The Friends of Lower Kororoit Creek

Friends of Lower Kororoit Creek (FOLKC) was incorporated in April 2001 and held its first planting on 3rd June 2001. At this planting FOLKC had 201 volunteers attend, including twenty children and two dogs. The strength of FOLKC is that its membership involves all ages.

Over the past four years, some 800 volunteers from many diverse cultural and industrial organisations have joined with FOLKC in planting in excess of 20,000 trees, shrubs and under-story plants along the creek between the Westgate Freeway and McArthurs Road. This area has been transformed from an unkempt and hazardous drainage reserve to a remarkable walking track. A walk along this corridor of green is recommended.

Many other organisations are involved in the improvement plans and plantings that have been undertaken along this section of the creek including Parks Victoria, Melbourne Water and the City of Hobsons Bay.

Through FOLKC initiatives since 2001, plans are now being put in place that will see the Kororoit Creek develop as one of the major waterways in the west of Melbourne. Some of these plans include:

• The Draft Strategy for the Kororoit Creek Department of Sustainability - soon to released:

• Landscape Master Plan for the Kororoit Creek within Hobsons Bay, developed in partnership with the Friends of Lower Kororoit Creek and Hobsons Bay City Council - to be completed by the end of this financial year; and

• The shared trail along the Kororoit Creek corridor has been incorporated within the recently opened $4.5M Barnes Road Bridge in Altona North - this trail, when complete, will link the Bay Trail in Hobsons Bay to the Federation Trail to Werribee and to other parts of Melbourne through the Metropolitan Trail Network.

FOLKC believes that in twenty to thirty years the Kororoit Creek health, environment and tourism values will have changed dramatically for the better and that the creek will then be part of a biodiversity corridor that allows flora and fauna migration along its length.

Join Us!

FOLKC also extends an invitation to interested people to join the group and participate in the many facets of running the organisation. Whether as an interested community member receiving our newsletter, as an active participant in planting indigenous species along the Kororoit Creek or as a fully fledged member participating in the planning decisions being made by FOLKC, your contribution would be very much appreciated.

The larger our membership base, the more successful we are in procuring and retaining support from outside organisations. For a membership application contact our Secretary (see the Contacts section, below) or email us at info@folkc.com.au. Our joining fees are only $5.00 per single member or $10.00 per family, and our annual fees are $1 per person and $2 per family.

Contacts

For further information on the Friends of Lower Kororoit Creek please contact the following people: