Merri Creek Management Committee

05/05/2026

The wallan wallan Regional Parkland Alliance was officially launched on the weekend! Our Alliance partners - MCMC, FoMC, WEG, and BEAM - met at the top of Green Hill looking out over Herne's Swamp all the way to Mt Fraser, and across the area that would make up the wallan wallan Regional Parkland.

Ros Spence MP, Member for Kalkallo joined us, and spoke about the importance of natural spaces for the communities that will make up the far northern suburbs, and the importance of our Alliance to helping to bring the vision to life.

Our Alliance is calling on the state government to commit to the establishment of the wallan wallan Regional Parkland - for recreation, conservation, and community health and wellbeing.

If you haven't signed our petition, help us reach 10,000 signatures by signing it today: https://www.parliament.vic.gov.au/get-involved/petitions/wallan-regional-park/

Photos by Jane Miller & MCMC Staff

Wallan wallan Regional Parkland Friends of Merri Creek Wallan wallan Regional Parkland BEAM Mitchell Environment Group

04/05/2026

FoMC East Coburg – W**d Workshop
When: 2pm – 4pm, Sunday 17 May

Learn to identify and remove weeds growing at Tate Reserve.

Registration essential: https://mcmc.org.au/featured/fomc-east-coburg-weed-workshop

Meeting point: end of Grant St, East Coburg. Here's the Google maps pin: https://maps.app.goo.gl/QfC4fCdAoNzMAnjJA

The Connecting up Communities Project is supported by the Victorian Government through the Green Links Program.

03/05/2026

On Mother’s Day let’s cycle 4km along Merri Creek together!
When: 8:45am - 9:50am, Sunday 10th May

Spend the morning riding 4 kms along the Merri Creek trail, lookings at six areas that have been nourished by 18 months of conservation work to renew swap wallaby habbitat. We'll then arrive at Merri Park in Northcote, and connect with a Welcome to Country from Uncle Dave Wandin at the Friends of Merri Creek planting! (Stay for both if you can).

Location: meet at 8:45am, at the end of Grant St in Tate Reserve (west side of Merri Creek). Here's the Google maps pin: https://maps.app.goo.gl/vzy7dxH7JD9Bjs3y5

Bookings essential: https://mcmc.org.au/featured/focus-on-bird-life-during-the-waring-season-at-galgi-ngarrk-in-the-new-marram-baba-regional-parklands-somerton

Please BYO bike and water. Light snack provided. This event is suitable for people over 8 (those under 18 years must attend with a parent or guardian).

Connecting up Communities Project supported by the Victorian Government through the Green Links Program.

29/04/2026

Seasons in marram baba Parklands: a living calendar

Standing on a low bridge over Merri Creek at galada tamboore, the assembled group falls quiet. With eyes closed, the landscape begins to separate into layers: water moving below, a gentle breeze through the beal (River Red Gums), birds calling overhead. Each person hears something different.

It’s November, in the Wurundjeri Woi-wurrung season of buath garru, when grasses flower across the landscape. In the surrounding grassland, seed heads are already forming, shifting between pale green and sandy gold as they catch the light.

The group is taking part in a guided walk through marram baba, a newly established regional park in Melbourne’s north, led by MCMC’s Angela Foley. Participants are invited to experience the landscape through the lens of Wurundjeri Woi-wurrung seasonal knowledge – where time is marked not by calendar dates, but by what is happening on Country.

On this occasion, Angela is joined by Gunditjmara artist and educator Aunty Karen Lovett, who shares her own Aboriginal knowledge and perspectives alongside the walk. She brings along possum skins to show the group, along with clap sticks to help guide respectful conversation.

For Aunty Karen, that moment on the bridge – simply standing still and listening – is the most powerful part of the day.

“You actually get to listen to the creek running, and the wind in the trees,” she says. “Stuff that you don’t do every day. If it had been a nice day, I actually would have asked them to take their shoes off and felt Country, but it was a bit too cold for that.”

In place of four fixed seasons, the seven Wurundjeri seasons are grounded in observation. In buath garru (November), flowering grasses signal a shift into a warmer, often wetter time. By biderap (January–February), heat and dryness take hold, and the basalt soils crack open. In iuk (March), cooler conditions return and adult iuk (Short-finned Eels) begin their migration downstream.

Read more: https://mcmc.org.au/featured/marram-baba-landscape-a-living-calendar

28/04/2026

Torchlit Twilight Nature Walk with The Friends of Edgars Creek Thomastown
When: 6pm - 7:30pm, Thursday 7th May

Join MCMC education staff and The Friends of Edgars Creek Thomastown (FoECTT), for a torchlit night of discovery!

We’ll notice the early signs of the Wurundjeri Woi-wurrung season of Waring (wombat) as we walk slowly along Edgars Creek, discovering local birds, plants and other local wildlife. We will explore froggy habitat and listen (and maybe spot!) local frogs including the vulnerable Growling Grass Frog (Litoria raniformis).

We’ll highlight MCMC’s frog research and share more about local frogs including playing frog bingo to help identify frog species.

Registration essential: https://mcmc.org.au/featured/torchlit-twilight-nature-walk-with-the-friends-of-edgars-creek-thomastown

Meeting point: in front of the Thomastown library, 52 Main Street Thomastown at 6pm.

This event is suitable for everyone (those under 18 years must attend with a parent or guardian). There will be activities and walking suitable for a younger audience as well as others. Please wear sturdy shoes, long pants, dress for the weather and don’t attend if you are feeling unwell.

Supported by City of Whittlesea.

27/04/2026

Phil Sinclair is a member of MCMC's Committee of Management, as a representative for the Friends of Merri Creek (FoMC). You might catch Phil riding his bike along the Merri Merri or singing as part of the Climate Choir Melbourne...

Why did you join MCMC's Committee of Management (CoM)?
I started as a substitute representative for the Friends of Merri Creek (FoMC), which led to me having a full representative role. I new I had a reasonable amount of time to commit to the role, and wanted to do more to contribute to FoMC activities.

What’s your professional background?
I worked as an environmental scientist for more than 30 years, including in local state and national government agencies, then in the private sector as an environmental consultant. The main thing I worked on from 1997 until 2023 was contaminated land and groundwater in Victoria, South Australia and Queensland.

What’s your favorite place in the Catchment?
It's got to be the Merri Creek Trail, which I regularly ride along to volunteering events, meetings, to visit friends and occasionally for pleasure. That can be anywhere from the junction of the Merri with the Birrarung, to the Western Ring Road.

What’s your hope for the Catchment in the next 5-10 years?
I hope that much larger parts of Merri Merri Country are effectively and cooperatively managed with the Wurundjeri Woi-wurrung people, within protected parks and reserves.

I would like to see a very strong emphasis on the management of stormwater on industrial land and residential developments, so that the water quality of Merri Creek doesn't degrade and improves if possible.

What do you enjoy doing outside of the CoM?
I enjoy volunteering for the Wednesday Volunteers (a working group of the FoMC), and for Darebin Fruit Squad - which is part of Darebin Information and Volunteer Resource Service.

I'm a member of Climate Choir Melbourne, as I enjoy singing about the important issue of climate change/heating wherever and whenever I can.I also enjoy cooking, completing handyman projects, and hearing live music at local venues.

26/04/2026

Northcote Gorge Walk and Talk
When: 10am - 11am, Saturday 2nd of May

Join us for a walk through Northcote Gorge to hear about an exciting new project that has just begun in the area.

The walk will include heading downstream to Hall Reserve where extensive revegetation works have been undertaken, and our staff will share indigenous plant knowledge. Please note that the walk will include inclines.

Registrations essential: https://mcmc.org.au/featured/northcote-gorge-walk-and-talk

Meeting point: the Parade Playground, the Pararde, Northcote. Here's the Google maps pin: https://maps.app.goo.gl/G7XW7Bfi6NvriULs7

24/04/2026

Last Sunday, the Friends of Merri Creek Merri Paddle and MCMC held very successful Waterbug Workshop on the Merri Creek, in Fawkner.

The 12 participants had great fun donning waders and getting into the Merri Creek to collect a waterbug sample. The results were not surprising with the site rating 3.6, which means the site is heavily impacted by pollution (mostly stormwater ). We need a score higher than 6 to be rated as “healthy habitat.”

The good news is that 14 taxa (groups) of waterbugs were found, which shows there is life in the Merri! Images 3 & 4 show two of the waterbugs collected on the day – dragonfly larve and caddisflies (which platypus love).

The waterbug report and data will soon be available for anyone to access at www.vic.waterwatch.org.au, using the site code ME_YMR160.

A big thanks to FoMC Merri Paddle and Melbourne Water for co-funding the event
💚 The Merri Paddle for a Platypus Future Melbourne Water

23/04/2026

Mother's Day Planting, 10am - 12:30pm, Sunday 10th May

Bring your Mum along and help Mother Earth,by planting shade and water loving shrubs at Merri Park on Mother’s Day!

There will also be a Welcome to Country and BBQ lunch.
Registration essential: https://mcmc.org.au/fomc-merri-park---mothers-day-planting

Meeting point: near the recently fenced area in Merri Park, adjacent to Zoe Court. Here's the Google maps pin: https://maps.app.goo.gl/TTJd2o945We3LumeA

The Connecting up Communities Project is supported by the Victorian Government through the Green Links program.

22/04/2026

Come and see MCMC staff Yasmin and Julia in action talking about one of their favourite topics- Growling Grass Frogs!!

We're welcoming members and other frog-interestred people back to our original room (with greatly improoved acoustics!) at the Elgin Inn for our meeting at 7:30 pm on Wednesday the 6th of May!

Featuring a presentation by Julia Cirillo and Yasmin Kelsall from the Merri Creek Managment Committee on managing habitat for and monitoring local populations of the nationally threatened Growling Grass Frog.

Dinner is available for purchase beforehand (catch up with us from 6:30 pm) for those who are keen.

No RSVP necessary.

22/04/2026

Focus on bird life during the Waring season at galgi ngarrk in the new marram baba Regional Parklands, Somerton
When: 8:45am - 12pm, Sunday 3rd May

Join MCMC & Friends of Merri Creek at galgi ngarrk in Somerton (aka Craigieburn Grasslands) to connect with FoMC’s quarterly bird survey. We'll walk across the gorgeous wild grasslands visiting Merri Creek, Curly Sedge Creek and some ancient beal (Red River gums).The last survey in biderap season (Jan-Feb) featured a flock of tiny Zebra finches enjoying ripening grass seeds and insects!

Bookings essential: https://mcmc.org.au/featured/on-wurundjeri-country-in-waring-season-guided-walk-through-galgi-ngarrk-in-the-new-marram-baba-regional-parklands-somerton

Supported by Department of Energy, Environment and Climate Action: Suburban Parks Program

22/04/2026

MCMC is looking for someone to take on a new part-time, contract role - Manager Catchment Education and Engagement. We are looking for someone to:

✅ set the strategic direction for MCMC’s catchment education and engagement program
✅ take this new role and guide the catchment team to design, deliver, and evaluate programs for schools, teachers, adult learners, community groups, and corporate clients
✅ foster partnerships across education, cultural, health and wellbeing, and environment sectors
✅ be a self-starter with excellent communications and relationship building skills, who can grow our catchment education program in a way that reflects the needs of the ever-growing Merri Merri community
✅ hit the ground running, leading our experienced catchment education team, and bring a creative flair and innovative mindset to the role.

This is a key role within the MCMC Management Team – joining our CEO, Manager Operations, and Manager Ecological Restoration.

View the PD and apply: https://www.ethicaljobs.com.au/members/mcmc/manager-catchment-education-and-engagement
Applications close on 26 April. For a confidential conversation contact Bernadette Thomas, CEO, 0478 368 086.