We’ll be working on the eastern end of the Billabong precinct in Kalang Park. Depending on numbers, the aim will be to weed out most of the pond areas.

Conditions (last updated 6:30AM 7/9/2023)

The weather this morning (Thursday) is not looking OK – the rain is predicted to be this afternoon/evening and the warnings still do not apply to Blackburn.

• Rain: There’s a 5% chance of rain early increasing to 10% by 10 o’clock (and 60% later in the evening) – so fingers-crossed there should be no rain until the afternoon/evening.
• Storms: Electrical storms are possible this evening.
• Wind: There will be medium+ strength NNE winds.
• Temperature: It should be mild in the morning – ranging from 15-19 degrees while we are working though it will feel like 9-14 degrees due to the winds. However, we should be reasonably well sheltered at that site – so probably won’t be that big an impact.
• UV: The sky should be overcast – so the UV ranging up to a possible 2.5 should not bother us.
• Air Quality: good.
• Warnings: There is a Severe Weather Warning for damaging winds in mainly elevated parts of Victoria during Thursday including in the Central region. We will continue to watch this warning carefully – we don’t work if such a warning applies to our work area.

Risks to highlight

• Bring water to maintain your hydration.
• Wear appropriate clothes for the conditions – including a hat, long sleeves, closed-toe shoes – and a raincoat !
• Hi-vis clothes/vests are recommended especially near the track. The main east-west track is used by many cyclists – some of whom ride too fast. Take care to look both ways before crossing the path eg to dump weeds.
• There are stumps, branches etc that may present trip hazards.
• COVID, flu and RSV are still up there. Please don’t come if you have any symptoms.
• No bull-ant incidents there so far – but please be vigilant!

Work Times

We work from 08:30-11:30 but shorter contributions are most welcome. We usually break for morning tea at about 10:00. Note that morning tea is self-catered, ie BYO. However, some team members might contribute home-cooked delicacies from time to time…

Parking

There should be parking nearby in the car park adjacent the Bowls Club (beware of the school rush 08:50-09:10) or towards the end of Malcolm Street.

Notification

Please let us know if you are planning to come. This helps us organise our supplies and ensures you will be notified of cancellation or other changes eg due to an extreme weather event.

Apologies

Megan, Nic, Graeme, Julie and Ruth are unavailable this week.