georgia - our youngest young environmental achiever

I was delighted to be able to present the Ken McIntosh Young Environmental Achiever of the Year award to Dandenong Ranges local, Georgia Grimmer, as part of the Australia Day Awards.


Georgia’s passion for the environment at such a
young age is inspiring, our future’s looking bright
 with future leaders like Georgia.
Congratulations Georgia!

Georgia, our youngest ever recipient at 10 years old, is a student at The Patch Primary and for the past five years has been committed to improving the school’s wildlife habitat. Georgia led a team of Year 4 students in restoring a very neglected fern gully on the school’s boundary.

She’s taken the lead in weed removal and control, indigenous plantings and rebuilding wildlife habitat.

It has not been an individual effort, Georgia has brought many other students on the journey to improve the local environment and mobilised them with her knowledge, enthusiasm, pride and energy.

What strikes me about Georgia is her ability to inspire and involve people of all ages and backgrounds and already she demonstrates leadership skills, an inclusive approach and a desire to make a difference. 

Georgia’s passion for the environment at such a young age is inspiring, our future’s looking bright with future leaders like Georgia. Congratulations Georgia!

Congratulations to all our Australia Day award recipients:

Citizen of the Year – Tanya de Visser
Young Citizen of the Year – Lily Belle Hellicar
Community Group of the Year – Healesville Interchurch Community Care
Environmental Achiever of the Year – David and Jean Edwards
Ken McIntosh Young Environmental Achiever of the Year – Georgia Grimmer
Mayor’s Lifetime Achievement – Phyllis Dixon
Ian de la Rue Award for Community Leadership – Norman Orr
Certificates of Recognition – Judy Thornburn and Michael Halligan

The Ken McIntosh Young Environmental Achiever of the Year award honours the contribution of Ken McIntosh, who was a driving force in environmental and conservation issues in the Yarra Ranges.

patch has a plan

I was delighted to attend the assembly of The Patch Primary School last week to present them with the Shire of Yarra Ranges HabitAT award for 2013. 


From left to right: Brayden, Michelle - Teacher, James,
Cr Samantha Dunn, Anthony - Yarra Ranges, Georgia,
Debra - Principal and Caellan. The students at The Patch
are very proud of their achievements and they should be.
The works and planning for future works is impressive
and our future's looking bright with these young leaders.

The Patch took out the category for best HabitAT Plan in the Shire, for the work done completed by students planning short and long term actions to ensure the future protection and enhancement of the natural environment in their school grounds.

It's been a whole of school effort with every grade participating in some way, but the Grade 3 and 4's undertook the detailed work of developing the plan. The plan includes the development of wildlife corridors in the school grounds and the enhancement and expansion of a variety of ecologically diverse zones, including a fern gully, wetlands, open indigenous plantings, mountain ash gully, bird & butterfly attracting zones and additional productive gardens.

It's an impressive effort from the whole school community, and teacher Michelle Rayner has been a driving force behind the Learning for Sustainability program at The Patch.

The Shire awards 3 schools a year for either a HabitAT Census, Plan and Action award. The Patch Primary took out the HabitAT Census Award in 2012. The awards are part of the Shire's Learning for Sustainability program which aims to help schools gain a stronger understanding of their ecological footprint , how they use resources, but most of all how students, staff and members of the broader school community can make a difference working towards a more sustainable future. 

Congratulations to all at The Patch Primary, you really are an exemplary model of sustainability and rightly proud of your achievements.

samantha in the press

Driven Away

Mail Newspapers
by Jesse Graham
29 Oct 2013

Seeds plant habitat awareness
Mail Newspapers
by Rebecca Bills
29 Oct 2013

State kicks in $650,000 for soccer hub
Mail Newspapers
by Rebecca Bills
29 Oct 2013

not the archies, local lad takes highly commended

Not the Archies is a great community initiative in the Yarra Valley supported by the Shire of Yarra Ranges. It provides an opportunity for local artists, young and old to submit portraits in the spirit of The Archibalds now on show at the Tarrawarra Museum of Art.



Cr Samantha Dunn with the Radley family from
The Patch. Proud Mum, Angie and Dad, Stuart
congratulate their ten year old son Archer who
took out a Highly Commended award.

The recent awards were a great occasion and it was terrific to see some Dandenong Ranges locals in the crowd.

I was delighted to see ten year old Patch Primary School Student Archer Radley take out a Highly Commended Award for a portrait of his one year old sister. Archer's parents were proud as punch of his achievement.



Cr Samantha Dunn with Dandenong Ranges locals,
Noah Symons - local artist and musician behind
Great Earthquake, portrait sitter, Kallista Primary School
Principal, Barbara Rose and local artist who painted
Barbara, Pauline Molenaar.

It was great to see local artist Noah Symons submit a portrait of David Eames (as well as be the subject matter of a portrait by Gabrielle Symons) and Kallista Primary School principal, Barbara Rose, subject matter of a portrait by another local artist, Pauline Molenaar.  

It's a wonderful community event, if you'd like to see all the portraits online, click here.

Violet Radley 1 year old, portrait by
her brother Archer, who's 10.

samantha in the press - planning

Mobile tower gets the nod in Monbulk
Yarra Ranges Weekly
by Melissa Cunningham
8 May 2012

samantha in the press - planning

Tower ticks all boxes
Mail Newspapers
by Mara Pattison Sowden
2 May 2012

replacement phone tower for the patch/monbulk

report from the roundtable - 24 apr

At this week's meeting I moved a motion to support the replacement of a telecommunications tower currently on site at Garden City Plastics in Monbulk.

It is rare that Yarra Ranges council gives approval for telecommunications towers due to the lack of consideration of siting and significant landscape issues. This was not one of this occasions.

In speaking in support of the application I talked about the fact that the site was zoned Industrial 3 and as such was an appropriate location for such a facility.

The pole was not situated on a ridgeline and minimal earthworks would be required. As there is existing power on the site no additional disturbance is required to complete the installation.

The pole would not impact on the heritage overlay on the site which protects the significant elements of the old Monbulk Jam Factory.

The site itself is screened by vegetation and the landscape contains many tall trees which provide a backdrop to the area which mitigates visual intrusion. In fact in some places it's difficult to see across the hills due to the extent and height of the vegetation.

There will be enormous community benefit with the installation of the pole which will replace a 30mt pole with a 35mt pole.

The replacement pole will enable council to upgrade analogue television services to digital and see improved television reception, it will see the co-location of Optus, Vodaphone and Telstra, something council is very keen to encourage rather than see the proliferation of telecommunications towers.

I also think the improved mobile coverage of Optus and Vodaphone will open up a far more competitive market in the hills, something lacking at the moment as Telstra has the lion's share of coverage in the region.

I'm pleased to report that councillors supported the motion unanimously (note: Cr Cox was excluded from the vote due to declaring a conflict of interest).

the patch primary has the winning formula

Congratulations to Patch Primary School teacher, Michelle Rayner. Michelle has been awarded a Victorian Science and Mathematics Education Excellence Award 2011 by the Department of Education and Early Childhood Development.

The award recognises and celebrates outstanding partnerships that support Science and Maths education in government schools. The award is an acknowledge of the effort Michelle goes to engage with community groups, the University of Melbourne's School of Land and Environment and the Shire of Yarra Ranges.

Michelle's energy, passion and vision has guided the school and it's students in the development of their eco-garden, environmental education centre and school wetlands.

The partnerships Michelle has fostered reveal to the students the many and varied applications for Science and Maths well beyond the classroom. Her work also supports greater engagement and achievement of the students in Science and Maths.

Well done Michelle and the students of The Patch Primary School.

samantha in the press - planning

Towers' bad reception Mail Newspapers 29 March 2011........... Fallout patched up Mail Newspapers by Russell Bennett 29 March 2011

latest update - party in the patch

I've had confirmation from Party in the Patch organisers that they will be donating $200 to the Kallista/The Patch CFA from their past fundraising events.

As mentioned in a prior blog post as a show of goodwill I am willing to match the PITP contribution with monies from my community ward fund.

Myself and Party in the Patch organisers will be presenting our respective donation cheques to the Brigade some time next week.

No doubt the Kallista/The Patch CFA will be very pleased to receive the funding and it's a great recognition of the work they do so selflessly for our community.

My advice to anyone organising an event is that it's important to determine whether you're having a private party or a public event as it has a great bearing on your responsibilities and your duty of care.