NEWS AND ACTIONS - 2023
please scroll down for activities "back in time" or click on News-Action for previous years
in process of being updated.......
30 Dec 2023 - Adam Cruse started to flail mow the open areas he started at the eastern side of the 4WD access track. He started at 6:30am and flail mowed for 10 hrs.
24 Dec 2023 - Quentin sent out an email to all members and supporters with best wishes for the festive season:
Wishing you all a Happy Christmas and a Restorative New Year.
Firstly, thanks to the Committee for all their work through the year.
Thank you to Neridah who took on the role of Secretary and Cheryl who joined the Committee and to Kez and Andy for their long service to the Group.
Thanks also to all the Group Members and our supporters for contributing to our efforts through the year.
I am writing this on Schouten Island and only have limited internet so unable to access our website with all the details of what we have accomplished through the year.
Please forgive me for those I miss.
We share a common history with Schouten.
A rich First Nation Heritage, a past of whaling, residual workings of the convicts in the coal mines with abandoned shafts and tram lines, abandoned farmland now reserved for conservation.
Most importantly the restoration efforts in both places to rid them of gorse and other weeds and restore them to their original natural state.
The Friends of Freycinet, who have assisted us over the years, continue to care for Schouten helping it restore to a pristine paradise and are a great inspiration to me.
This has been a year of consolidation and diversification.
The Environmental Management Plan for Seymour was completed by Helen Morgan of Bushways Environmental Services with a lot of help from Daniel.
Donna Stanely PWS Regional Manager North endorsed our Gorse Eradication Strategy for the Seymour Wetlands.
We have had a number of working bees with Friends of Freycinet, Utas Landcare Society and a group of School Students on a World Expeditions Schools trip, helping tend the trees and deal with gorse.
We have contained the gorse with help of Adam Cruse slashing, Tim Reid Agricultural Spraying, Freycinet PWS spraying, BODC weed team and recently Amanda Brooks now with Will and Melissa Ferguson at Grindstone.
After a discussion with Amanda at the Landcare Conference she offered to spray at Seymour in return for help across the fence at Chain of Lagoons and the Fergusons again donated the chemicals.
We are very grateful to Amanda and the Fergusons and hope this can be an ongoing arrangement.
Thanks to the Group volunteers, Ben Wall and Paul Peacock who assisted with the spraying and to David Quon how supplied water.
We managed to plant another 100 native trees grown from locally collected seeds.
We had seed collection and propagation workshops run by Ruth Mollison in conjunction with Landcare.
Hopefully this will result in an ongoing supply of local trees for the Wetland Area.
With an increased presence of feral deer causing damage to the trees we enlisted Ant Singline to eradicate them.
This is an ongoing project and if anyone sees deer, please let Ant at Chain of Lagoons know.
We have worked constructively with Andrew Nugent at the Bird in Hand Vineyard.
He has allowed us access to Doctors Creek to take water samples after we attended a workshop run by Landcare on how to do so.
Andrew has met with Group members at the dam site and taken us to the new weir in the Creek.
When there was concerns about the water flow in the Creek Andrew allowed us access to the flow metre.
Andrew and David Quon met and discussed revegetation on the western side of Doctors Creek.
We look forward to building on this relationship.
We have had some successes and failures with Grant Applications.
Thanks to Neridah for all the work she did for the Tas Community Grant which unfortunately we did not get.
We also missed out on the Bendigo Bank Sponsorship. Now they have a Branch in St Helens and so rejected us as we are in the BODC Municipality.
Grants to be acquitted this year include two from Landcare, one from FRRR and one from Highways and Byways.
We are also to get a final donation from the Earth Ocean Network who wound up the organisation during the year.
Many thanks to EON for their long running support. You will be missed.
We have been involved with the NE Coast Shore Bird working Group and continue to work with them for the protection of the endangered shore birds.
Sadly, a long-term supporter and original initiator of the Seymour Wetland Restoration Michelle Mentz died in a car accident at the beginning of the year.
It is our intention to put a Memorial Plaque for her in the wetland under some of the trees she planted and cared for.
Maybe the anniversary of her death 19th January would be an appropriate day to do this?
At our AGM we discussed the importance of Succession Planning for the long-term continuation of a Group.
At his years inspirational Landcare Conference held at the Triabunna Chip Mill the Group Award was given to the Mount Rolland Landcare Group.
Over the last year they have renamed the Group, have a new Committee and through a series of workshops, Field Days including a Music Festival they have more than doubled their membership.
Maybe we could discuss some of these options at our next Meeting.
Again, thanks to all and best wishes for the Festive Season and coming year.
Look forward to connecting in person.
Kind Regards,
Quentin
Quentin Smith
President
19 Dec 2023 - Daniel renewed SCAGI's membership with Landcare Tasmania, The Landcare Bulk Insurance & insurance grant is included in the 2024 membership fee of $40 and will be renewed 1st of April 2024.
15 Dec 2023 - Landcare Tasmania is asking for nominations for State & Territory Landcare Awards, see their website or email to digital@landcareaustralia.com.au
4 Dec 2023 - SCAGI is successfully registered as a charity with ACNC - Australian Charities and Not-for-Profits Commission. Considered a small charity organisation we don't have to submit yearly financial reporting, but will need to submit an 'Annual Information Statement' prior to the 31st Jan following the last financial year.
SCAGI was also granted the tax free status by ATO as a not for profits association.
20 Nov 2023 - ACNC is asking for further information to determine our application for Charity status for SCAGI, which was supplied by Daniel including a Conflict of Interest Policy.
17 Nov 2023 - Quentin extends an all-time welcome to Utas Landcare members for possible restoration weekends and camping on his property. Sam is going to get back to him for possible future dates.
13 Nov 2023 - Emma Ferguson from NrmNorth requested Quentin's help with the BirdLife Australia Fairy Tern Survey at Templestowe Beach this Nov/Dec & Jan/Feb.
12 Nov 2023 - Quentin continues to inform the Shorebird Working Group of the state of shorebirds, on Templestowe Beach. Linda Overend (Parks) reiterates the present lack of budget for a boom gate to Templestowe Beach.
5 Nov 2023 - Andrew from BIH offered SCAGI access to the water flow data of Doctors Creek. Daniel accepted the offer to receive the login details for the web based flow meter. It was passed on by David Thorp - Pinion Advisory via Alistair Brooks - Pinion Advisory.
2 Nov 2023 - The NRE Water Compliance Officer Stephen Pryor visited Doctors Creek today and reported that BIH are complying with their Licence requirements. He did raise the possibility of stopping pumping when others needed to pump if there is not sufficient flow to sustain simultaneous pumps.
30 Oct 2023 - Neridah was able to register SCAGI on Volunteering TAS for volunteering opportunities in the lead up to consider full membership.
28 Oct 2023 - A successful working bee was held with the assistance of students and teachers from St Leonards College in Melbourne who were traveling Tasmania as part of the https://worldexpeditionsschools.com program organised by Tasmanian Expeditions. 15 Students and 5 members started at 10am tending the trees we have planted, weeding, removing tree guards, cutting and pasting gorse till mid afternoon.
26 Oct 2023 - Tenille Coker-Williams from BODC has finally sourced all DA documents relating to the new Optus tower at Seymour. Unfortunately the outstanding Geotechnical report didn't reveal new evidence to support a 'non compliance' accusation.
17 Oct 2023 - Sam Ibbot from Marine Solutions sent an encouraging reply to Quentin, re the community water quality monitoring. He tasked Dr Carryn Manicom to assist with data storage and analysis also recommending sampling points etc so that we can keep building a long term data set.
15 Oct 2023 - Quentin reached out for assistance on a two day spray opportunity. Amanda Brooks kindly offered to do a days spraying for us in return for helping her spraying on Chain of Lagoons land south of Champ Street.
15 Oct 2023 - Quentin wrote to Sam Tacey @ Fire TAS in regards to establishing a fire plan for the surrounding area.
9 Oct 2023 - Quentin sent out an invitation for a working bee on the 28th Oct, to join a group of students who are organised by Tasmanian Expeditions to spend a day learning about environmental restoration.
9 Oct 2023 - Quentin thanked Simon Roberts for the Water Sampling Workshop organised through Waterwatch and Waterbug Blitz on the weekend. He submitted to him test sites and results from Doctors Creek.
Lily Frazer from Landcare TAS has set up an online forum to store testing data:
https://form.123formbuilder.com/6505955/waterwatch-physico-chemical-monitoring-data
Select "East Coast Pilot Project" as the project title.
9 Oct 2023 - Neridah and Allison Peacock tried to finalise a grant application for Landcare Tasmania. It faulted by not previously having submitted an expression of interest EOI for the small grant.
7 Oct 2023 - Quentin showcased SCAGI at the Fundraiser for North East Tasmania Land Trust at the Panorama Hotel, St Helens. He was one of the guest speakers together with Richard Flanagan.
6 Oct 2023 - We received and confirmed the grant money from FRRR grant submission.
29 Sep 2023 - Daniel received documents obtained through Freedom of Information from BODC. The DA documents for an Optus tower at Seymour didn't support a demand to changes the reflective nature of the new tower.
27 Sep 2023 - Quentin emailed Alena Hrasky - Ranger in Charge, Freycinet about prohibited 4WD activities on Templestowe Beach past the big sand dune. Alena replied, asking for photos and number plates which were not available.
24 Sep 2023 - Quentin agreed to give a talk about SCAGI's history and projects with a Power Point Presentation on the 7th Oct Fundraiser for North East Tasmania Land Trust at the Panorama Hotel, St Helens.
Christine Hosking transformed the PPP into a brochure for SCAGI at Quentin's request.
22 Sep 2023 - Replies were received to Quentin's enquiries re the development of the boom gate planning. Will Joscelyne asked Linda Overend to keep working on this matter and he also asked his compliance team to assess the EMP and consider actions Parks can take in response. Linda asked about possible funding of a gate by SCAGI.
SCAGI has no money to fund a gate.
20 Sep 2023 - Daniel enquired about any possible water licence amendment at Doctors Creek by Bird in Hand - BIH. It turns out that a temporary licence could be issued without advertising by NRE in a major weather event, when the lagoon is tidal. The link to monitor new advertised licences is: https://nre.tas.gov.au/water/water-and-dam-applications
20 Sep 2023 - Neridah created a working doc to capture grant activity.
19 Sep 2023 - Deanne Cavalier from FRRR - Foundation for Rural & Regional Renewal notified us that our grant submission was successful. The grant donor is IKEA Australia.
12 Sep 2023 - Landcare Tasmania sent out an invite for a training session on monitoring stream and river health.
7 Oct 2023 - 10am to 3pm in the Bicheno area TBC.
12 Sep 2023 - Daniel forwarded an invitation for a Fundraiser in aid of the North East Tasmania Land Trust on the 7th Oct 2023 - 7:30 PM at the Panorama Hotel - St Helens.
11 Sep 2023 - Nick, Nicholas Graham from Parks came up to do some spraying gorse in the middle section of the 4WD access track to the east around the drainage channel. His assistance is greatly appreciated.
6 Sep 2023 - Daniel submitted the Expression of Interest (EOI) for the 2023-24 Volunteer Grants - Lyons administered by the Dept. of Social Services.
3 Sep 2024 - Daniel sent out photos to the committee of a possible place for a Memorial plaque for Michelle Menz, Kez agreed to organise for the plaque to be made on a visit to Launceston.
3 Sep 2024 - Melissa and Daniel spent the afternoon on a working bee weeding and attending to trees in the SCA.
1 Sep 2023 - Linda Overend from Parks informed about the start of the Shorebird season.
1 Sep 2024 - Quentin applied for and was accepted as a caretaker at Schouten Island National Park in mid to late December 2023.
1 Sep 2023 - Landcare Tasmania released their second program preview for the Tasmanian Community Landcare Conference to be held at Spring Bay Mill from Oct 13th to 15th 2023.
28 Aug 2023 - ECA - East Coast Alliance invited to its AGM at Swansea Courthouse 23 Sep 2023 at 2pm.
27 Aug 2023 - Graeme Beech - Secretary of North East Bioregional Network wrote to the Minister Jaensch following a meeting with Birdlife Tasmania and North Est Bioregional Network. Principles of Effective Shorebird Management. The Minister's response is available here.
26 Aug 2023 - Quentin contacted Landcare Tasmania to inquire about a possible grant opportunity. Unfortunately, the Landcare Action Grants Open Round on behalf of the Department of Natural Resources and Environment (NRE) closed on the 31 Jul 2023.
23 Aug 2023 - Neridah received the disappointing news about her Tasmanian Community Fund Grant submission outcome.
22 Aug 2023 - The State Planning Office delivered a presentation on the State Planning Provisions (SPPs) review. The presentation follows the recent release of the SPPs Review issues scoping consultation report.
If you missed the event, you can watch the recording of SPP review online presentation - 10 August 2023.
22 Aug 2023 - Shelby Pinkerton from Tasmanian Expeditions made contact with Quentin to plan a school day working bee with SCAGI. The company organises environmental focused travel and activities for school groups, for World Expedition Schools. https://worldexpeditions.com/regenerative-travel-projects
21 Aug 2023 - Tim Reid from "Reid for Weeds" arrived for the second day spraying gorse in north western part of the site.
21 Aug 2023 - Clair Keating - Operations (Archaeologist) replied to Quentin's email dated 2 Aug. in regards to possible significant sites in Seymour. She is asking of pectoral evidence of any possible disturbances of the sites. Quentin replied with photos of vehicle tracks up and around the dunes as well as a Public Notice by PWS re the access track.
19 Aug 2023n- Tim Reid started the 1st of two days spraying gorse in the north-west corner of the 4WD access track.
19 Aug 2023 - Neridah is proposing a SCAGI membership with Volunteering Tasmania volunteeringtas.org.au for $165 per year.
18 Aug 2023 - Neridah created an Instagram account for SCAGI and uploaded photos from our website.
11 Aug 2023 - Daniel arranged SCAGI's own web domain and was able to register www.SCAGI.org for our website.
10 Aug 2023 - Daniel emailed a letter from Telstra to BODC re a proposed service at the Seymour Optus tower.
10 Aug 2023 - Quentin arranged a meeting with Bird in Hand owner Andrew Nugent to show the community the finished construction of the 15 ha 200 Megalitre dam and the weir upstream in Doctors Creek to monitor the water flow of the main tributary to Templestowe Lagoon and wetland areas.
Andrew kindly answered our questions and proposed a subsequent meeting with the technical contractors to explain the workings of the weir in more detail. (link to photos)
7 Aug 2023 - Tim Reid sprayed the road verges. Quentin was in contact with Polly and Kaylen from BODC re arranging regular follow ups along the roads.
5 Aug 2023 - Quentin was invited to join the Shore Bird Working Group meeting in St Helens. He followed up, by speaking to the NE Board Riders about concerns regarding dogs on the beach during their competitions.
2 Aug 2023 - Quentin contacted Ross Stanger - Cultural Management Group and Aboriginal Heritage Tasmania about possible significant sites in Seymour. He received a reply on the 21 Aug.
1 Aug 2023 - Quentin sent out the President Report he tabled at yesterday's AGM.
1 Aug 2023 - Quentin sent our new Environmental Management Plan for the Seymour Conservation Area to
Parks for their reference and received a reply from Will Joscelyne reading:
Thank you for providing this report. The information in it will be very useful for informing further discussions with regional PWS staff and other potential partners. I commend you and all participants for setting out clearly the surveyed values (with excellent photographic examples), identified threats, and proposed priorities for action.
An officer (as PWS nominated current contact) will respond further to you shortly to continue discussions.
31 Jul 2023 - Quentin wrote to Andrew Nugent from Bird in Hand and Sam Ibbott from Marine Solutions, re an earlier offer for SCAGI to familiarise itself with the water uptake monitoring system from Doctors Creek. We assume the dam works are now finalised.
31 Jul 2023 - Daniel wrote to BODC in regards to the shiny new Optus tower north of Seymour.and to follow up on Quentin's request re the flowering gorse along Champ St from a couple of weeks ago.
30 Jul 2023 - Andy hosted our 2023 AGM at Piccaninny, all committee positions were elected with Neridah taking over Kez's role as Secretary and Melissa taking over from Andy and Sheryl from Neridah as Committee member. The other positions stayed the same with Quentin elected as President, Kez elected as Public Officer and Daniel as Treasurer. The minutes will be confirmed and circulated to all members. A big thank you to Andy for hosting us, and to all for the delicious contributions for the afternoon tea that followed.
27 Jul 2023 - Daniel arranged a site meeting with Nick, Nicholas Graham from Parks. He informed us of the departure of Fiona Everts from her existing role, looking after the volunteers and community groups like ours.
Nick is going to apply for Fee's previous position. In the meantime he endeavoured reading our new management plan for the wetland site. He is going to look into how Parks are able to assist us in the development of the Sector strategies for the site and get back to us.
24 Jul 2023 - Neridah circulated a draft document, documenting the roles of our office bearers. A first step in the direction of succession planning, which has been brought to our agenda.
22 Jul 2023 - 9 people turned up for the cut and past working bee. We started at Champ St at 10am and worked along the western side of the wetland. After noon, we had tea, coffee and cake and by coincident
Marty Wells arrived. We had a good chat and he told us of pending changes in PWS staff positions.
He told us the Fee has now changed rolls and may not be involved in our Project any more.
Fee has been a wonderful help and support to this Project and will be sorely missed if this is the case.
21 Jul 2023 - The time and place has been settled for our AGM. Andy De Jonge from Piccaninny kindly offered to host the meeting at 2pm on the 30 July. Quentin sent out an invitation to all members including the agenda.
20 Jul 2023 - The weather looks better for the following Saturday and Quentin sent out an invite for a working bee.
18 Jul 2023 - Alena Hrasky from Parks got back to us, re our proposed site meeting promising the week after, due to being light on staff.
12 Jul 2023 - Dam works are progressing at the Bird In Hand Vineyard along the Tasman Hwy.The dam wall is being covered with topsoil in preparation for the proposed plantings. The Water Licence allows for a maximum of 204 ML to be pumped from Doctors Creek during the winter months from 1 May to 30 Nov inclusive.
11 Jul 2023 - A new Optus cell phone tower has been erected north of Seymour and it should become operational in the next couple of weeks. The tower is of steel construction and is very visible against the National Park backdrop.
In modest terms it is a blot in the landscape of our coastal scenery.
10 Jul 2023 - Helen Morgan from Bushways Environmental Services – Tasmania sent us the Final Draft of the
Environmental Management Plan - EMP FD Seymour Conservation Area 100723cr.
It is subject to final comments at our forthcoming AGM on 30th July.
8 Jul 2023 - A rainy morning spoilt our proposed working bee, with 10 people turning up. We decided to meet at Aurora instead for a cuppa and a talk, which lasted till lunch time.
7 Jul 2023 - After talking to Fee @ Parks, Daniel emailed Alena and Marty to try to arrange a site meeting to discuss the production of the Sector Management Plans.
6 Jul 2023 - Quentin emailed Parks Adam Smith with photographs of a new parallel track to the Templestowe Beach, which was followed up wit a phone call from Adam informing us that the progress re a possible boom gate has stalled.
6 Jul 2023 - Quentin received a response from Polly BODC re the Champ street flowering gorse which apparently are on a list to be attended to by Tim in the near future.
5 Jul 2023 - Quentin sent out an invitation for a working bee the following Sat. 8 July 10am @ Champ Street.
He also foreshadowed our next SCAGI meeting, our AGM for the 30 July 2023 with suggested agenda. Time and place are to be confirmed.
20 Jun 2023 - We received confirmation of submitting the TCF grant on time.
20 Jun 2023 - Neridah Stockley finalised a mayor grant application to the Tasmanian Community Fund for supporting SCAGI with the acquisition of a spray unit. The 2022 Community Action Grants proposal would allow SCAGI to better implement our weed eradication strategy over the next 5 years.
19 Jun 2023 - We received the second draft document from Helen Morgan February 2023
Bushways Environmental Services – Tasmania
Environmental Management Plan for Seymour Conservation Area - January 2023
18 Jun 2023 - Daniel replied to Robin and Antonia O'Brien, re a request for contact details for PWS.
18 Jun 2023 - Neridah sent out the final draft for review of the TCF grant submission Daniel replied with some notes and suggestions.
16 Jun 2023 - Daniel replied to Helen Morgan's draft SCA-EMP with notes, questions and comments. He prepared some mapping to help locate the described Vegetation Communities.
16 Jun 2023 - Neridah forwarded the release notes of the Landcare Action Grants Open Round 5. Applications are open from the 16th June to the 31st of July.
14 Jun 2023 - Neridah sent out a link of the new PWS Aboriginal cultural burning policy:
Daniel found the link to - PWS fire management:
https://parks.tas.gov.au/about-us/fire-management
and the - PWS Planned burns website:
https://parks.tas.gov.au/about-us/fire-management/planned-burns
13 Jun 2023 - Marnie Wylde from Highways and Byways contacted us to see if we are interested in making a short documentary on video about our project.
13 Jun 20223 Neridah requested a phone appointment with Tasmanian Community Fund to review her grant submission 2023CA003, on the 15 June.
12 Jun 2023 - We received the LAP grant of $120 from Landcare Tasmania.
11 Jun 2023 - Warrick Lawson sent his draft story through for comments.
9 Jun 2023 - Helen Morgan sent through her first draft of the Seymour Conservation Area - Environmental Management Plan January 2023. The over 100 page document has 7 Appendices and is richly illustrated with many great photographs and some maps. Daniel sent the draft out to our members for comments.
7 Jun 2023 - Warwick Lawson from Landcare inquired about writing an article about SCAGI and our Seymour project.
2 Jun 2023 - Landcare Tasmania invited us to apply for this year's LAP grant (Landcare Assistance Program) of $120
31 May 2023 - Neeridah and Ben finalised the quotes for the next round of the Tasmanian Community Fund - 2022 Community Action Grants application.
29 May 2023 - With a big thank you, we received a letter of support from Helen Preston of EON Earth Ocean Network Inc.
24 May 2023 - Daniel finished the FRRR grant application and sent it to Quentin to review and submit.
24 May 2023 - Alena Hrasky - Ranger in Charge – Freycinet National Park wrote us a great letter of support and endorsment for our future work at Seymour Conservation Area.
17 May 2023 - Helen Preston from EON kindly agreed to write a letter of support for SCAGI's TCF grant application.
16 May FOF working bee with Parks....(to be confirmed)
16 May 2023 - Daniel started to work on the next round of FRRR grant application for 2023-24.
16 May 2023 - Foundation for Rural & Regional Renewal (FRRR) Application No: 35088
Strengthening Rural Communities:SV11 2021 have informed us that the final report has been accepted, and the Seymour Community Wetland Restoration and Reclassification Project is now acquitted.
10 May 2023 - Neridah managed to get Parks approval to store a spray unit if purchased, through a successful TCF Tasmanian Community Fund Grant she is working on.
9 May 2023 - Daniel got into trouble with running out of space on our free SCAGI -WIX- website. Unfortunately we were only told about the 500MB limit when the website used already 750MB.
We decided to start paying a monthly fee of $15 to maintain the website as is and also registered the URL SCAGI.org for better communications.
9 May 2023 - FRRR have acknowledged receipt of the final acquittal report with all the links to photos and documents.
8 May 2023 - Nerdah and Quentin met to discuss the 2nd draft of the TCF - Tasmanian Community Fund application.
5 May 2023 - Neridah sent out the first draft of the TCF application, Daniel added the financial sections and some comments.
3 May 2023 - Neridah started the ball rolling with organising letters of support for a community grant she is preparing for TCF - Tasmanian Community Fund.
2 May 2023 - Donna Stanley - Regional Manager North - Parks and Wildlife Service endorsed
Vol. 2 of the SCAGI - Gorse Eradication Strategy for Seymour Wetlands Restoration
28 Apr 2023 - Fiona Everts contacted Quent with an offer to lend Parks spray unit, after Quentin talked with Marty Wells. May 16-18 are flagged as possible dates, but Quentin Rob and Daniel are away on these days.
26 Apr 2023 - Daniel worked with Quentin on the FRRR grant acquittal report.
25 April 2023 - Quentin wrote a short synopsis about the Utas working bee of the last weekend, with some links to references made by Todd Dudley in his talk about Restoration Methodologies.
23 Apr 2023 - The working bee weekend with Utas Landcare Society and friends continued on Sunday with 13 people helping to weed trees and cut more gorse. A big thank you to all involved, there is a link with photographs to download here
22 Apr 2023 - A very successful working bee was held over the weekend, 21 people worked on Saturday with 100 trees planted and many more weeded and a heap of gorse cut and pasted. The Utas students stayed overnight camping at Quentin and Kez's to continue working on Sunday morning.
21 Apr 2023 - Landcare sent us a link to more information about the Seed Propagation Workshop with Ruth Mollison. Here is a link to more videos from Ruth.
19 Apr 2023 - Daniel emailed Fiona Everts from PWS re the progress of the Gorse Eradication Strategy for Seymour Wetlands Restoration - GESforSWR Vol. 2 with Donna Stanly.
18 Apr 2023 - Jenn Gasson from Landcare Tas confirmed Quentin's request to advertise our next working bee 22/23 April on Landcare's website.
17 Apr 2023 - Andrew Nugent responded to David Quon with regard to the re-vegetation of the western bank of Doctors Creek, suggesting a meeting to discuss possible actions.
16 Apr 2023 - We received the Landcare Insurance Policy for 2023/2024. A link to download and read the policies, is available here.
15 Apr 2023 - Ruth Mollison conducted a Seed Propagation Workshop in Bicheno at the Town Hall. The Landcare Tasmania sponsored event was initiated by SCAGI and facilitated through the Understory Network. It was booked out to capacity with 20 people attending. Interesting discussions covered setting up a State Seed Bank. (link to photos)
12 Apr 2023 - Quentin asked Lily from Landcare to publicise our next working bee on the 22 & 23 April on the Landcare Website.
9 Apr 2023 - Adam Cruse came back to do another day of slashing on the north-western side of the beach access track.
8 Apr 2023 - Quentin sent out the invitation to our next Working Bee: All are welcome to join us and camp overnight on Wuggatena Poenta overlooking Black Dog Reef on the northern end of Long Point Seymour.
We will start at 10 am Saturday the 22nd of April, in the Conservation area just north of Champ St before the Swamp, with a talk from Todd Dudley about Restoration. Todd is a multi award winner for his outstanding work on restoration and has been our advisor throughout this Project. We have 100 seedlings grown form locally acquired seeds to plant along the southern boarder of the Conservation area where it adjoins Champ Street. After morning tea/lunch there are all the other trees planted over the preceding years to weed, renew guards and cut out gorse.
We will then set up Camp on the Point and join together for a meal. Kez will not be here until late Saturday evening after her Grandmother duties. She will prepare something for morning tea and dinner. If any one is able to assist in catering please co-ordinate with Kez.
5 Apr 2023 - Jarrod came up from GSBC to do another day spraying with Ben Wall. They were joined by Quentin and David with their backpacks, who concentrated along the eastern side of the tree plantings from south to north.
Ben and Jarrod tackled the larger re-growth on the western side of the beach access track. (photo link)
4 Apr 2023 - Quentin started the FRRR grant aquittal process and sent it on to Daniel.
28 Mar 2023 - Quentin contacted Amanda Brooks GSBC, for advise re purchasing a spray unit for SCAGI. David also conducted some research into the current costs of a spray unit.
27 Mar 2023 - SCAGI meeting with Fiona Everts from Parks to finalise the Vol.2 Weed management Plan and to discuss other issues. Quentin sent out the minutes the same evening to the attendees and to the apologies, David, Melissa, Daniel, Kez, Neridah, Helen and Todd. The meeting was at Aurora from 10:30 to 12:15. Afterwards Daniel, Fiona and Quentin went to the recently fenced area near the swamp and collected the residual rubbish and tyres.
26 Mar 2023 - The Sunday working bee continued where we left off the previous Tuesday with Andy & Forest, Linda & Paul, Kez and Quentin and Daniel.
25 Mar 2023 - Adam Cruse was back, slashing in the north-west part of the beach access track.
22 Mar 2023 - Daniel took a Ute load of gorse clippings to the Bicheno tip.
21 Mar 2023 - The planned working bee was well attended, Alison & Paul and , Kez & Quentin, Melissa & Daniel were joined by Peter for a big effort to keep the fast regrowth of gorse under control and to look after planted trees.
20 Mar 2023 - Quentin bought more wire mesh, secateurs and loppers in St Helens.
19 Mar 2023 - A successful SCAGI meeting was held at Neridah Stockley and Ben Wall's house. Thanks to Neridah for hosting the meeting and to all who came along, also for the lovely food and company. Quentin sent out the minutes the same day. Quentin was able to welcome and thank Neridah for joining the SCAGI comity.
18 Mar 2023 - Adam Cruse continues the slashing on the western side of the beach access track, Daniel maintained planted trees in Pot 1, with weeding, slashing and upgrading protection with wire mesh.
15 Mar 2023 - Landace Tasmania confirmed the Seed Propagation Workshop on the 15 May in Bicheno. See "Next Meeting" page for details.
11 Mar 2023 - Adam Cruse returned to continue the slashing on the western side of the access track (8hrs) Daniel supervised, weeded and tended to the western trees in Pod 1 (6hrs).
10 Mar 2023 - A SCAGI member meeting has been scheduled and will be hosted by Neridah and Ben at 4 Templestowe St @ 10am on the 19 March. (see "Next Meeting") page.
6 Mar 2023 - Daniel incorporated PWS Donna Stanley's comments into the latest draft of Vol.2 Gorse Eradication Strategy for Seymour Wetlands Restoration and contacted Amanda Brooks from GSBC to book another round of spraying with Jarrod.
4 Mar 2023 - A successful working bee morning was held by Neridah, Melissa, Janine, Cameron, Peter and Daniel. We worked alongside Champ St at the 1st tree plantings and the field-day access track. It was nice to meet our new neighbours Janine and Cameron Platt who are the Quon's new neighbours.
27 Feb 2023 - Fiona Everts from Parks got back to us with a request for a meeting to discuss the Draft Seymour Wetland Restoration Area WMP. Donna Stanley, Northern Regional Manager PWS has reviewed the draft plan and Fiona would like to go over some minor edits with us. The meeting is scheduled for the Saturday the 27th March when Quentin is back from sea.
25 Feb 2023 - A hot forecast prompted a 7:30 start for more slashing by Adam Cruse, moving over to the western side of the beach access track. Daniel again supervised, cut and pasted gorse and tended to the young trees till 11am while Adam kept going till 12:30. (photos)
18 Feb 2023 - Daniel organised Adam Cruse to come up from Bicheno to slash the open areas and cut some tracks near the tree plantings. Adam made a good start in 10 hrs on the eastern side of the beach access track, Daniel supervised while weeding and tending to young trees.
31 Jan 2023 - Andrew Nugent from Bird in Hand vineyard confirmed that it was not the re-commencement of the dam construction, but rather the construction of a weir to measure water flows up-stream at Doctors Creek that was proposed in the next few days and may cause some sediment flowing downstream.
27 Jan 2023 - Jarrod from GSBC returned to spray another day with Ben assisting. They resumed where they got to the week before and continued along the track to the east and around the latest tree plantings. As last time, after two tanks we called it a day. Melissa and Daniel attended young trees, with weeding, guard removal/replacement and weed cut and pasting including thistles.
27 Jan 2023 - PMAT sent an invitation to their next General Meeting to make an amendment to its constitution on the 16 Feb at 2pm - Mathers House Hobart.
24 Jan 2023 - Quentin responded to Lara Hagarty, inquiring about joining SCAGI and looking for advice with the bird rookeries and vegetation on her property. Both Eric Woehler and Todd Dudley offered their support with any questions. Daniel extended an invitation to talk about SCAGI.
20 Jan 2023 - At 8:30am Jarrod from GSBC and Ben Wall started at the gorse to the northern point of the access track and worked back to the south and east. Daniel attended the tree plantings with replacement guards, cut & pasting gorse and cutting and disposing of thistles. After two tanks we called it a day in the early afternoon.
19 Jan 2023 - The very sad news arrived that Michelle Menz died in a car accident near St Helens. She was instrumental in the first attempt of gorse control and tree plantings at Seymour in early 2000.
Having moved away from Seymour she still came to our working bees with her son Kole to assist and share her knowledge. She will be missed by the Seymour community.
16 Jan 2023 - Helen Morgan came back to us with her fee proposal for the proposed study and report.
a link to the second draft is here
16 Jan 2023 - Daniel contacted Amanda Brooks from GSBC to arrange a couple of days spraying at Seymour.
Friday the 20 Jan was agreed on with Jarrod coming up at 8:30 and Ben Wall from SCAGI assisting him on the second hose.
12 Jan 2023 - Quentin wrote to Linda Overend, Regional Operations manager (North) to give her an update on the shorebird status on Templestowe and Seymour Beach as well as the rookeries on the point. The update was to inform the SHOREBIRD WORKING GROUP MEETING at BODC chambers at the end of January.
7 Jan 2023 - Helen and Warwick Morgan joined us, Quentin, Helen, Melissa, Todd, Daniel and Neridah for to have a walk over the whole project site.
6 Jan 2023 - Quentin and Daniel completed a "Volunteer Support survey" for Tracy Schultz from the University of QLD. She endeavoured to share the survey results when completed.
6 Jan 2023 - Quentin paid for the annual membership for Landcare Tasmania, this covers SCAGI for members Insurance. He also applied and received the 2023 Landcare Assistance Program (LAP) Grant.
6 Jan 2023 - Neridah registered a new Group Profile to log volunteer hours on the My Impact site. The user name is "Seymour Wetlands"
4 Jan 2023 - A meeting has been arranged on site by Quentin with Dr Helen Morgan from Bushways Environmental Services Tasmania, on Fri 7 Jan; to discuss the production of an Environmental Management Plan for the Seymour Conservation Area.
3 Jan 2023 - Daniel sent Helen Morgan up to date aerial maps showing the boundaries and Lots of the Seymour Conservation Area
2 Jan 2023 - Quentin wrote and submitted a Sponsorship Application to Bendigo Bank,
Freycinet Coast Financial Services Limited (FCFSL) . The sponsorship program aims to create tangible benefits to the wider community and to support local initiatives that have long lasting positive benefits. The submissions close on the 28 Feb 2023 and notification will be given within the month of March, according to Georgie de Candia the Bank's Company Secretary.