Bird Hide Opening Speech at Bushy Park Wetlands

Speech by Trevor Hudson, Chairman - Friends of Bushy Park Wetlands, at the official opening of the Bird Hide at 2pm on Saturday the 20th of April 2002.

Distinguished guests, Parks Victoria staff, Friends and Neighbours. Thanks for coming along to the opening of the bird hide today. Before we get to the good bits like the cutting of the ribbon and afternoon tea, I would like to fill you in on the history of our Friends group, and how the Bird Hide came to be.

The Friends of Bushy Park Wetlands sub-group was formed in March 1993 by the Friends of Dandenong Valley Park - from Jells Park, and interested neighbours from around here, to assist Parks Victoria in the passive development of this Wetland Park for the benefit of local wildlife, and for the enjoyment of visitors to the area.

Over the years, with assistance from Schools, Scouts, and members of the community, we have been active in many projects in this 30 hectare Park. Our first Working Bee in May 1993 was to plant trees behind the houses in Knights Drive. Since then with your help, we have planted thousands of trees in the Park.

From 1995 the Friends started applying for grants from Parks Victoria for infrastructure projects.
- The first grant we received was for an Information Shelter which was erected in January 1996.
- Next we built and erected 12 Bird Nesting Boxes in September 1996.
- In June the following year we finalised the printing of Park Notes for Bushy Park Wetlands.
- In April 1998 we installed Trail Side Seating and Bicycle Stands along the Dandenong Creek Trail.
- In June 1998 we established the Indigenous Garden at the eastern end of Highbury Road.
- In early 2000 we engaged Veronica Langberg a Monash University student to do a History
of Bushy Park Wetlands, which she has now completed. We are currently seeking another Uni
student to do the history of Bushy Park, on the east side of Dandenong Creek.

We have also been busy with Weeding, Propagating & Planting, Frog Watches, Bat Trapping, Possum Prowls and other activities, that the public are invited to attend.

The Friends have been meeting regularly to discuss various options for the Wetland. As early as 1994 a Bird Hide was mentioned in the minutes of our meetings. In 1998 we started discussions with the neighbours as to a suitable location for a bird hide. In July 2000 we letter dropped a proposal to the neighbours and invited them to a meeting on-site. At the August site meeting, the Friends and Neighbours agreed upon a location behind the trees and in September we applied for a grant to construct a Bird Hide, with approval given in November 2000.

The Friends, Parks Victoria Staff, Green Corps members, Contractors, Students, Scouts and others have been busy these last 18 months. Soil tests were carried out prior to the erection in March 2001 of the screw piles for the foundations. From our sketches, working drawing were produced by Charles J Watt, and Holmesglen TAFE started with construction of the Bird Hide.

Meanwhile the garden site was slashed, then regularly mowed and sprayed to reduce weeds.
In May last year we received a grant for the Bird Poster, and we cut the access path to the bird hide.
The following month the Friends helped spread course and fine gravel to form the access track.
Holmesglen TAFE carpentry students erected the Bird Hide in August 2001 and in the following month, Peter Campbell and I, painted it with a wood preserving oil.

During October 2001, the Roof was erected by Holmesglen plumbing students, Mulch was spread by Green Corps members lead by Darren Bird and 4000 Grasses were planted by Green Corps members & Camelot Rise Primary School students.

In November the Friends planted 200 native Wildflowers, unfortunately most died over summer.
In February this year, 2 Display Panels were installed by Andrew Baker, one to hold visitor information, and the other for the huge new Bird Poster produced by Scimitar which will be unveiled today.

Many people have helped to bring this huge project to fruition. In particular I would like to thank Lindsay Bergin and his team of Rangers, especially Carol and Jaci for their guidance. Also students from Camelot Rise Primary School for the propagation and planting, Kim Cunningham and the other Friends for their work on the bird poster, and everyone who has assisted us with this project and our working bees.

If you are interested in the work the Friends do, please come and see one of the people wearing a badge like mine, and we will give you information about our group and our home page. I hope to see some of you at our next working bee on Saturday 11th May, at our Native Garden at the end of Highbury Road.

Lindsay then invited the City of Monash Mayor, Cnr Geoff Lake, to cut the ribbon to officially open the bird hide and let everyone through to see the bird hide, the huge new bird poster and many birds swimming on the lake. Afternoon tea was then served by Leesa and Jodie.

Monash Mayor - Geoff Lake cuts ribbon