Students to Assist in Freshwater Creek Restoration At Freshwater/First Creek, Lake Macquarie City Council Sustainability Department have just completed major rehabilitation works that were needed to remove the Giant Reed and other weeds like Bitou and Lantana, and to stabilize the creek banks between Beach Road and the beach. Council Signage at Freshwater Creek Phragmites, a native reed is gradually establishing (see photo) and a maintenance program for the whole year will control weed infestations.

Restored Freshwater Creek looking south from Beach Road Over three thousand native plants will eventually be planted on the eastern bank of the creek and on 13 March 2013, 150 St Marys High School Year 10 students, will be there as part of a geography excursion to start the planting process under the guidance of Brian Hilton from Redhead Bluff Landcare. That should result in the planting of up to 800 plants provided by the Council. The students will also take part in beach and dune studies escorted by Graham Cook from Redhead CARE Landcare. It is a great opportunity for the students to appreciate our natural environment, participate in active citizenship and work with some local volunteers. Hopefully they will have a real sense of pride and ownership when they visit Redhead beach in the future and see the results of their work.

Community of Gardens News Over the past eight months the Redhead Community of Gardens group has been building the Redhead Community Garden, a joint venture with Redhead Public School’s P&C LearnScape Committee. The Community Garden is located in the school grounds on Beach Road. Gardening days Regular gardening days are held on the last Sunday of each month (mornings during summer, afternoons during winter) and all community members are welcome to visit, participate or just wander through the garden at any time. New members are ALWAYS welcome to join in discussions, planning and gardening.

Local children Mae Wilson and friend, Matilda in the now well established community garden Accessing the garden The garden is accessed via the school gate on Hutchinson Street during school hours and via the Community Garden gate on Beach Rd outside of school hours. Please email RedheadCommunityofGardens@gmail.com if you would like to access the garden outside of school hours or to be on our regular mailing list. Our plans for the coming months include: installing a 10,000L rainwater tank, expanding the orchard area, new paths throughout the garden, Autumn and Winter planting, educational signage, and regular produce stalls Coming Events: Sunday 24 March Gardening Day: Autumn plantings and creating crushed gravel paths. Sunday 28 April Gardening Day and Celebration: Join us with a picnic to celebrate a year of community gardening and discuss the year ahead.

REDHEAD V I L LAGE

NEWSLETTER MARCH 2013

Clean up Australia Day Sunday 3 March 2013 You can volunteer. Register from 8:30 am at Webb Park Bring gloves, hat and wear closed shoes.

Advice from Senior Constable Whitehead, Charlestown Police Crime Prevention Officer

Redhead experiences low level crime most of the time with seasonal increases due to its location and beach drawing visitors and local youth to the area. The crime report for the last three months shows that Redhead is not a crime hotspot within the Lake Macquarie Area, however over the three month period to 31 January 2013 there have been; six Break and Enters, five reported cases of malicious damage, five vehicles were stolen, and there were twenty reports of stealing from motor vehicles. “Stealing from motor vehicles is a challenge for police and I would encourage everyone to minimise the chance of becoming a victim of this offence by locking your vehicles and always ensuring there are no valuables inside. With theft from vehicles, we experience the same sought-after items stolen: cash, handbags, wallets, GPS units, mobile phones, laptop computers, tools, cameras and the like. Also the risk of leaving cards, licence etc in the car is the flow on of further fraud and identity theft related matters. I encourage the Redhead community to be aware of the ease of this crime and remember to always lock your vehicles and remove any valuables.” Senior Constable Whitehead said:

Third stage of Coastal Corridor project started Brian Hilton reports that the native shrubs that were planted at the back of the Redhead Beach car park on the slope up to Beach Road are growing well. (see photo)

Brian has also arranged for the final section of Coastal Corridor plantings on the southern side of the beach access road to be prepared and it is in the process of being planted.

First stage of Coastal Corridor plants are maturing

Testing Freshwater Creek The Redhead Sustainable Neighbourhood (RSN) Group has started a Waterwatch testing program for the Redhead area. They are initially testing the water quality of Freshwater Creek/First Creek as this creek flows directly onto the beach and many young children play in it, particularly in summer. They have started testing the creek every fortnight and measure temperature, pH levels, electrical conductivity (salt), turbidity, phosphate and oxygen levels in the water.

The initial water quality testing results show that the water quality in Freshwater Creek is fair. Low Dissolved Oxygen levels however show that water creatures would have trouble surviving. The results do not yet include bacterial contamination levels to check whether the creek is suitable for swimming. For these tests extra sampling equipment is needed and it has been requested.

Results so far are detailed below and also will soon be on the NSW government Waterwatch web site (http://www.environment.nsw.gov.au/waterwatch). Currently there are four active local volunteers: Neil Forrester, André Joanisse, Andreas Schwander and Natalie Black who share the testing for Freshwater Creek plus others who are interested in monitoring Second Creek. “We are keen to include more testing sites or even just to have more testers to share the workload around.” Neil Forrester said. “Another training session is planned in March and if you are interested in becoming involved in this local testing program, please contact me at neilforrester@tpg.com.au or telephone 4944 9835”. Thanks to Lake Macquarie City Council for their assistance with equipment and support.

Andreas Schwander and Neil Forrester test the water at First Creek near Redhead Beach. Picture: Lee Tobin

Water quality testing on Freshwater Creek, Redhead - 2013 Testing results

Parameter Jan 10

Jan 24

Feb 7

Feb 21 Comments

Temp °C (taken 9-10

am) 21.0 21.5 20.0 21.0

pH 7.0 6.5 6.5 7.0 Good

Salinity (µS/cm) 300 280 230 280 Good

Turbidity (NTU) 15 15 15 7 Fair

phosphate (mg/l) 0.02 0.08 0.03 0.02 Fair to Good

Dissolved oxygen (% saturation)

60.0 52.0 64.0 49.0 Poor

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New Playground Equipment in Webb Park Lake Macquarie City Council has provided ten new picnic tables and is in the process of installing new playground equipment in Webb Park as part of the Webb Park Master Plan developed in consultation with the “Adopt Webb Park” project group, led by Phil Rankin and Kathryn Patchett. “The current work is very much appreciated and we look forward to continuing a productive relationship with Lake Macquarie Council in improving Webb Park. The park is a place that is enjoyed by people who visit from all around the Lake Macquarie area as well as people from Redhead.” Phil Rankin said Webb Park and its facilities are a community asset and it is disappointing that it has recently attracted graffiti artists and cars either carving out donuts in the grass or doing wheelies and burn-outs in the beach car park. To help keep our park as a pleasant place to visit and enjoy, such activities need to be discouraged by reporting details to local police.

Redhead Beach Doggie Doo One of the attractions of Redhead Beach is that south of Second Creek dogs can be exercised while not on a leash. It’s one of only two regional beaches where this is possible. On any sunny afternoon, the beach is like dog heaven with both dogs and their owners enjoying the sun, sand and surf.

The beach is also popular for walkers, fishermen, surfers and people just wanting to enjoy the ambience. But doggie doo can be a bit of a problem. You may have encountered a surprise deposit on the beach or wondered about the little plastic bags left along the access tracks. There are already signs encouraging owners to pick up after their dogs and Council bins have been installed where the access tracks meet Cain Street and the carpark. As the beach is there for all of us to enjoy what can we do about doggie doo? More signs? More

bins along the beach? (Who will empty them?) Any suggestions? Email us at sustainableredhead@gmail.com.au

Synergy: Men’s Shed and Lambton Colliery Project The” Redhead Men's Shed” and the “Friends of Lambton Colliery” projects which have been two key projects in the Redhead Sustainable Neighbourhood Action Plan (SNAP) are ready to yield many benefits for our Redhead community. The Redhead Men's Shed now has an established membership and is an independent incorporated group that has been actively involving members in fund raising and other activities, but they needed a building to operate from. The "Friends of Lambton Colliery" project has worked to bring about the restoration and reuse of the heritage buildings of Lambton Colliery, including the Winder House, the Upcast Shaft and the Engine House. Currently the Winder House restoration is basically complete and restoration works are continuing on the Upcast Shaft and the Fan Engine House.

Recent photo of restored Winder house Council decided in December to lease the restored heritage Lambton Colliery buildings to the Redhead Men's Shed and they now have a venue for their activities to support their members and the community. Their members have since been involved in setting up the Winder House to suit their needs and will submit a development application for any changes. The Men’s Shed will look after non-structural maintenance while the Council will be responsible for structural maintenance, so the beneficial reuse of the buildings is now assured. If you would like to become involved with the Mens Shed contact Dave Perkins President on 0418 657 958.

Redhead Sustainable Neighbourhood The newsletter is distributed to everybody’s letterbox in Redhead and to 200 houses by email. To be more sustainable we would like to send more by email and reduce the number of paper copies we put in letterboxes. If you would like to receive your newsletter by email and in colour, let us know by sending us an email and include your home address. Our email address is sustainableredhead@gmail.com or call the Secretary on 4944 8110

Thanks to our newsletter sponsors for this edition; Truevision, Anipet, Redhead Self Storage, and Redhead Automotive Centre. If you would like to volunteer for any of our projects, join the Redhead SNG. Phone the Secretary on 49448110. This newsletter published by the Redhead Sustainable Neighbourhood.

Open Day at Redhead Community Library Saturday 16 March 2013 at 10:00 am Discover the latest books in all age groups. We have a large selection of quality books available for a small donation. Connect with local history Find out more about Reading Groups from 0 to adults Meet our friendly library volunteers and tutors of U3A Learn about Meditation classes Check out dates when you can meet our local JP. Our address is 10 Hutchinson Street Redhead