Damper Creek Reserve played a small part in the building of St Stephen's Anglican Church in High Street Road, Mt Waverley. The plans for the church were drawn up in 1864 and donations were requested to pay for the building. The congregation contacted a William Stevenson (Stephensons Road, a variation, was named after him), to bake the bricks and he obtained his clay from the crossfire of gullies around Damper Creek. The bricks were fired in a kiln built near the creek and the church members carried them up the hill.
Orchards, market gardens and farms soon surrounded the creek until after World War 2 when the city began to spread eastward.
Damper Creek and the surrounding bushland was saved from subdivision and road construction in 1969 by local residents who created the Damper Creek Conservation and Development Group and mounted a campaign against the linking of Sunhill and Swayfield Roads. The nucleus of the group consisted of members of the Sunhill Social Golf Club (which was formed in 1965 and still meets 2011). Ultimately the perserverance of the local conservation group was successful and the development proposals were abandoned and some sections of the original designated park area were "swapped" with the developer to create the area we now have. Without the efforts of this group the Damper Creek Reserve might not be the enchanted bushland retreat local residents now love.
Urban development surrounded the Damper Creek "drain" and the area was infested with blackberries, ivy and other noxious weeds. Willow trees elevated the creek bed and the banks were eroding with the increasing volume of stormwater. The area was used as a dump for local resident's garden refuse and rubbish.
In the early 1990's circuit fitness equipment was put into the reserve but the area was often too boggy and not an attractive or safe place to run.
Bushland Restoration Project
The Friends of Damper Creek Reserve was formed in April 1993. The Friends worked in conjunction with the then City of Waverley (now Monash Council) to begin a staged restoration of the creek.
The Council began the major engineering component to stabilise and reconstruct the creek bed and banks, while the Friends successfully applied to Melbourne Parks and Waterways (now Parks Victoria) for funding for plants. As well as planting and the general maintenance/weeding the Friends have constructed the middle bridge known as "Palma's Plummet" and the boardwalk over the Bengal Crescent Tributary, put in the two noticeboards, erosion control sleepers, bench seats, fencing and the aquatic ponds in the compound.
The creek bed and bank restoration work has been undertaken by "Wetland & Wildlife Creations" (otherwise known as the two Tonys) who were the successful tenderers for all stages except Stage 4 Wetlands.
Unfortunately, under the then new Compulsory Competitive Tendering (CCT) Process Monash Council was compelled to accept the lowest tender. This was a decision that was later regretted. The dam wall failed and after several attempts by the contractor to remedy the problem Council withheld final payment and the contractor walked away. At the beginning of 2000 Tony Brindley was employed to try and make the dam work. This has been a huge success though it would have been much easier and successful if quality workmanship was engaged in the beginning.
The basalt rockwork in Damper Creek is not indigenous to the area but was chosen to stabilise the creek and as an attractive landscaping feature. Claystone is the indigenous rock, hence the history of brick making in the area.
The restoration work has occurred from Stephensons Road to the junction with Damper Creek East near Alvie Hall. The project is now up to Stage 8 which terminates at the Riversdale Golf Course. In the future, restoration works may also occur along the remainder of Damper Creek East behind the Bowls Club and in Bellbird Corner (corner High Street Road and Stephensons Road, Mt Waverley).
Here below is a view of Stage 8 taken in Feb 2005.
