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Phillip Island Greencorps Team Graduates

The graduation of the Phillip Island Green Corps team was celebrated recently in a ceremony attended by Bass Coast Shire Councilors

By Carol McCormack - 21st May 2001 - Back to News

The graduation of the Phillip Island Green Corps team was celebrated recently in a ceremony attended by Bass Coast Shire Councilors, the Honorable Peter Reith M.P. Member for Flinders, members from volunteer groups and representatives from various agencies that work with the group.

The graduation day started with an inspection of some of the sites the team had worked on during their training including improvements to foreshore access tracks at the seaward end of McKenzie Road, McHaffie Drive and Cornwall Avenue.

The Phillip Island Project mainly involved working on Council managed foreshores managed. Bass Coast Shire Council provided project coordination and support plus $10,000 for materials.

Bass Coast Shire Council Environmental/Coastal Officer, Mr. Derek Hibbert said that the GreenCorp program on Phillip Island was part a larger plan to improve access, signage and the health of indigenous foreshore plant communities.

The group also undertook minor projects that involved planting on agricultural land with Phillip Island Landcare, collecting indigenous seed with the Barb Martin Bushbank, revegetation at Swan Lake and weed control at Y.C.W. Beach with the Phillip Island Nature Park. The group’s track improvements and landscaping around the historic monument also contributed to the recent Bicentennial celebrations at Rhyll.

By the end of the six month program, the team had planted 3500 indigenous plants, erected one kilometre of fencing, laid gravel over 500 meters of access tracks, collected over 29 kilograms of indigenous seed, propagated approximately 2300 plants, and removed or treated weeds on more than 17 hectares of land.

"The group’s work has been appreciated by a large number of people across the community," said Mr. Hibbert "At the end of the program they can look back and know that they made a real difference."

During the program, the team received formal training in environment and occupation based units including first aid, occupational health and safety, site assessment, park and pathway construction and weed identification. They also participated in several Nature Park interpretation activities, took a ride on the Lady Nelson replica and met the Governor of Victoria, Mr. John Landy.

At the ceremony, Mr. Reith highlighted some of the nationwide achievements since the Federal Government introduced the GreenCorp program in 1999. Mr. Reith also announced that funding would be continued into the future.

Source: www.gippsland.com

Published by: basscoastshire@gippslander.com

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