committee and the Warrandyte Community Association. Bev has had a profound influence on the development and maintenance of the character and environment of Warrandyte.
The book is based on photos taken over the last 50 years by Bev and Stephen Reynolds. It illustrates the positive influence that someone with expertise and leadership can have in a community like Warrandyte, where people share environmental values and are happy to get involved and give their time voluntarily. Copies will be available at the WCA tent.
In 2023 the WCA conducted a survey of community attitudes. The results have been summarised and will be on display at the festival. And of course, we will have the blackboards, so that people can continue to tell us what they love about Warrandyte, and what needs changing.
Council Elections
Local Council is where many of the most important decisions that affect your daily life are made. We tend to think of rubbish collection and rates, but Councils have important roles in health, recreational parks, residential and commercial planning, deer removal, infrastructure such as roads and drains, removal of native vegetation, our environment and much more.
Nillumbik Council elections will be held in October 2024. Mayor Cr Ben Ramcharan is the current Councillor for Sugarloaf Ward (2020-2024), which covers Warrandyte. He has indicated that he will not be re-standing. Ben, as one of the youngest councillors and Mayors in the history of Nillumbik, has been a great model for what can be achieved in the Shire.
If you are interested in standing for Council you have until 24 September to submit your nomination.
Rabbit Day
Rabbits seem to be particularly bad this year, causing erosion and devouring natural vegetation. Nillumbik is hosting a Community Rabbit Control Demonstration Day, Saturday 13th April 2024, 9-11am.
Local rabbit control professionals will discuss control options suited to urban, peri-urban and rural areas. Event includes live ferreting demonstration. Find out how residents can form rabbit action groups, council grants may be available.
This event will be outside, please dress appropriately for the weather. In the event of unsuitable weather conditions, the event may be cancelled at short notice. For more information please contact Council via 9433 3207 or email environment@nillumbik.vic.gov.au. Bookings essential.
Manningham Council Infrastructure Meetings
WCA committee members meet quarterly with Manningham Council Infrastructure managers regarding planned and “in progress” infrastructure projects in the Warrandyte area. It is an opportunity to hear what is coming up and to provide comment. Council consult with other groups, as well as residents in affected areas and hold public consultation meetings where the issue is of interest to the wider community.
The following is a list of projects discussed at our last meetings, that are in the planning and implementation stages. View full details HERE:
• Pound Road to Naughtons Avenue footpath
• Jumping Creek Road
• Five Ways
• Brackenbury Street drainage
• Taroona Avenue path
• Melbourne Hill Road drainage
• Everard Drive drainage
• Mitchel Avenue drainage
• Yarra River track
• Parking in Warrandyte
• Drain Maintenance
The Fires Next Time
The Fires Next Time: Understanding Australia’s Black Summer edited by Peter Christoff. $35. Melbourne University Press. November 2023. This paperback offers a comprehensive assessment of Australia’s Black Summer fires in 2019-20.
Contributors include the political scientist Robyn Eckersley, Greg Mullins, an Australian firefighter, former Commissioner of Fire and Rescue New South Wales, a Climate Councillor with the Climate Council and a founding member of Emergency Leaders for Climate Action and the late Kevin Tolhurst, a forester, ecologist and environmentalist, and 18 others, all highly respected in the field.
The author, Peter Christoff, is a political scientist, a senior Research Fellow with the Melbourne Climate Futures Initiative, and an honorary Associate Professor with the School of Geography, Atmospheric and Earth Sciences at the University of Melbourne.
They analyse the event from many vantage points and disciplines – historical, climate scientific, ecological, economic, and political, and assess its impacts on human health and wellbeing, on native plants and animals, and on fire management and emergency response.
It is available from book sellers and also from the Whitehorse Manningham libraries.