By Ewen McRae
More than a decade of hard work from the Friends of Toolern Creek has been recognised, with the group making the finals of the Premier’s Sustainability Awards.
The group, which has spent the past 15 years cleaning up the land around the creek and planting new trees, is in the running for a Parks Victoria Environmental Sustainability Award announced at a function next month.
Group leader Lyn Holdsworth said it was a thrill to see all their efforts receiving attention at a state level.
“We’ve been doing it for 15 years with locals, and schools and local companies helping to clean it up,” Ms Holdsworth said.
“It was a bit of a disaster before we got down there, but we’ve just done it bit by bit, and with everyone chipping in we’ve made a bit of a difference down there.”
Ms Holdsworth said the transformation over the years had been staggering.
“The weeds were the biggest issue when we first got down there, and the rubbish, because people used to use it as a tip,” she said.
“But as it grew and we started planting, people stopped doing that and now it’s just little bits that flow in from up the creek.
“We planted 10,000 plants last year, and we’re up to 4000 or 5000 this year, so we just love seeing all those trees and shrubs down there.”
The Premier’s Sustainability Award winners will be announced on October 11.
