Understandably, we haven’t heard back from Karen from Council re the next stages of work at KP-24 – so we’re safe to keep going for one more visit there. Council would be very busy on cleaning up the storm damage in all the parks and surrounds. We’ll continue hand weeding – which should enable us to finish looking after the young plants and germinants.
There should be plenty of parking available in the carpark adjacent the Bowls Club (and adjacent the work site) – avoiding the mad school rush at 09:00 +/- 10 minutes.
Last Working Bee
On last Thursday (29/8), we weeded out the central section of KP-24 (east) under very pleasant conditions and found quite a lot of natural regeneration happening there – which would make spraying etc very difficult for Council.
It’s therefore best we continue hand-weeding in that sensitive area.
Conditions
(last updated 07:30 5/9/2024)
Rain: There’s a 50% chance of rain when we start on Thursday morning rising to 60% later in our session. Better bring a raincoat!
Storms/Weather warnings: There is a Severe Weather Warning for DAMAGING WINDS active for parts of the Central district near us. We’ll watch this carefully – we will not work if the area changes to include us.
Thunderstorms are in play too. We do not work during electrical storms – they are meant to be “sporadic” – need to monitor. The storm at about 07:00 seems to have passed over. We will need to be prepared to take shelter if another storm develops. We can evacuate to the Pavilion.
Temperature: It should be a mild 16-19 degrees while we work though the “feels like” will be 5 or 6 degrees lower due to the wind.
Wind: there will be medium strength northerly winds are expected (we’ll be somewhat sheltered from them though).
UV: the cloud cover should make us immune unless sun gets thru (in that case, 4)!
EPA Air Quality: FAIR. Fair to poor air quality is expected due to smoke from bushfires and planned burns moving from the northern to the southern part of Australia.
Latest reading remains GOOD.
Risks to highlight
- Air quality is expected to be FAIR only. Those with breathing conditions should make their own decision based on their particular situation.
- We bail out if thunderstorms persist.
- Please bring water to maintain your hydration.
- Wear appropriate clothes for the conditions – a hat, long sleeves and closed-toe shoes.
- Hi-vis clothes/vests are recommended – especially as we’ll be working off the main track which carries a lot of cyclists.
- There are a few stumps, branches etc that may present trip and/or eye hazards. We have some safety glasses in the PPE bag if you feel you need them.
- Take care when carrying full weed buckets – that can be heavy work!
- COVID, flu and RSV are still around again in a fairly big way it seems. Please don’t come if you have any symptoms or are potentially contagious.
- Bull-ant bites have not been recorded there – please be vigilant in any case.
Blackburn Creeklands 