The Five Mile Creek runs through the centre of Woodend township and is a major public open-space asset for the community. The creek catchment supports a range of threatened flora, fauna and vegetation communities and, in particular, the Black Gum of which the only known occurrence in Victoria is at Woodend.

 Woodend Landcare and its predecessor ‘Friends of Five Mile Creek’ have been working along Five Mile Creek for more than 20 years, primarily on woody and other weed control, and revegetation. In the past eight years, at least 20 working bees have involved the larger community and schools in bringing the creek back to a healthier waterway, and about 12,000 indigenous plants have been put in the ground.

Woodend Landcare needs help to maintain the work done to date and to further improve the creek. It would like to see the wider community and stakeholders engaged in helping to enhance and restore five Mile Creek. It hence initiated the development of a ‘Community Involvement Plan’ for the Five Mile Creek from Romsey Road to Gregory Street, Woodend. The plan compliments and updates the ‘Waterway Action Plan’ developed by North Central Catchment Management Authority in 2004.

The community involvement plan outlines a vision, as identified by stakeholders and community, to improve the Five Mile Creek. It also addresses the important issue of ongoing management and maintenance responsibilities for on-ground works that are undertaken along the creek. In doing so it identifies the level of involvement that people and groups are prepared to commit.

Click here to view the report: “The Future of Five Mile Creek: A community involvement plan”

Woodend Landcare is about to start regular water  sampling, known as “Waterwatch”  on Five Mile Creek. There will be a  regular testing point plus some random locations. This will give us some  insights into the quality of the water and specifically how much pollution  Woodend puts into our creek. We hope to put the results on our blog once the  program gets under way.

Sampling will be complicated by the fact that we  are very near the source of our creek at Camels Hump and the creek tends to be  either flooding or dry much of the time. Sampling an isolated pool in mid-summer  would not prove much.

On the subject of water, we have records of Woodend  rainfall going back to 1889 and for those interested in the weather and its  effects on our lives, there are some interesting numbers.

For example, there have been many wet and dry  periods, so the last ten years is not unusual. In fact the average annual  rainfall in Woodend since records began is about 800mm and over the last decade,  we have also averaged about 800mm.

The other thing that stands out from the records is  the correlation between bad fire years and rainfall. No doubt there has been  much scientific analysis of these figures, so what I am about to say is nothing  more than an observation by an unqualified lay person. However it seems  clear that the worst fire disasters were preceded by a succession of wet years  and then one or two very dry years.

For example before  the 1939 fires, there was a long wet period from about 1916 which was the second  wettest year on record after 2010. In that 22 year period, there were 4 years of  more than 1000mm rainfall. Then we hit the dry in 1937 with only 472mm and  then 1938 had just 397mm. Sure enough in early 1939 the fires came and  then after the fires we had 1129mm of rain – a bit like our recent dry  period, then the Black Saturday fires, then a wet spell. The Ash Wednesday fires in 1983 had a similar lead  up. Reasonably wet in the 70’s then 1982 was really dry with only 477mm. Then  1983 after the fires was back up to 942mm.

So with all the lush growth created by our last  couple of wet years, as well as needing to be fire-ready this summer, we will  really need to be watchful if we get another dry year soon.

Peter Yates, President

The Woodend Lions Club recently presented the president of Woodend Landcare with a cheque for $1000 to help us in our work. We had asked them for a grant to purchase a new, heavy duty wheelbarrow and some stakes, guards and weed mats for spring planting.
The amount of the cheque was more than double asked for.

Our heartiest thanks and appreciation go to the Woodend Lions for their generosity. It’s not the first time they’ve helped us. This is yet another example of the great community spirit that exists in Woodend. We have had similar help from the Rotary Club of Woodend, from several businesses, and from so many individuals.

It’s good to live in a town that cares.