Flower bud, green shoot, summer heat

Riddells Creek Landcare started in 2006. Our mission has been to look after the bush in the hills behind Riddells Creek, the place we know now as Barrm Birrm. This remarkably intact stretch of grassy woodlands was a subdivision that went on the books in the 1890s and was not revoked. Sold off in the 1970s, residential development has never been permitted.

Twenty years on, the rubbish has been cleared, the weeds are under control and the country is recovering. The flora is documented, and after years of advocacy, there's a Council decision on record for the Shire to make this a Conservation Reserve.

Gates on the roads keep most of the 4WDs at bay, and, praise be, the trail bikers have stopped hacking up the lower slopes! Six months after the assault that ripped into the lower slopes, there are signs of recovery. Dianella is growing out and Honeypots are peeping through . Doesn't look like much, but it's a start.

Our monthly ‘Wildflowers and Weeds’ walks keep the place in good shape. March 2023, we’ve come through summer without fire and the autumn rains have arrived.

So where will we be twenty years from now, in 2046?

With the town nudging 10,000 people, Barrm Birrm will be the bush at Riddell’s backdoor, loved by walkers and nature lovers. Absent a funding windfall from government to buy up the private lots, blocks will still change hands at surprising prices. However, the bar on residential development will stay in place. Our commitment and the Shire’s is that this will be green space in perpetuity.

The Shire will still have its Council resolution to create a Conservation Reserve, and the 10 year works plan attached to the Ecological Assessment of Barrm Birrm will still be on the books, but aspiration and budget reality are likely to stay different worlds. 20 years from now, the volunteers of Riddells Creek Landcare will still do the work of restoring and maintaining Barrm Birrm.

Grey-haired and gregarious, we will show up to do what needs to be done, because .... well, because someone has to do it, and what better way to spend a couple of hours than out in the bush, with good companions, on hands and knees, grubbing out Bluebell Creeper and Pittosporum?

The tracks on the lower slopes will have recovered; those on the upper slopes will be eroding a little more each year. With a bit of a push, we’ll have signs on the entrances to introduce people to Barrm Birrm, and maybe a place to park. There will be digital materials to guide your nature walking, and a new edition of ‘Macedon Range Flora’ to pull out of your backpack to find out what that plant is.

In short, twenty years from now, things will be pretty much the way they are now! Riddells Landcare will maintain vigilance and do the work.

But here's the good news: residents of Riddells Creek and folk from the Shire and beyond can look forward to twenty more years to feel the seasons rolling across this hillside, and follow the pulse of flower bud and green shoot and summer heat.

Ross Colliver, Riddells Creek Landcare