Gary started the evening with a most informative presentation of the past history of Gardiners Creek and the name Kooyong Koot.

Graham then talked about the evolution of the KooyongKoot Alliance and the Regional Collaboration working to protect and enhance the Gardiners Creek (KooyongKoot) catchment of which we are a part.

Following his previous talk on orchids in the Monash area, Peter continued his illustrated talk about orchids to expand our knowledge.

Peter illustrated the many ways that pollination takes place with orchids with his detailed hand drawn diagrams.

Orchids use many insects for pollination by means of imitating female insects to attract the males.

Emily gave us an illustrated presentation on the multiple benefits of Water Sensitive Urban Design in Monash.

She mentioned many useful ways in which we can all implement water sensitive features on our properties

Her talk was followed by our AGM:

Agenda:
1. Minutes of the 2021 AGM
2. President's Report
3. Waterwatch Report
4. Treasurer's Report
5. Election of Committee

The following members were elected to the committee for 2022-2023:

President:	Tony Walker
Vice President:	Kallista Sears
Secretary:	Sally Walker
Treasurer:	Bharathy Shanmugam
Ordinary Committee:	Fred Bullock
Ordinary Committee:	Danielle Cini
Ordinary Committee:	Rex Dusting
Ordinary Committee:	May Lee
Ordinary Committee:	Alan Moore

6. Association Statement
7. Other Business
 

Peter gave us a very interesting and technical illustrated talk about orchids in the Monash area.

I believe that most of us learnt a great deal about the relationship between many orchids and their insect pollinators.
 

This year we returned to the north side of the creek, so we were able to use the scout huts at the end of Fairway Avenue.

We had an amazing turnout of over 200 volunteer planters on a cool but dry day.

The Dharmasoka College Past Student Association Australia came along with about 20 volunteers; the Teluga Language School came with 40 volunteers; the Friends of Damper Creek Conservation Reserve came along to help us instead of their usual working bee; Rotary sent along some members and the general public came along as well. Our thanks go to all these volunteers for their help.

All the over 8 000 plants were in the ground by shortly after 12 noon.

The sausages and vegie burgers were greatly appreciated and all eaten!!

Melbourne Water and their Community Grants Program provided the funding for the plants. As usual the City of Monash Bushland & Wetland Maintenance crew were out in force to help. Without their help none of this would be possible.

Have a look at the photogallery to see some of the happy planters.

These are the plant species that were planted:

Acacia myrtifolia - Myrtle Wattle
Acaena novae-zealandiae - Bidgee-widgee
Brachyscome multifida var.multifida - Cut-leaf Daisy
Chrysocephalum semipapposum - Clustered Everlasting
Correa reflexa var. reflexa - Native Fuchsia
Dianella admixta - Flax-lily
Dianella laevis var. laevis - Pale Flax-lily
Dichondra repens - Kidney-weed
Goodenia ovata - Hop Goodenia
Hardenbergia violacea - Purple Coral Pea
Indigofera australis - Austral Indigo
Lomandra longifolia var.longifolia - Spiny-headed Mat-rush
Patersonia occidentalis - Long Purple-flag
Poa labillardierei - Common Tussock-grass
Poa tenera - Slender Tussock-grass
Rubus parvifolius - Small-leaf Bramble
Veronica gracilis - Slender Speedwell
Viola hederacea - Native Violet
Wahlenbergia communis - Tufted Bluebell
Wahlenbergia stricta - Tall Bluebell
Acacia genistifolia - Spreading Wattle
Acacia verticillata var verticillata - Prickly Moses
Coprosma quadrifida - Prickly Currant-bush
Goodia lotifolia Prickly Currant-bush
Gynatrix pulchella - Hemp Bush
Hakea nodosa - Yellow Hakea
Melicytus dentatus - Tree Violet
Myrsine howittiana - Muttonwood
Olearia lirata - Snowy Daisy-bush
Pomaderris racemosa - Slender Pomaderris
Spyridium parvifolium - Austral Dusty-Miller
 

Monash Council have been working on a plan for the future of Valley Conservation Reserve with input from FSCVR.

The Name change to a Conservation Reserve reflects and supports the intended site character and operational requirements but does not involve any zoning or statutory requirements.

The vegetation management plan is evolving; habitat assessments will be undertaken soon; many nest boxes for bats and small parrots have been installed recently.

The recently completed integrated site plan is an evolving document intended to support the capital works planning process. Key issues of drainage improvement and erosion control were identified, primarily at the Scout Hall car park area.

There is no proposed increase in the size of the play space but buffer zones are to be more clearly defined. There is also no proposal to change the dog on-lead status of the Reserve.

 

About a dozen Friends gathered in the old playground area in a shady spot under some trees for a friendy afternoon tea and chat. The cheesecakes were popular and the conversation convivial.

Look at the photogallery to see the group being addressed by our president, Tony Walker.

Lucas gave us an interesting presentation highlighting some of the key findings from the biodiversity monitoring in Valley Conservation Reserve and field observations plus some plans for the future for the Reserve.

At the last minute Michael Grant was unavailable to assist Lucas due to Covid in his family. We hope to be able to have a presentation in the near future with Lucas, Michael and Andy Bailey to elaborate on the findings and give us more information about plans for the future.

 

For our first face to face meeting since May, Dr Andrew Sharpe gave us an illustrated talk "My Brilliant Wet Career in Water: Urban streams, interesting water bugs and environmental flows".

Andrew's presentation was informative and engaging. It covered his career in several aspects of water investigation and management including the life of caddis fly larvae and how to allocate water resources.

Due to Covid restrictions we could not use our usual hall but were comfortable in the Mount Waverley Community Centre instead where we were able to have 22 members and friends present.

 

Due to Covid-19 restrictions this year we held our AGM by zoom.

We had 16 virtual attendees, who were able to view and listen to the reports of the committee.

The following members were elected to the committee for 2021-2022:

President:	Tony Walker
Vice President:	Rex Dusting
Secretary:	Sally Walker
Treasurer:	Fred Bullock
Ordinary Committee:	Danielle Cini
Ordinary Committee:	May Lee
Ordinary Committee:	Asher Judah
Ordinary Committee:	Alan Moore
Ordinary Committee:	Kallista Sears

 

Due to Covid-19 only one of our expected planting days went ahead. However, the City of Monash "bush" crew agreed to complete all the remaining planting for us.

With our funding from Melbourne Water we arranged the planting of

• 2000 plants in Crosby Drive Reserve downstream of the Crosby Drive cross over
• 2000 plants in Regent Street Reserve on both sides of the creek
• 8000 plants in Fairway Reserve on the north side of the creek and to the west side of Forster Road

Our river officer, Rex Dusting, gave us an illustrated talk on the current situation with Scotchmans Creek - with many photos showing changes over time .

This was our first opportunity to get back to Alvie Hall for a while and we were pleased to have a good turnout.

It was great to be able to chat to our friends again.
 

Due to Covid-19 restrictions this year we held our AGM by email. Responses from members were collated and used to inform the proceedings.
Members received electronic copies of the reports prior to the AGM. The following members were elected to the committee for 2020-2021:

President:	Kallista Sears
Vice President:	Rex Dusting
Secretary:	Sally Walker
Treasurer:	Fred Bullock
Ordinary Committee:	Kelvin Ferguson
Ordinary Committee:	Alan Moore
Ordinary Committee:	Tony Walker

 

Due to Covid-19 none of our expected planting days went ahead. However, the City of Monash "bush" crew agreed to complete all our planting for us.

With our funding from Melbourne Water we arranged the planting of

• 2000 plants in Crosby Drive Reserve just downstream of the Crosby Drive cross over
• 2000 plants in Regent Street Reserve on the west side of the creek
• 8000 plants in Fairway Reserve on the south side of the creek and to the west side of Stephensons Road