Friends of Hoddles Creek

A balanced group with a balanced approach

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Campaigns and projects

Background and information

The Friends of Hoddles Creek have varied interests. Just some of the issues and projects we have addressed, or are still addressing are:

  • Soundscape – listening to the bush 
  • Yarra Ranges Council: C148 Environmental Significance Overlay
  • The future of Haining Farm
  • Review of the Flora and Fauna Guarantee Act 1988
  • Yarra River Floodplain Rehabilitation within the Yellingbo Conservation Area
  • Retention of and documentation of the Hoddles Creek Education Reserve 
  • Minimisation of the impact of bushfires and forest burns to life,  property and natural ecosystems
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Soundscape – listening to the bush

In 2019 the Friends of Hoddles Creek received generous funding from DEWLP to
purchase our own Soundscape Monitoring Equipment. We now have two automated digital recording systems with which to begin recording soundscapes in Hoddles Creek. Through this monitoring we hope to discover what actually lives in our bushland and forest, in order to better understand potential impacts of fire, human disturbance and climate change. While collecting the data is a relatively simple task, it will take us some time to master the art of analysis. But we’ve started.

Click here for the spectrograms and here to listen to the matching short segment from a one hour sound recording near Yellowgum Road in Hoddles Creek on Sunday 28th June around 8.00am. The distant vehicles are a good example of anthrophony. Bird calls create a range of sounds in the biophony from 1-5.5 kilohertz (kHz), including crimson rosella, lyrebird, grey fantail and other unidentified calls – and a dog barking. Click here for the Winter 2020 newsletter for more information about soundscapes.

  • Panel 1 (0:32 to 2:03 on sound recording). Blue tracing is the amplitude of all sounds (loudness) in decibels (dB). Orange section represents the frequencies of the various sounds in hertz (Hz).
  • Panel 2 (4:37 to 6:04 on sound recording). Blue tracing is the amplitude of all sounds (loudness) in decibels (dB). Orange section represents the frequencies of the various sounds in hertz (Hz).

Yarra Ranges Council: C148 Environmental Significance Overlay

Changes to the YRC Environmental Significance Overlay will have lasting implications for the environment and land holders. Inconsistencies in the overlay – such as cleared areas being included, neighbouring properties being treated differently from one another, exclusion of significant vegetation simply because the property is small (even when it is completely surrounded by protected areas) while other properties have multiple zones applied within their “house block” area. The 2019 New Model has introduced inexplicable wavy boundary edges right across the ESO that will give rise to anomalies in application and generate confusion for all stakeholders. Excluded quality native vegetation (that was included in the 2016 Draft for Public Comment) will likely result in the removal of substantial amounts of quality native vegetation – for example, the entire First Aid Post Reserve, a
YRC Bushland Reserve, would not be protected.

The FOHC recommended to Council that the proposed ESO mapping be reviewed
by a collaborative Working Group. Group members should include representatives from YRC Planning, YRC Environment and YREAC, with GIS expertise available as required. The Group should be chaired by an external independent Ecology Expert and report back to Council complete with recommendations within three months from commencement.

Note:- This recommendation is consistent with the Planning Panel’s Recommendation (October 2018) which called for further Expert Review of the ESO mapping before adoption.
Click here for a copy of the FOHC presentation.

Review of the Flora and Fauna Guarantee Act 1988

A submission which encourages the existing act to be strengthened was made to the Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning’s review of the Flora and Fauna Guarantee Act. Click here for FOHC submission.

Yarra River Floodplain Rehabilitation within the Yellingbo Conservation Area

The Friends of Hoddles Creek have coordinated a submission to the State Government
Environment Minister, endorsed by over 30 Community Groups of the Dandenongs and Yarra Ranges area, requesting a review and reversal of the decision to restrict stream side revegetation along a stretch of the Yarra River. Click here for the full submission.

Hoddles Creek Education Reserve

The Friends of Hoddles Creek was successful in the Parks Victoria Community Group Grant program, enabling the Friends and community to assess and gather data in the reserve. Dr Graeme Lorimer of Biosphere P/L was engaged and has prepared a comprehensive report, which includes ecological values, recommendations and protocols for ongoing survey and monitoring of the Hoddles Creek Education Area.  Graeme is a professional ecological
consultant who has experience in working with Friends and community members in
flora/fauna survey and mapping. Interactive and highly successful Field Days with Graeme were held, with locals braving the cold weather to visit different parts of the reserve and learn about flora and other values and collection of data.

Key points

  • Despite being a reserve likely to possess high conservation values, very little prior investigation has occurred into its natural assets;
  • Previous mapping of vegetation types can be greatly improved; The only known plant list for the reserve is from a single plot (‘quadrat’) of 0·1 hectares in 1979. We quickly found numerous other species on the field day; 
  • There are substantial numbers of rare plants, including many, widely distributed plants of the nationally rare Long Pink-bells (Tetratheca stenocarpa); 
  • The reserve’s interesting history has left it with trees that are higher in density and much smaller in average size and age than prior to European settlement. 
  • A visit to the seldom-visited knoll in the reserve’s southwestern corner, revealing an unexpected stand of young Mountain Ash on the reserve boundary.
  • Small holes dug on the knoll suggest the presence of bandicoots, quite likely the nationally-listed Southern Brown Bandicoot.

    • Click here for the 2012 final report. 

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