Working Bees

Have you seen piles of weeds in the park awaiting collection and wondered how they got there ?

bunyip

Although Whitehorse Council undertakes routine professional park maintenance, council staff and contractor resources are limited.  Much weeding and replanting is undertaken by volunteers like yourself – about once a month on Sunday mornings in season and on most Thursday mornings.

Volunteers at both types of working bees generally do much the same work although there is more emphasis on weeding in the Thursday group given it’s a year-round activity.  Volunteer Supervisor(s) manage the events and liaise with Council for approval of the work sites, record any incidents and register attendance from our volunteers.

Risk Management

Under Council’s rules, which essentially reflect insurance risks or conditions, volunteers do not spray herbicide and are not permitted to use power tools such as chainsaws.

Appropriate care obviously still needs to be taken when using hand-tools.  Other risks include trip and fall hazards, bitey creatures, passers-by, other volunteers, unstable tree limbs and dead trees etc.  For a list with risk mitigations, please click here for a handy guide.

Site Supervisors perform site safety inspections when selecting sites for working bees and immediately prior to work commencing at the event.  Our procedure is based on a Council-provided process extended with local adaptations.  Please click here to review our checklist.

Insurances

Council provides Voluntary Workers Personal Accident Insurance to volunteers who specifically register with Council (ie not the attendance register).  These volunteers must undertake compulsory training in matters like anti-bullying and, optionally, first-aid training.  These include all our Committee members and regular volunteers who so choose.

However, they exclude casual participants who “walk up” to working bees.  These volunteers are covered by Council’s public liability insurance that covers any park user and another specific personal accident policy – we don’t have details as yet.

Sunday Morning Community Working Bees

  • Friends of the Creeklands and the broader community are invited to participate in occasional  Sunday morning Working Bees.  These are usually held monthly from May to October (interrupted by Covid over the past couple of years).  We usually do weeding and/or planting work with occasional mulching and rubbish removal.
  • We work 09:00-12:00 with morning tea provided at about 10:30.  Everyone is welcome to work with us all or part of the morning – or simply join us for morning tea!  Committee volunteers serve morning tea to volunteers gratis.
  • Our “Community Working Bees” are family-friendly and children are most welcome – provided they are supervised by a parent or guardian at all times.
  • Our community working bees run in the planting season (usually May-September).   This years dates are:
Event Date Comments
Community working bee #1 1 June Below Waratah Cres
Community working bee #2 29 June North of Blacks Walk bridge
Community working bee #3 27th July (National Tree Day) School gate area reveg
Community working bee #4 31st August School gate area reveg
  • Alternatively, you might like to work with the Thursday Team (please refer below).

Thursday Team

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  • For an in-depth weeding experience, you might like to participate in the Thursday morning team.  Our picture (taken by Friend Jan) shows Graeme in waders removing a Honeysuckle infestation coming down from the top of the creek bank in Furness Park – while also collecting rubbish.
  • The Maintenance Team usually consists of 6-14 folks who would welcome new blood!  Please contact us via blackburncreeklands@gmail.com to let us know you are interested in coming – or simply have a chat to us in the park
  • Though we usually work between 08:30 and 11:30 on Thursday mornings year-around, shorter commitments are most welcome of course.  We usually have a BYO morning tea at about 10:00.
  • The work site for the day is usually e-mailed to the group on the prior Wednesday evening after the latest weather update from the BoM.  Plans are also present on this web-site under the Park News column on our home page.
  • We don’t work during electrical storms, during high winds or in dangerous weather conditions.  Click here to for the details.   A little rain won’t bother us!

Tools/clothing and other needs

Tools

  • Tools are provided but you are welcome to bring your own to make ours go further or to suit your working preferences.
  • Useful tools are weeding hoes, weed pullers, weed bins/buckets and garden gloves.  Wheelbarrows are handy when we are mulching.

Recommended Clothing

  • We recommend sensible clothes – long sleeved shirts, long trousers, gloves, hats and work boots (closed toe shoes at minimum).
  • You might also like to consider kneelers or knee pads.
  • Use sunscreen and insect repellent if required.

Water

  • You should bring your own drinking water (the creek water is not potable!).