A community-backed plan to restore and protect a key section of the Coliban River at Lauriston will take its next steps early in the new year.
Over the next four years, the A Healthy Coliban Catchment project will focus on rehabilitating the river’s frontage between Lauriston and Malmsbury reservoirs.
Willow removal and revegetation works on one section downstream of the Lauriston bridge was interrupted by the 2022 floods but is now complete.
A three-kilometre stretch upstream of the Lauriston bridge is next in line, with agreements from landholders signed off and a tender process under way to secure a contractor to begin the woody weed control program.
The North Central CMA has a planning application before Macedon Ranges Shire Council as part of future planning for the restoration of a 650m stretch of Crown land between the two sites, either side of the bridge.
Malmsbury Landcare president John Walter said he and his group had been supportive of the plan since day one.
“A key part of this plan is the vegetation restoration on what is locally known as the Lauriston Common,” he said.
“Just look at what we have done at the Malmsbury Common. It’s a great place for the whole community.
“Lauriston deserves a similar space, with native trees and shrubs, access to the river and a healthy waterway all year round.”
AHCC project manager Tess Grieves said removing weeds such as willows and replacing them with native trees and shrubs was a national biodiversity priority.
“Australian rivers deserve Australian habitat, and the damage infestations of willows cause, including at this place, can be immense,” she said.
“We saw in the region during the 2022 floods that removing willows can reduce the spread of floodwater and help keep water in the river channel.
“When you add all these benefits to the cultural importance of these rivers being healthy, improved water quality, and the positive impact on fish, waterbugs and platypus, this work is a win-win.”
Now in its fifth year, AHCC is a partnership between Coliban Water, North Central Catchment Management Authority, DJAARA (the Dja Dja Wurrung Clans Aboriginal Corporation), local councils and local communities.
AHCC works to revegetate and fence stream banks, remove weeds and build off-stream watering systems for landholders along waterways throughout the Upper Coliban River catchment.
The catchment is home to significant numbers of threatened plants and animals and is a key social, cultural and economic asset for the region.
It’s also home to three water storages – Malmsbury, Lauriston and Upper Coliban – that supply raw water for drinking purposes to more than 130,000 people, including the towns of Trentham, Tylden, Kyneton, Castlemaine and Bendigo.
The AHCC is funded by the Victorian Government’s Our Catchments, Our Communities program, Coliban Water and the North Central CMA.
