menzies creek hall turns 60

It was terrific to catch up with past Shire of
Sherbrooke President, Peter Downard who
was part of the official unveiling of the
commemorative plaque.

It was wonderful to join with the Menzies Creek community to celebrate the 60th anniversary of their much loved hall. Locals flocked to share the stories, reminisce and remember the Menzies Creek of old and of now. Long term families were well represented by the Hermons, Walkers and Johns.

I had the very great pleasure of joining Peter Downard, past Shire of Sherbrooke President, in unveiling a commemorative plaque to celebrate the occasion.

Community infrastructure is important, it provides a central meeting place for community and the hall has served the community well in its many iterations over the past 60 years. Still much loved, it's now used in the day to provide preschool services and of a night for a range of community activities.

Well done to organisers, it was a great day, with much hilarity and story sharing, I can only hope I'll be around to celebrate the hall's 100th!

The official unveiling to celebrate 60 years.

Menzies Creek Primary School Choir opened the day
with the national anthem as well as the school song.
It was lovely to see past school students sign along.

It was great to hear tales from the past, stories of dances,
parties, significant community events as well as
look at memorabilia going back to the hall's first event ever.

Local families played a prominent role
on the day.

samantha in the press

McDonalds faces backlash in Tecoma, Australia
BBC
by Phil Mercer
2 Oct 2013

Wildlife retreat taking shape
Mail Newspapers
1 Oct 2013

Caravan park to be returned to bushland
Leader Newspapers
2 Oct 2013

60 year party planned for Menzies Creek Hall
Leader Newspapers
2 Oct 2013

puffing billy on the line for 50 years

Cr Samantha Dunn and train driver for this trip, Chris.

What a fine celebration it was, the 50th anniversary of the re-opening of the Puffing Billy line.

Locals and visitors joined to celebrate the occasion with a ride on Puffing Billy to Menzies Creek.

The view from the Trestle Bridge, this must be one
of the most photographed bridges in Victoria.

Puffing Billy is a key tourism destination in Victoria, with around 260,000 visitors per year.

It was terrific to share the occasion with the many volunteers that help to keep the railway going.

Cr Samantha Dunn at Menzies Creek station
enjoying the day's festivities.

samantha in the press - roads

Long wait on road
Mail Newspapers
by Casey Neill
15 March 2011

let’s talk cockie

Last week I attended a meeting, urgently convened, to talk about the cockatoo problem in the Dandenong Ranges, specifically around the Kallista and Menzies Creek regions of the Dandenongs.

These cockatoos have been slowly chewing their way through the bollards at the Kallista Village Green. I was told today that they have chewed through to the metal railing. The bollards will soon be replaced with the ratepayers bearing the cost of their replacement.

The meeting was attended by myself, James Merlino (MP for Monbulk) and staff, representatives of Parks Victoria, the Department of Sustainability and Environment (DSE) and Tammy Lobato (MP for Gembrook).

There was no doubt that the problem of cockatoo damage was widely acknowledged as a significant issue by all in the room.

The DSE categorically stated that damage to buildings was caused due to the feeding of the birds. It was also said that the feeding would be in and around the vicinity of the damage in a radius of approximately 100 to 200 metres.

So if you are more than 200 metres from Grant’s Picnic Ground and experiencing cockatoo damage there is someone in your local area providing cockatoos with food. The DSE were clear-cut in this fact.

The meeting discussed the broader issue of wildlife feeding across the state, the legislative instruments available for the longer term and the need to have a major cultural shift so people understood why it was a bad idea to feed cockatoos.

This advertisement was published last year by the Shire in an effort to educate people about the consequences of feeding cockatoos. Given the cockatoo damage experienced this year, there is a lot more work to be done on education.

Education was seen as a vital step to effecting change. With the cooperation of DSE, Parks Victoria, James Merlino and myself it was agreed to develop succinct information for distribution to residents in the Dandenong Ranges to start a focused education process.

As a longer term outlook the DSE have committed to providing an assessment of the legislative process required.

It must be remembered that it is not the DSE that make the call on whether legislation is appropriate, it is our state parliamentarians and their will to see it happen.

puffing billy release draft environmental management plan

On Friday I went to the release of a Draft Environmental Management Plan for the Puffing Billy rail corridor. It is a timely release given the explosive stage weeds have reached along the Puffing Billy line.

Puffing Billy has always been one of the most spectacular train rides, not only for the nostalgic experience of steam travel, but because of the magnificent natural scenery along the rail corridor. Anyone who has travelled across the trestle bridge and experienced the view of the cool temperate forest of the southern Dandenongs will know how significant the natural environment is to the Puffing Billy experience.

As a dweller along the track I have noticed that the quality of natural vegetation along the corridor has been severely compromised by the invasion of weeds to the point that in some places there are only weeds.

This Draft Environmental Management Plan is a very positive step forward for Puffing Billy, everyone who lives along the rail corridor and the tracts of public land that abut the rail corridor. The plan looks to conserve and preserve the natural and cultural values within the corridor. It will also drive environmentally appropriate relationships between the railway and the community.

Council has been investigating a shared trail (walking and cycling) to connect Belgrave to Menzies Creek alongside the Puffing Billy track by undertaking a feasibility study. Whilst still in draft stage I am hopeful that we can move ahead with the concept of a shared trail beside the track and if I am re-elected to council in November this is a project I will be pursuing.

Wouldn't it be great to see a Belgrave to Menzies Creek trail too?

I am concerned to read in the Draft Environmental Management Plan actions around the public use of the corridor, namely to “survey access tracks to determine usage patterns and identify opportunities to close tracks where viable” (pg 34 - 4.1.4.5).

The community needs more walking tracks not less and I think that closing tracks currently in use would be a backwards move. If tracks exist alongside the rail corridor it means people are using them. Tracks that aren’t used grow over very quickly.

This is the start of the Emerald Cockatoo trail, some 7 kms long. It's a terrific example of what can be achieved.


Puffing Billy are inviting comments from the public on the plan by 30 November 2008. If you would like a copy of the plan contact the Emerald Tourist Railway Board on 9757 0700 or email Christine Dixon on info@pbr.org.au.