The Story So Far:
2004 Planting site on the south west slopes
Recent Activites of the Management Committee of Mount
Elephant:
The Mount Elephant Community
Management
committee
opens Mount Elephant to the public on the first Sunday of each month
1.00
– 4.00pm, or by arrangement, and holds a management meeting (also open
to the public) on the second Monday of each month. The Public Annual General Meeting is Monday 12 September, 2011 at the Derrinallum Hotel, 6.00pm for dinner, guest speaker and AGM.
Year 2000:
November
25
Music on
the Mount – songs from the shows
December 6
Purchase
of Mount Elephant from David Eldridge by Trust for Nature and the local
community.
Year
2001:
February
18
Opening of public fund raising appeal, on Mount Mrs Eldridge cut ribbon
to launch appeal.
March 5
Settlement
of Mount Elephant sale.
April 3 Interview
with
The Age Journalists for story re purchase.
April 4
Radio
interview 3AK
May 14 Meeting at
Mount
Elephant with Corangamite Shire representatives re future entrance
access
road.
August 9
Corangamite
Development Board Awards Breakfast – MECM receive an achievers award.
August 29
Planted
500 trees and grasses to the north of the car park, with CCMA funding,
and local community labour.
September 7
Filming
of Postcards programme
September 30
Airing
of Postcards programme
November
Music
on the Mount Festival
October 7
Flora
and fauna audit
December 15 Spray
for
Paterson’s curse
Year 2002:
Mountain
first
opened
for open days on the 1st Sunday of each month, 1pm – 4pm
February 5
Form
Mount Elephant Community Management Inc, President Lesley Brown, Vice
President
Lyall Bond, Treasurer Clive May,
Secretary Joanne McKnight (previously sub
committee
of Derrinallum Lismore Community
Association).
February 8
Governor
John Landy and Mrs Lyn Landy visit Mount Elephant
March
6 Meet with Ted Rowley (Amron Consulting Pty Ltd, consulting for CCMA )
to
discuss possibility of funding for a management
plan.
Ongoing 2002
Production
of a management plan with the financial support of Alcoa and
Corangamite
Catchment Management Authority and the
Centre of Environmental Management,
University
of Ballarat consultants.
April 2002 Main
entrance
access road, lease agreement signed between J. Maconachie, MECM and
Corangamite
Shire. Shire allocates $18,000.00 for
development of access road and car park.
June 25 Work
begins
on access road
July
8 Excavation works – rabbit warrens
July
11 Public Meeting re management plan at Derrinallum hall
July
24 Public Meeting re management at Trust for Nature office
July
28 Planted 2000 trees and 2000 grasses to the west of the entrance car
park
with CCMA, Enviro fund funding, using volunteer
labour,
Tranzplant
volunteers and school children.
September 19 Meet
John
Mitas Victorian Quarry inspector, Robert King Manager Minerals &
Petroleum
Regulations, the then Department of
Natural Resources and Environment (now the
Department
of Primary Industries) to discuss methods
to rehabilitate the quarry.
September 21
Planted
1600 native grasses in excavated areas in crater.
Phostoxin in
burrows
western/eastern slopes inside crater and above ballast pit.
September 23 Risk
assessment
of Mount with Sue Mudford TFN
October 22
Presentation
from Jack Borbidge of $80,000.00 for the assistance of future works at
Mount Elephant. Held at St John of
God hospital Ballarat.
October 26 Mount
Elephant
featured on a Channel 10 tourism programme.
October 27 Spray
Paterson’s
Curse – County Helicopters 12.00 – 5.30pm.
November 4 Green Corp
also assisted with fencing above ballast pit area.
November 6,7,8
Conservation
Volunteers assisted with fencing above ballast pit area.
December 8 Opening
of
the Borbidge Track and the new main entrance road.
December 24
Jack
Borbidge passed away.
Year
2003:
February 10
Meet South
West Water representatives at Mount to discuss their request to explore
possibility of accessing underground
water
(aquifer)
for possible emergency supply to the towns of Derrinallum and Lismore.
March 10 Filming
of
programme Postcards at Mount Elephant, Derrinallum Hotel.
March 12 Repairs
to
pump and pump housing at south of Mount.
March 26 Rabbit
baiting
– 1st of 2 free feeds – carrots from Western Aerial.
March
29 Rabbit baiting – 2nd of 2 free feeds – carrots from
Western
Aerial
April 2 Rabbit
baiting
– 1080 poison carrots - from Eildon air strip, Lismore.
April 19 Friends
and
relatives of Jack Borbidge visited the Mount and spread his ashes at
the
trig point.
April 22 L. Brown
made
a presentation to the Corangamite Shire Councillors of the recently
released
Management Plan.
May 12 Risk
assessment
undertaken with Corangamite Shire representative Ross Boyd and
Sue
Mudford Trust for Nature, MECM
representative Lesley Brown.
May 17 Members of
family
of Robert Fenton visited Mount Elephant and spread his ashes at the
trig
point.(Robert Fenton was a resident of
Derrinallum, living opposite the Mount as a
child).
Family members were wife Mary, daughters
Joanne and Helen.
June 7 Fencing
above
ballast pit area – volunteers ran out the wires in preparation for
planting.
June 14 Fencing of
ballast
pit area – South West Fencing
June 20 Produced
“Around
the Lighthouse” oral history seminar
July 6 Members of
the
family of Andrew Volum spread his ashes at the top of Mount
Elephant.
Andrew had family connections with
the family, and died of complications from
multiple sclerosis
July 10
Presentation
by David Hawker MHR of Enviro Funds for planting this year.
July 18
Derrinallum
College students assisted with tree planting.
July 27 National
Tree
Day – major volunteer working bee to
July 30
Lismore
Primary School students assisted with tree and grass planting across
the
northern face.
August Planning
for
Music on the Mount. Completed tree
planting.
October 24 Visit
from
Terang College Year 8 Geography students. Teacher Sue Pollock 55
938258.
November 22 Music
on
the Mount 2003, Renee Geyer, Sweet Hearts of Swing,
November 22 Unveil
interpretive
signage, with funding from Jack and Millie Borbidge Fund and Alcoa
Commenced
www.mountelephant.com
website (now www.mountelephant.com.au).
Year
2004:
Open days
on
the 1st
Sunday of each month 1.00pm – 4.00pm.
March 22 CCMA –
Investor
Ready seminar at Warrambeen. Presentation by L. Brown, MECM re
the
success that Mount Elephant has achieved
through funding opportunities. This
presentation
to be incorporated in the booklet.
April 4 Open
Day
and Easter egg hunt.
April 15 Work Safe
representative
Marg Dwyer from Warrnambool completed an assessment of Mount Elephant.
April 28 Excursion
to
Mount Eccles, Mount Rouse and Penshurst Volcano Discovery Centre.
May 16 Lakes and
Craters
Fencing, Peter Noonan, began fencing on southwest side ready for 2004
planting
programme.
June 9 Excursion
to
Inverleigh and Serendip Sanctuary funded by Corangamite Shire.
June 15 Excursion
lead
by Noel Dunn, Regional Inspector of Quarries, sites include Mount
Shadwell,
Mount Noorat, Mount Leura
July 12 Excavator
for
4 days to rip warrens
July 23
Derrinallum
College and Greencorp planting on south west slope.
July 25 National
Tree
Day – volunteers panted 2000 trees and 2000 grasses on southwest slope
using NHT Envirofund funding. Local school
children and volunteers.
July 25
Announcement
and Presentation by David Hawker of Greencorp team for 6 months at
Mount
Elephant and district. August Commenced
to
upgrade the woolshed as a temporary visitor centre
Construct trials
to
assess methods of regeneration of native vegetation and control of
Paterson’s
Curse using Corangamite Shire Environment
Support Funding.
September Erect
restraining
railing across the western slope below the summit using Greencorp and
Conservation Volunteers.
November 3 First
sighting
of 3 wallabies on north face of Mount Elephant.
Ongoing
maintenance
of trees, monitoring of Patersons Curse outbreaks
Construction of
access
style
Year
2005:
January
Rabbit
baiting programme
Construction of new
fence
for 2005 plantings
Construction of fence at
end
of carpark
Complete construction of
restraining
rail at trig point
Seed collection for
future
direct seeding in trial plots
Year
2006:
Rabbit control works with further warren
destruction using implosion methods
Patterson's curse aerial spraying works
Derrinallum College students designed and
installed a picnic table
International student volunteers and conservation
volunteers undertook tree planting. Was a mixed success due to the
drought and ongoing weed and rabbit issues.
Year
2007:
Derrinallum College students designed,
constructed and erected new walking track signs
International Student Volunteers and Conservation
Volunteers Australia planted 2500 trees on the mount along the road and
up the north east face.
Rabbit control works continued with a 1080 oats
rabbit baiting with limited success. Implosion works will continue as
soon as possible.
The Mount Elephant committee was unsuccesful in getting grant money for
an information shelter and tea rooms.
Patterson's Curse was again sprayed and
was quite successful.
Year
2008:
Has been a busy year so far with many projects on
the go. Works are continuing on the rabbit control problem with around
a 1km of fencing in the process of being erected from the northern end
of the quarries over the top of the mount to the southern end of the
quarries. The aim of this fencing is to stop the rabbit populations
that keep emerging in the warrens above the cliffs which are so
difficult to destroy due to issues of access from reinfesting the rest
of the mount. In the past we would destroy warrens only to have them
reinvaded due to the large number of rabbits re-invading these areas.
Now with the rabbit proof fencing in place we can destroy the warrens,
follow up with some baiting and exterminate them in the controlled
areas. This will really help to recitfy the problem.
Patterson's Curse is going to be an issue this year as we so far have
been unsuccessful in obtaining funds to undertake this work. The dry
season will make this more difficult as they will mature early.
1000 trees were planted on the north face behind the pine trees in a
rabbit proof area. This face has traditionally been the most difficult
and will require a lot of work restoring it and the exclusion of
rabbits is a great start. It is proposed to continue to fence off one
hectare lots and plant them out and slowly move the fences back and
detroy the warrens as we go. Over the last few years this slope has
been almost completely bare due to the rabbit numbers.
2008 has also seen the beginning of the education and interpretation
facilities on the Mount. The Mt Elephant committee has been seeking architect
designs for a new interpretation and visitor information centre at the
Mount.
Two architects were selected from a field to develop concept plans.
These plans
have been on public display and the overwhelming consensus has been to
select
the Gregory Burgess plan (see below). Over the next few years the
committee will be working with the Corangamite Shire, Trust for Nature
seeking government and community support to develop these facilites. By
2011 it is envisaged that the visitors to the Mount will have a
wonderful eco and environmentally friendly building to enhance the
wilderness experience.
Year
2009:
This year 2500 trees have been planted on
the north western side of the Mount adjoining the quarry. These were planted by community members and
Conservation Volunteers Australia over the winter months. We have
enjoyed a terriffic tree growing season this year with all trees
growing very well.
68 heactares was sprayed for Paterson's Curse and we are now seeing a
significant reduction in the germination of this weed.
Mount Elephant Community Management (MECM) were recently awarded the
"Landcare Community Environment Group Award" in the Corangamite region
for 2009.
MECM applied for a three year funding opportunity of $45,000 from the
Corangamite Shire. This grant is specifically for our environment work
including weed and pest control, tree planting and the development of a
newsletter (brochure). The process was very competitive with only one
group in the shire receiving the funding, and we were successful. We
now have security for the next three years to continue our
revegetation, pest and weed control programs.
VCAL students from Derrinallum College, designed and built a new
barrier fence around the sign overlooking the crater. The MECM
selectively grazes the Mount to minimize fire risk, reduce the overall
burden of introduced plants such as phalaris and wild oats and to
improve the management of the native wallaby grasses. To do this the
information signs located on the mount need to be protected from cattle
damage. The students will build two more signs to complete the project
in 2010.
Rabbits have been a major problem on the mount. Over the past decade
the MECM have baited, excavated, poisoned and exploded warrens with
some great successes. The western slope however is extremely steep and
has the large quarry underneath and has always been a difficult area to
work. To this purpose the MECM decided to erect a rabbit proof fence to
stop the large number of rabbits on these western slopes re-invading
the rest of the mount where numbers had been significantly diminished.
We are please to announce that the Landmate Crew have completed the
fence which runs from the north face across the top of the Mount past
the Trig point and down the southern slope. With this fence in place we
can now concentrate our efforts in certain areas ensuring we can work
towards eradicating the rabbits.
Stylised drawings of the propsed
interpretation facility