Merri Creek Management Committee

Fitzroy High Litter Clean up Fitzroy High School's Climate Club initiated and ran a very successful Merri Creek litter Clean up late in 2019. 18 students from Years 7-10, with their teachers, met on Merri Creek near Rushall train station and worked diligently for over an hour removing a huge amount of litter from the banks of the creek. This rubbish most likely ended up here from stormwater drains, which carriy rain water and litter from our retail and residential areas into the creek. So, litter increases after heavy rainfall. Climate Club gathered 18kgs of litter which included 12½ kgs of landfill and 5½ kgs of recyclables.

Perons tree frog CR Craig Lupton Sixteen participants enjoyed exploring nocturnal nature at the Alphington wetlands in late December 2019, with the help of staff from Merri Creek Management Committee and the City of Yarra. The wetlands are nestled beside the Yarra River in Alphington.

Participants learned to recognise local frogs by their calls and collected data using the Melbourne Water Frog Census app. The highlight of the evening was hearing at least three Peron’s tree frogs (Litoria peronii) calling from the wetlands The last time Peron’s tree frog was recorded in the City of Yarra was more than 25 years ago, in 1994. (photo by Craig Lupton, City of Yarra).

Frog habitat kids a mum More than 30 happy participants made dioramas showing the habitat requirements of Melbourne’s frogs in an activity led by Merri Creek Management Committee community engagement staff. The activity was a 2019 Fun Palace event, held at at Lalor Library in October.

Fun Palaces is a global annual event held every October celebrating the culture at the heart of our communities. Fun Palaces invite local people along to share their passions and expertise with others in the community. Activities are free, creative, interactive and lots of fun!

Julia and Mayor with Antonine College In October, we helped organise students to release plastic bottles fitted with GPS devices into Merri Creek in Coburg, part of a collaborative project between RMIT University and Melbourne Water called Litter Trackers. The project aims to better understand the movement of litter in Melbourne’s waterways and raise awareness about the environmental impact of litter on our waterway health and marine and aquatic wildlife. Ninety five percent of the litter on Port Phillip Bay beaches comes from suburban streets transported through stormwater drains.

Federal Communities Environment Program: At very short notice we helped prepare eight Expressions of Interest for this grant program, in close consultation with Friends of Merri Creek and Wallan Environment Group. Seven of these applications were successful and the funded projects have been confirmed (details below). We are very appreciative of the support shown for Merri Creek restoration by our local federal MPs.

Hume City Council Community Partnership Grant: We are delighted to have a $10,000 grant for the first year of A Little Nature Play in Hume. The three-year project will enable Merri Creek Management Committee staff to support and lead outdoor nature play in the City of Hume. Funding for the second and third years is contingent on the success of the first year.