Monthly News for December 2000

Things still moving at Huon Hill

Although the opening of Huon Hill has been postponed until 2001 because of road safety, we are still working hard. The composting toilet is close to completion. So, too, are the viewing platforms, walking trails and fences.

parklands, in conjunction with Wodonga City Council and the Rotary Clubs of Wodonga, Wodonga West and Belvoir, is seeking all possible funding opportunities so that the project can be completed and opened for community use.

Litter prevention task force Parklands, the City of Wodonga and the North-East Victorian Regional Waste Management Group, trading as NevRwaste, will contribute $1500 to establish a local Litter Prevention Task Force for the West Wodonga area and to develop and implement strategies to prevent littering.

The worst sites (known as hot spots) will be identified by the local community, staff and contractors.

The rails and sleepers have gone. Significant bridges over the Kiewa River and Sandy Creek have been decommissioned. With easy grades from Wodonga to Tallangatta and spectacularly steep grades (featuring stunning timber trestle bridges) between Tallangatta and Cudgewa, this disused line has the potential to become simply the best rail trail in Victoria.

Thieves active in the parklands

We have recently been having a great deal of trouble with theft from both offices and our parklands.

Equipment valued at more than $6000, including a solar panel for the composting toilet at Huon Hill, has been stolen. Tree stakes are being taken from our Lower Kiewa River plantings. Tree guards then fall on young plants, causing suffocation.

Last, but not least, rocks from the McFarlanes Hill area are still being stolen for home gardens.

This has a significant impact on the landscape of the area and reduces habitat values for native fauna. Parklands is a not-for-profit community organisation and all our assets and work belong to the community.

Progress on the Lower Kiewa

Progress on our Lower Kiewa River project has been hindered significantly by heavy rain and flooding that followed. However, we are still moving along at a steady pace.

Some 20,000 under-storey plants, made up of 11 species native to the area, have been planted in the West Kiewa River Riparian Zone near the Murray Valley Highway. Some 2.1km of fencing has been erected on the eastern side of the Kiewa.