Frankston Nature Conservation Reserve

Please see attached pdf call for submissions to kayaking at Frankston Nature Conservation Reserve. "[...] I nor the friends received this directly. It was forwarded to me from the equally outraged Frankston Environmental Friends Network. The Regulations specific for the reserve which were put in place by the Minister for the Environment in 2015 were revoked on 1 February 2018, making the reserve a free-for-all. All of the protection work for the reserve, fought for many years has been ignored and overridden by the Andrews Labor Government. Accordingly, Paul Edbrooke will find his place last on my ballot paper," writes Frankston Councillor, Quinn McCormack.

Quinn McCormack writes: "Please put in a submission against this proposal. I suggest sending not only a submission to Parks Victoria but also to the Minster for the Environment, Shadow Minister for the Environment, and to the reserve email address so that it doesn't get lost in the Parks Victoria system. Due date is is December 1.

The claim is that the community was consulted in December 2017 - I was not consulted and I am not aware of a single member of the reserve friends group being consulted. There WAS NO COMMUNITY CONSULTATION. It seems that it was a selective survey of a handful of recreational interest groups and mates.

Relevant email addresses:

[email protected]
lily.d'[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]

In a nutshell, the proposal to introduce kayaking is inconsistent with the reserve status as a Nature Conservation Reserve, inconsistent with the full community consultation undertaken over more than 10 years, damaging to flora, damaging to fauna, damaging to water quality and downright dangerous.

- Frankston Nature Conservation Reserve specific Regulations, which were in place until 1 February 2018 expressly excluded activities such as kayaking and cycling. Why would any decent management authority create a management plan which is directly contradictory to enacted Regulations?

Toxic deepwater danger in old mine shaft 20m deep - No ranger present either

- There was no assessment as to the quality nor impact to the flora and fauna condition at the reserve before making changes to access arrangements and determining future appropriate activities.

- Kayaking will ultimately result in a rare high quality freshwater body (previously potable water) becoming contaminated, and eventually having toxic algal blooms as the water body is too deep to turn over.

- Public safety has not been assessed - no ranger is present and the water body is 20metres deep, having been constructed as a reservoir from an old mine site. A water body of this magnitude is rare in an urban setting and planning should consider it in this context.

Ecological impact

- Kayaking will have a detrimental impact to two endangered vegetation communities - Submerged Aquatic Herbland and Aquatic sedgeland, endangered and vulnerable in the Gippsland Plains Bioregion respectively.

- FFG Act listed species - Musk Duck, Blue-billed Duck, and Freckled Duck - use the water body.

- Additional species at risk locally such as the Snake-necked turtle and frog species which inhabit the reserve, such as the nationally threatened Growling Grass Frog.

- There was no consultation with key stakeholders (such as the Friends group for the reserve) nor with the broader community about potential future activities at the reserve."

[Candobetter.net Editor: The points put forward by Councillor Quinn were rearranged by the editor.]

A koala was photographed today (25 November 2017) in the Frankston Reserve, just as Parks Victoria are about to rip down the fences and open the gates for 24 hour recreational access. This park had been until recently a natural reserve for wildlife, established with great difficulty by local wildlife activists and scientists. Urgent action is required to stop Parks Victoria from giving the public 24hr access to Frankston Reserve. It was always a stupid and selfish decision to reverse the status of a natural reserve which had been acquired with such difficulty by people who actually cared about our wildlife. The presence of the koala emphasises the tragic folly of this decision. Please write to Frankston Council and these parliamentarians: lily.d'[email protected] (Yes, this is the e-mail address from her parliamentary web page - Ed); [email protected]; [email protected].

[Koala Photo credit to Sue Chan.]
Frankston and the Mornington Peninsula wildlife are under assault from human expansion under the Victorian Government program to grow our population whether we like it or not. The very least that could be done would be to try to have decent protective reserves for the animals that remain and which make this area so special.

Apparently, however, Parks Victoria - who have taken over the management of a reserve until recently designated for wildlife protection as Frankston Nature Conservation Reserve - are going to tear down the fences and allow 24hr access to this park. Parks Victoria are known for their very inadequate attitude towards native animals. See: /taxonomy/term/1112.

We already have a terrible problem with mountain bikes vandalising many areas of natural vegetation that are open to the public. Australia is also prey to many acts of cruelty towards our native wildlife. Opening the park to public recreational activities will drive all wildlife out of it and endanger any that attempt to take refuge there.

Koalas are terribly rare in Frankston and on the whole Mornington Peninsula.

The decision to make the park available to the public for recreational activities is so, so ignorant and short-sighted.

Furthermore, the safety and security of the houses near this reserve, which is in a developed area, will also be in danger endangered by 24 hour public access to such an unfenced ungated area.

Please try to get this decision reversed. It is impossible to engineer our population density and numbers upwards and protect native animals if they are in open reserves.

After years of residents battling to preserve Frankston Reservoir as a safe habitat for indigenous flora and fauna by preventing it being used for boating, biking etc, instead keeping it for passive enjoyment of nature, the latest Frankston ALP member has clawed it back under the management of the discredited Parks Victoria.

The Andrews Labor Government recently decided to not renew a community Committee of Management as managers of the Frankston Nature Conservation Reserve for a further
period at the expiration of its term last March. Wildlife experts, hydrologists, conservation management specialists, friends’ groups and community members are shocked and outraged by this decision.

The volunteer community Committee of Management are all local residents of Frankston who are highly qualified with expertise in diverse professional fields. They have given endless hours of their time, at no cost to ratepayers and, with the support of local community groups and organisations, have been highly successful and prudent in managing all operations.

Detailed and approved management plans, policies and programs for the wellbeing of the Reserve for generations to come have been put in place.

Thanks to the voluntary efforts of the Committee and over 300 Friends, the Reserve has been opened to the public for the first time in 100 years for recreational enjoyment and activities that complement the serious conservation work of safeguarding and enhancing Frankston’s extremely depleted native fauna and flora.

More than 7000 enthusiastic visitors to the Reserve in the past four years can testify to the highly successful management practices and outcomes.

Local jobs are lost.

Local investment is lost.

Our community loses.

Our Member of Parliament, Paul Edbrooke, has turned his back on the Frankston community. The Reserve is now set to cost the taxpayer many millions of dollars in operational costs under management by a government body. A great outcome?

Source: Press Release sent on May 5, 2017 from Frankston Nature Conservation Reserve Committee of Management Inc.