This visitors’ leaflet (dated after 1969) introduces the former Serendip Wildlife Research Station near Lara, Victoria; now Serendip Sanctuary.
Review Status: Pending
Textual narratives explaining key concepts and specific subjects. Cascading from general to specific, eventually they will include variously concept summaries, subject summaries and geographic summaries.
This visitors’ leaflet (dated after 1969) introduces the former Serendip Wildlife Research Station near Lara, Victoria; now Serendip Sanctuary.
The ranking of cricket grounds can be changed around by changing the definition – oldest cricket PITCH, oldest GROUND, oldest ground on which TESTS HAVE BEEN PLAYED, etc. The pitch on Norfolk Island claims one of these.
Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cricket_in_Norfolk_Island uses the term “pitch” and correctly dates the origin as 1838.
This leaflet from the Island’s Administrator – an insert in the local newspaper – explains the works undertaken in 2022 to keep the pitch in use.
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For many years the Royal Australian Institute of Architects published guides to good practice in a series titled BDP Environment Design Guide. BDP abbreviates Building and Design Professionals.
PaRC has obtained a list of titles as at August 2005 – there are 235 of them.
At 2020, the series is alive and well. The website of the now Australian Institute of Architects tells the story: Celebrating 25 years in 2020: BEDP to EDG to Environment. (PDF snapshot available from PaRC).
With the permission of AIA, PaRC has also re-published one, a Guide for planting public spaces.
MidCoast Playspace Strategy – Final
The MidCoast Playspace Strategy 2023 – 2035 is the most contemporary strategy of its type in Australia, having been adopted by Council in December 2023.
The Playspace Strategy forms part of the MidCoast Parks and Recreation Planning Portfolio, which includes the following documents:
Each “sub-strategy” directly relates to the OSRS, with the OSRS being the source document for it’s sub-strategies.
The Playspace Strategy addresses a number of unique subjects in relation to the subject of play, including:
MidCoast Skatepark Strategy – Final
The MidCoast Skatepark Strategy 2023 – 2035 is the most contemporary strategy of its type in Australia, having been adopted by Council in December 2023.
The Skatepark Strategy forms part of the MidCoast Parks and Recreation Planning Portfolio, which includes the following documents:
Each “sub-strategy” directly relates to the OSRS, with the OSRS being the source document for it’s sub-strategies.
The Skatepark Strategy addresses a number of unique subjects in relation to the subject of skate, including:
This revegetation policy was promulgated very soon after the Park was transferred in 1972.
This information leaflet and correspondence dated 1986 outlines progress made since promulgation of the National Park in 1972.
This leaflet dates from 1978.
The Friends of Parks movement in Victoria began in 1072 when members of the Maribyrnong Valley Committee led by the late Don Marsh approached the National Parks Service to offer help to revegetate the new Organ Pipes National Park. The story of the OPNP appears in an article in the magazine Victoria’s Resources in ~1974.
A leaflet promoting the Friends as at ~2000 is available here.
Personal involvement in the outdoors, and in particular, in bush regeneration, can be expressed via a wide spectrum of opportunities in all states of Australia, from couch surfing, online activities, motor touring and bushwalking to joining a Friends group… and even to owning a slice of a bushland property along with other like-minded people.
In various states a number of properties have been purchased by cooperatives: to protect them from development, to regenerate them, or simply to allow the members to enjoy the outdoor experience together.
The earliest cooperatives in Victoria were the Round the Bend Conservation Cooperative on the Yarra River in Kangaroo Ground (1971), a residential conservation community with an objective of building environmentally friendly houses; the Montrose Environment Group Co-op’s 9 acres at Wartook, northern Grampians (1971); the Moora Moora Co-operative Community at Mt Toolebewong (1974), another residential community; one in the north-western Grampians; and Urimbirra Cooperative Society Ltd in the northern Little Desert (1973).
Land held by a “cooperative” can be held under a number of different legal forms: for example, a group title/strata title/community title (the states have different regimes); a company limited by guarantee; or a cooperative under state law (such as the Co-operatives National Law (Victoria) Act 2013) which in recent years has conformed to the Australian Uniform Co-operative Laws Agreement.
A leaflet advertising the Kurri Kurri Cooperative in south-western Victoria lists a couple of coops.
The Urimbirra story is illustrative
The Urimbirra Co-operative Society was formed in 1973 to acquire and protect remnant bushland in the Little Desert region of the Wimmera district of Victoria. It followed the conservation battle of the late 1960s against State Government and AMP plans to alienate and subdivide most of the Crown land in this area for farming. At the time of purchase, privately owned bushland properties in good condition were still being sold for farming purposes. Professional people from outside the area were incentivised to buy the land through tax concessions on clearing costs. ln this area, the climate and soil type ensured that, once it was used for farming purposes, the land was likely to revert to a weedy scrub after the first drought year. There are several examples of properties close to Urimbirra which have been devastated in this way.
The Blackburn & District Tree Preservation Society, which had a substantial involvement in the fight to save the Little Desert from subdivision for farming, decided to form a co-operative to buy 400 hectares of remnant bush for conservation. Shares were sold at $25 per share. In 1995, the Cooperative acquired a further 600 hectares of adjoining land. Today, Urimbirra has over 150 active shareholders and owns 1,040 hectares of land under Trust for Nature conservation covenants.
The Urimbirra blocks are located on the northern boundary of the Little Desert National Park between Nhill and Kaniva. The blocks sit on a mix of sandy soils of low natural fertility (named Lowan Sands) and shallow clay with some sandstone. The low natural fertility of the soils supports a diverse range of Mallee shrublands, woodlands and heathlands as well as Yellow Gum, Black Box and Desert Stringybark woodlands that sustain rich biodiversity. Thanks to Alex English, Secretary, for this account.