24 Dec 2019 - Reply to Adrian Rowe (CEP79328 - Communities Environment Program 2019-20 - Letter of Agreement - Grant Agreement) in response to an additional information request.

​

21 Dec 2019 - David and Daniel fixed the vandalised blue beach access sign. A handful of signs were again damaged probably on the 19th Dec by unknown repeat offenders along Champ St and in the reserve.

 

20 Dec 2019 - Daniel set out to finish off his assault on all Lupin in the reserve and cut and pasted some flowering gorse.

​

16 Dec 2019 - Melissa ventured out again for the 4th time spot spraying, this time gorse, thistles and blackberry between the car park and the culvert to the west for 5 hrs. She certainly achieved but was not able to say that she got all the thistles.

​

13 Dec 2019 - Again wind conditions were favorable for Melissa to continue for another 4.5 hrs with the Californian Thistles. 

 

11 Dec 2019 - Melissa returned to backpack spot spraying for another 4.5 hrs. Mainly Californian Thistles in the south-eastern corner of the crown land.

​

9 Dec 2019 - Brian Mitchell MP communicates the great news of us being successful with our Communities Environment Program (CEP) grant application. This means we will have funding for the remainder of the site not covered by the Landcare and DPIPWE grants. (map)

​

8 Dec 2019 - Melissa spot sprayed Californian Thistles by backpack for 5 hrs at the edge of the wetland north of Champ and Templestowe St  while Daniel concentrated on the lupin in the reserve.

​

7 Dec 2019 - Klaas and Andy hosted the 30 year anniversary of the securing of the Douglas-Apsley National Park. A great picnic was organised by Liz Johnston with many guest speakers, a large wall of illustration panels with articles and photographs of the park's history. Bob Brown, Christine Milne, Vica Bayley and  Bob Graham spoke and Mark Donald welcomed all to country.

 

23 Nov 2019 - East Coast Alliance informs of the Tasmanian Planning Commission decision that it has no jurisdiction to hear the Cambria Draft amendment and deemed the application invalid.

​

20 Nov 2019 - Announcement received of our successful Weeds Action Fund Stage 1 Grant of $5K for the area west of the beach access track to the private property corner.

​

16 Nov 2019 - Invitation was sent out by Liz Johnston from the Wilderness Society to celebrate the 30th anniversary of securing the Douglas Apsley National Park. On the 7th Dec 2019 - 11am to 4pm at Klaas and Andy's place at Picaninny.

​

30 Oct 2019 - Quentin inquired about the "Natural Values Atlas" as showcased at the Landcare Conference.

Our login and pw are: scagi7 - scagi7215

 

27 Oct 2019 - Kez and Quentin were very lucky to be gifted tickets to the 2019 Tasmania Landcare Conference Weekend by Bicheno Earth Ocean Network and a Landcare bursary. They are most appreciative of the opportunity. The following is an extract from Kez's letter to the Landcare Team.

 

"My weekend had a shaky start after injuring myself and spending Thursday night in the LGH.
I made the decision to push on and we made Government House Reception with half hour to spare. It was a delightful evening to be a part of.
The mix of speakers on Saturday was fabulous, I learnt so much valuable information and discovered amazing facts and figures from them all.
The dinner was most enjoyable and entertaining - great food and the Blundstone Arena was a really practical and convenient location.
Sunday’s Field trip was an amble around Rosny and Bellerive foreshore, again such knowledgeable speakers who were inspiring, finishing with a delicious lunch near the BA.
A truly memorable, well run event, and I’m looking forward to the next one. 
It was an honor to have our project here at Seymour acknowledged at the award presentation evening.... so many inspiring and worthy projects and people.
Thank you so much to each and every person from the top down who volunteered, presented, organised and shared, your contribution made a significant impact on myself, in realizing the importance of Landcare in Tasmania. Here’s to the next 25 Years!!

​

24 Oct 2019 - Received email from Jean Saker acknowledging receipt of the additional information requested for the Communities Environment Program Grant Application process.

​

16 Oct 2019 - Invoice received for follow up spot spraying by GSBC - NRM PW paid by Quentin and reimbursed by Landcare from our Landcare Grant account.

 

9 Oct 2019 - Daniel finalised the submission to the  Communities Environment Program Grant Application.

The time frame for the application is the  1 Sept  2019 to the 31 Dec 2020. The outcome will be communicated through the Ministers office.

 

3 Oct 2019 - We were notified by Landcare TAS of our successful grant application, receiving the funding agreement and report templates for our successful project under round 1 of the State Government's Landcare Action Grants.

​

27 Sep 2019 - Kez was able to attend Sue Lovegrove's launch for her new book "The Voice of Water". Sue's presence at the 2019 SCAGI Field Day and the interest and focus she has given to our Wetland is very much appreciated by our community.

​

17 Sep 2019 - SCAGI has been invited by your Federal Member of Parliament (MP) Mr Brian Mitchell MP to apply for a grant under the Communities Environment Program.

​

5 Sep 2019 - Klaas De Jong, Paul & Allison Peacock and Quentin & Kez Smith cut and pasted leftover flowering gorse from the previous weeks effort. The area was about half way down on the western side of the beach access track.

 

30 Aug 2019 - Jarrod Maclain from GSB Council arrived with his spray unit setup to tackle the flowering gorse. He was assisted by Quentin and Kez in the morning and Paul and Allison in the afternoon. Allison and Kez were driving the ute while the others targeted flowering young gorse plants with the spray hoses.

​

23 Aug 2019 - Fiona Everts (Parks) is canvassing for assistance with the Sea Spurge - Picaninny South to Bicheno - Redbill Beach project.

​

15 Aug 2019 - Gerry Murrell (Parks) sent us the finalised letter of authority to continue our work on the Crown Land site of the Seymour wetland. The work authority is valid till the end of June 2021.

 

13 Aug 2019 - Daniel submitted the expression of interest application which was acknowledged by Darren Clark.

​

11 Aug 2019 - Brian Mitchell MP for Lions invited SCAGI through Darren Clark to submit an expression of interest for the Communities Environment Programme. A federal government fund supporting the environmental priorities of local community and environment groups.

​

8 Aug 2019 - Quentin requested the Council conduct a preliminary consultation phase with the Break O’Day community where Councils draft zoning and other proposals are put out for public viewing and comment PRIOR to anything being sent forward to the Tasmanian Planning Commission. Information sessions were confirmed by Council to be held on Tuesday 8th October at St Mary’s and Wednesday 9th at St Helens.

​

3 Aug 2019 - Kez and Quentin drove up for the second day of the Larapuna community weekend 2019, to Ansons Bay. They walked, weeded Sea Spurge and collected rubbish along the 9 km walk from Ansons Bay to Larapuna/Eddystone Point before enjoying a complimentary dinner at the Bay of Fires Lodge.

​

2 Aug 2019 - Quentin and Daniel drove up north to assist in a Sea Sperge weeding and rubbish clean up organised as the 6th Larapuna community weekend 2019. The 12km stretch from Stumpys Bay to Deep Creek was attended by 13 walkers while many more joining the shorter walk up and back along Purdon Bay.

 

31 July 2019 - Paul & Allison Peacock, Melissa, Quentin and Daniel got together for a working bee. The weather was perfect and we cut and pasted many newly flowering gorse plants along the southern side of the site while Melissa was spraying first along Champ St. then continuing at the NE part to expand the wetland buffer. All in all nearly 20 hrs was invested; also to clean up burnt debris in preparation for re-vegetation.

 

30 July 2019 - Daniel submitted the Weeds Action Fund - Grant application to DPIPWE

 

29 July 2019 - Kez mailed out the AGM Minutes to the attending members.

​

29 July 2019 - PWS (Parks) have been more pro-active over the past couple of summers checking in around Seymour more often, educating people about appropriate areas for dogs & cars.

Steve Heggie is Ranger-in-Charge at Freycinet National Park. Ph 03 6256 7002 ph 0400 315 743 or steven.heggie@parks.tas.gov.au  Steve has been supportive of SCAGI’s efforts in protecting the special natural values of our area, so contact him if there’s something going on which you are concerned about.

If you can’t contact Steve, try the front office at the Freycinet Visitors Centre 03 6256 7000

 

28 July 2019 - Link to "Curious Climate Tasmania" Free Public Event on

7 Aug. 2019 in St Helens - Bayside Inn - 2 Cecilia St. 6:00 to 7:30 PM

by the Centre for Marine Socioecology and UTAS

Register

​

27 July 2019 - The SCAGI AGM was a successful meeting. All office bearers were re-elected for another year with no changes. Quentin Smith is the President, Kerryn Smith is the Secretary and Public Officer, Daniel Steiner is the Treasurer and Julia (Andy) De Jonge and Melissa Manton are Committee members.

12 members were present and Todd Dudley informed us of the latest in the new Planning Scheme developments. The minutes will be distributed by Quentin in due course.

 

24 July 2019 - Members have noticed a spike of vandalism during the preceding  few weeks at Long Point Seymour. The list included:

• The excellent "whose beach is this " interpretation sign installed by Parks at the bottom of the public access track to the northern beach was pulled out of the ground and tossed into the dunes (found and reinstated by Parks)

• The "Dog Policy"sign in the same location on the Beach has been removed and is still missing.

• The bollard posts at the top of the same track (Nth Beach) installed by Parks to stop vehicles driving down the walking track were  pulled out ( found and reinstated by Parks )

• The Parks sign showing the way to the start of the walking track to the South beach was removed and is missing.

• The post to accommodate a "Bali" flag to mark the entrance to the recent SCAGI field day site, has been pulled out and tossed in the bush last weekend (found)

• The RACT sign attached under the SCAGI wetland interpretations board to acknowledge a grant to the project was destroyed.  (last weekend 5/6 July) 

• Richard Cooke's gate to his property, which is off the access road through the crown reserve, was vandalised. It's bent in the middle by a 4x4 vehicle pushing against it. (last weekend) 

• An area on the South beach between the access road and the old piers was "ploughed up" from the dunes to the waterline by extremely aggressive hooning (last weekend 5-6 July)

​

21 July 2019 - Daniel prepared a submission for the DPIPWE  Weeds Action Grant. Draft was sent for comments to Quentin and Kez.

 

11 July 2019 - SCAGI AGM was published to be held at Quentin & Kez's place on the 27 July 2019 at 2pm

​

27 June 2019 - Received documentation from Gerry Murrell (Parks) in relation to authorisation for works occurring at Seymour Crown Land Reserve. Including Ref: 254945 - Aboriginal Heritage Assessment Standing Requirements regarding Weed Management & Weed Re-vegetation - Champ St Seymour. Prepared by Clair Keating Archeologist, Aboriginal Heritage Tasmania.

​

6 June 2019 - Updated 2019 Ver.5 - Seymour Wetland Weed Management Plan was published by Daniel after consultation with Quentin, Kerryn, Todd and Fiona.

​

6 June 2019 - Landcare Tasmania announces early bird ticket booking for their special 25 year Anniversary Conference on the weekend 25th to 27th Oct in Bellerive. Link to booking page.

​

5 June 2019 - Quentin sent quote from Amanda Brooks to Peter Stronach at Landcare Tasmania

​

4 June 2019 - Graham Nicholas (Parks) received our WMP and has endeavored to incorporate it into the Freycinet WMP.

​

3 June 2019 - Amanda Brooks from GSBC returned a quote for "Private Works". The area in question is the same as the working site for the Landcare Grant  Application being all new growth weeds east of the beach access track towards the wetland.

​

3 June 2019 - Daniel sent Fiona Everts (Parks) the latest aerial mapping including enlarged 2ha grid aerials on A3 size for our weed management. Fiona offered to have them printed and laminated for us.

 

3 June 2019 - Emails have been exchanged to Gerry Murrell (Parks) re the extension of "Authority of Works" of our wetland site.  An Aboriginal Heritage concern associated with the land has delayed proceedings.

Quentin sent Gerry the latest mapping produced for a Landcare Grant application.

 

30 May 2019 - Quentin attended a weed management meeting at BODC with many stake holders from private and  government agencies. Quentin was the only community group representative.

​

29 May 2019 - Daniel meeting with Bob Oates at St Marys to plan future aerial drone surveys.

​

22 May 2019 - Kez and Quentin attended the Bicheno Primary School's "Wildsc'ool Program"  meeting.

​

22 May 2019 - Follow up weed management for 2 hrs was spent by Melissa spraying along Champ St culvert and small regrowth of gorse near access track to Field Day site. Quentin and Daniel cut and pasted gorse.

​

19 May 2019 - Large quote for second round (spring 2019) spraying received from Maurice at All Weed Solutions. To be considered with second quote from Feral Management.

​

19 May 2019 - Follow up weed management of 2.5 hrs was spent spraying and cut and pasting by Melissa & Quentin and Daniel respectively. Quent sprayed alongside the beach access track to about half way and to the east. Melissa sprayed young blackberry and gorse along Templestowe St and Daniel cut & pasted larger gorse.

​

18 May 2019 - A huge THANK YOU to everyone who supported us and helped make our Field Day another huge success. Forty four of us, young and older all came together to celebrate our community achievements and to continue our efforts to restore the Seymour Freshwater Wetland to its former glory.

The delicious BBQ lunch was enjoyed by all after a working bee collecting rubbish, cutting & pasting gorse.

Peter Stronach from Landcare Tasmania shared his knowledge and we celebrated their  25th anniversary.

Dr. Eric Woehler the convenor of BirdLife Tasmania, informed us on the Shorebird population and their  astonishing journeys and the importance of safeguarding their habitat.

Todd Dudley encouraged us to keep up the good work and talked about the importance of ecological values.

Sue Lovegrove enchanted us with her artwork painted 'plein air' among our and other local freshwater wetlands. The exquisite miniature paintings are complimented by Adrienne Eberhard's poetry also sourced and inspired by our local wetlands.

Delicious cakes with coffee and tea rounded off the afternoon. Thank you very much to all.

link to the photo album

​

17 May 2019 - Preparation for tomorrows Field Day are in full swing. Kez has volunteered to organise all the meat and vegetarian patties for the BBQ as well as the cutlery etc. Salads and cakes are being prepared by Kez, Andy, David and Melissa. Landcare is going to foot the bill for the BBQ meat and David and Klaas will bring there BBQ setups and proofen expertise.

​

16 May 2019 - Landcare Tasmania made a payment to SCAGI for 2019 LAP Grant-5383 of $120

​

14 May 2019 - Reply email from Polly Buchhorn from BODC/NRM Facilitator excusing his non-attendance on the Field Day.

​

13 May 2019 - Email reply from Ali Tope - RACT re Field Day to advise of possible representation via Trent from Freycinet Lodge.

​

6 May 2019 - Reply from Annie Tillis - Property Services (Parks), advising a progress update (File:254945) re our Works Request for the wetland site to be able to continue our efforts in 2019/2020.

​

6 May 2019 - Quote received from Jamie Cooper - Feral Management for a large scale spring spray of all weed re-growth. Quentin sent the quote on to Phil Thompson DPIPWE and Fiona Steel and Kylie Lemin at Parks.

​

30 April 2019 - David Quon slashed the picnic area for preparation of the Field Day. He and Klaas de Jong will also bring their gas BBQ and will be grill masters on the day.

​

29 April 2019 - Dr Vishnu Prahalad drom UTAS sent us files of his "Riches behind our beaches" poster showcasing our wetlands and lagoon. He informed us of a 'Minor academic point - that it must be "Seymour Marsh" and not Swamp, as swamps, by definition, are vegetated by trees above 2m high, e.g. mangrove swamps.'

​

24 April 2019 - Tony from the Bicheno Forward offered a free publication of our Field Day flyer in the May edition. Thank you Tony and

​

16 Apr 2019 - Notice to Todd Dudley of SCAGI's dection to pay him $250 for his advise and help with collecting seeds and bringing them to be germinated by Habitat Nursery for future planting May/June next 2020.

​

15 April 2019 - Quentin distributed the minutes of our meeting No.8  at Klaas and Andy's

​

14 Apr 2019 - Quentin acknowledged another generous contribution from EON of $500. EON's support of SCAGI is greatly appreciated by all.

​

14 Apr 2019 - Bob Oates from St Marys returned in the morning to follow up on the previous day, drone survey. In the meantime he had programmed a comprehensive flight pattern over the site for aerial photography to enable us to replicate the same photography further down the track for comparison.

 

13 Apr 2019 - A successful SCAGI meeting was held at Picaninny hosted by Klaas and Andy. In attendance was the full committee, David Quon and Klaas of course.

​

12 Apr 2019 - Quentin and Daniel met Bob Oates on site for a follow up drone survey since Oct 2017 post mulching of the burnt gorse. Bob supplied us with a site coverage of oblique aerial shots at high resolution.

​

11 Apr 2019 - Jamie Cooper of FMS Environmental visited to demonstrate the latest technology in drone aerial spraying. He showcased and sprayed two small areas on our site with Quentin and Daniel in attendance.

A general regrowth assessment was made and recorded before and after the session with Jamie.

​

3 Apr 2019 - Confirmation of our next meeting at 2 PM on the 13 Apr 2019 at Klaas and Andy's place at Picaninny. Followed by a Field Day on the 18 May 2019 at the Seymour wetland.

​

1 Apr 2019 - Email to PWS Kylie Lemin to initiate Works Application for next phase of wetland project. Still a couple of months left on current permit.

​

31 March 2019 - Community Environmental Project Grant email sent to Brian Mitchell Member for Lyons for recommendation.

​

9 Mar 2019 - Quentin, Kez and Todd collected seeds on site for germination and planting further down the track for the first round of re-vegetation. Subsequently Quentin did some backpack spraying while Kez cut and pasted newly flowering gorse.

​

8 Mar 2019 - Field Day  invitation flyer for the 18 May was sent out and published. We are proud to host a Tasmanian Landcare 25 year anniversary event with the following guest speakers:

Todd Dudley - North East Bioregional Network, Ecological Restorations
Peter Stronach - Landcare Tasmania celebrating their 25th anniversary
Sue Lovegrove & Adrienne Eberhard - The Voice of Water - Sensory perceptions of wetlands (see below)

​

6 Mar 2019 - Sue Lovegrove and Adrienne Eberhard have agreed to come along to our next Field Day on the 18th May - Their book "the Voice of Water" is a creative interpretation, in both miniature painting and poetry, of the ephemeral and transient life of freshwater wetlands and lagoons. Our focus is using sensory perceptions including visual, aural and haptic responses to the water and its ecology. Seymour swamp and Punchbowl lagoon are two of the sites on the east coast of Tasmania that they have based their work on.

​

2 March 2019 - Richard Cooke wrote to SCAGI: I have just purchased 10 acres in seymour and would like to join the group. (10 acres next to Cheryl and David). I'm concerned about the local environment and would like to help SCAGI return the area to native natural bushland. cheers Richard. Quentin followed up.

​

28 Feb 2019 - Email to Parks re dangerous southern pedestrian access to Seymour beach. Reply from Chris Evans agreeing to install additional signage.

​

25 Feb 2019 - Quentin started to organise the next Field Day and Peter Stronach from Landcare TAS suggested to incorporate the day with Landcare Tasmania's 25 year anniversary.

​

25 Feb 2019 - SCAGI submitted an objection for a large scale 54 Lot subdivision DA in St Helens. If approved the DA would set a dangerous precedence up and down the coast. (link to Daniel's submission to BODC).

 

23 Jan 2019 - SCAGI membership renewel with Landcare TAS.

​

18 Jan 2019 - SCAGI wetland progression update was sent to Phil  Thompson, Crown Land Manager DPIPWE

​

13 Jan 2019 - Todd Dudley from North East Bioregional Network Inc. has written the methodology for the next stage. Draft Stage 2 Revegetation Plan. Once again thank you Todd for your knowledge and valued guidance to us.   (link to document)

​

12 Jan 2019 - 2nd day of follow up spraying by Quentin and Paul of All Weed Solutions, with two tanks being distributed on re-growth of previously sprayed areas.

 

11 Jan 2019 - Follow up by Paul from All Weed Solutions together with Quentin's help all day spaying two tanks covering all slashed and previously sprayed areas. Thanks to Dave Quon for the help with a top up of fresh water for the second tank of the spray unit. There has been a lot of growth since the rains in late Nov/Dec but at this stage no flowers.

 

​