Did you know that, over 51 years ago, at a time when the political slogan “It’s Time” was popular with some (back in 1972), our city celebrated with a unique carnival in the creeklands? (For those who don’t remember this slogan, you can read about it here).

Our association continues to be hopeful of making more progress towards our aim:
“To assist in the careful planning, design and development of beautiful, healthy and safe public spaces featuring wetlands, lagoons and billabongs, connected by flowing water along the Armidale Creeklands”.

The stories in this edition of the Armidale Express from 1972 inspire us to keep going!

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“Creeklands really captured the imagination of our citizens.
I have never been associated with such an exciting project ”

— the Mayor said

“Who among us would not want a more beautiful Armidale, with the long-term benefits of more parkland and recreation areas”

— Editorial - Armidale Express

“You have started something that deserves the highest commendation”

— Minister for Lands (Mr. Tom Lewis)

You can read the articles on this front page and those on subsequent pages by scrolling down to find those which interest you (all of the text has been extracted into readable text boxes).

If looking at the water in the picture makes you wonder about some water sports in the creeklands, check out the winning rowing teams in the Creeklands Carnival Results (see below)!

Front Page of Armidale Express - May 1, 1972

The caption for the photo of the creeklands above reads: A wide expanse of water, many hundreds of people along the tree-lined banks and a boat race in progress - this new angle on Dumaresq Creek was graphically captured by an Express photographer on Saturday. The boating events, called bathtub races, were among the most popular at the creeklands carnival.

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EDITORIAL Monday, May 1, 1972

“What a day!

ARMIDALE'S recent history would record no more successful community effort than that on Saturday.

This was possible, first of all, because the cause was popular. Who among us would not want a more beautiful Armidale, with the long-term benefits of more parkland and recreation areas, and all the money spent at the carnival was towards this end.

In the carnival site could be seen something of how the creeklands can be developed and the creek itself, with its brimming waters a far cry from the smelly scum we have endured for so long, showed how even it could be transformed.

Another ingredient for success was that the program provided opportunity for citizens of all ages to take part. In the walkathon were people from two years to 73, and the carnival events, too, provided outlets for the energy and enthusiasm of the young and not so young.

Such carnivals, no matter how well planned, depend very largely on crowd participation, and it was good to see so much of this on Saturday.

Some of the events, such as the dryland boat races, were new to Armidale but the impressive thing about them was the enthusiasm of the necessarily untrained crews.

The vintage cars, the sailing boats, the art display, the archery demonstration and the Argentine-style barbecue all helped to add that extra interest that made the program something more than just fun and fundraising.

Behind the day, of course, were weeks of voluntary work and much first-class organising ability. But the people giving so generously of their time and skills in this way had their reward in the total community response and cooperation. Not their least achievement was the selection of such good weather, but they deserved this assistance, too”.

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MAYOR THANKS MINISTER, DEPARTMENT OF LANDS FOR INTEREST IN CREEKLANDS

The creeklands scheme reached finality with the success of Saturday's carnival, the Mayor (Ald. J. W. Failes) said.

"It gives me a great thrill to officially announce this," he told hundreds of carnival patrons at Harris Park.

"Creeklands really captured the imagination of our citizens.

"I have never been associated with such an exciting project," he said.

Ald. Failes said thanks should be given to many people - "the beautification committee, the public meeting which started it, you many generous donors over the three years.

“And special commendation to the drive, enthusiasm and work of Ald. Paul Johnstone”.

Greatest supporter

He said the greatest supporter of the scheme had been the Department of Lands.

“It's a great thrill to have Mr. Lewis (Minister for Lands) here to open the carnival and I would like to pay tribute to his support.

“It's unique that the department should give such support”, he said.

Welcome to Ministers

Ald. Failes welcomed Mr. Lewis, and the Minister for Public Works and Member for Armidale Mr. Davis Hughes.

He said Mr. Hughes had opened the appeal “on a cool afternoon, three years ago and it's a great pleasure to have him here to see this come to fruition”.

Mr. Hughes said, “it's great to see so many people here.

“It shows that Armidale has really supported the appeal tremendously”.

He said Mr. Lewis had taken a very close personal interest in the scheme from its inception.

“It is very appropriate that he is here as our honoured guest. Thank you for your contribution”.

The two MPs arrived at the carnival in vintage cars and met Walkathon participants, including the mayor, before the opening ceremony.

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CREEKLANDS WALKATHON, WITH 341 ENTRANTS, RAISES $6400

In all 341 took part in Saturday's walkathon and they were sponsored for amounts totalling more than $3,200.

This means that, with Government subsidy, the event will bring in more than $6,400 for creekland funds.

The oldest walker to finish was Mrs. Peters, 73. The youngest was Stephen Robinson, 5.

The adult walker to raise the most was Mr. Rologas, with $260.70.

The schoolgirl to raise the most was Cathy Mann with $70, and the schoolboy to raise the most was David Farrell with $27.

The team that raised the most money was the Third Armidale Cub Pack with more than $100.

Times

First to finish was Bill Johnstone, an Armidale High School teacher. He left at 8 am and was in at 10:15.

The same time was recorded by Dr. Dick Passey, who left at 8:05 and finished at 10.20.

These contestants could have either walked or ran or both, but Dick Keam, a state class walker of UNE, did walk all the way and his times were: start 8.20, finish 10.32.

The first school pupil to finish was Andrew Beattie, of Ben Venue, starting at 8, he finished at 10.53.

St Ursula's girls were the first team to finish. They were Janet Chant, Kerry Farrell, Sandra McShane and Debbie Austin.

Among creeklands committee members to complete the walk were Bob Lewis, soccer association president, who mapped out the course, Jeanette Slade, women's hockey association representative who did much promotion work, the mayor (Ald. Failes), co-chairman of committee Paul Johnstone, Roy Smith and Jim Reid.

Interesting

Walkers found the route well sign-posted and interesting. The morning mists were lifting as the early starters topped the heights at North Armidale and they found themselves admiring both the distant views and the nearby homes. As the walk progressed along less frequented roads, these first impressions of the city's beautiful setting and the many new and comfortable homes on its outskirts were reinforced - no sign of either smog or slum here - and perhaps the walkers had time to reflect on the advantages of living in such a pleasant environment. The thought that they were doing something to preserve and improve this environment would no doubt have lessened the impact of aching feet and made the whole effort well worthwhile.

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MINISTER TELLS HOW OTHERS FOLLOW CITY'S BEAUTIFICATION PLANS

Armidale has given a unique lead to N.S.W. towns through its Creeklands scheme, the Minister for Lands (Mr. Tom Lewis) said on Saturday.

Other towns were now copying Armidale's example and were “buying back mistakes of the past” in joint ventures with the department, he said.

Mr. Lewis was officially opening Saturday's carnival at Harris Park.

He said “In 1968, the year of Creeklands Inception, no other similar scheme existed in New South Wales.

“But a year ago, Camden copied Armidale in a joint plan with the department for the beautification of the Nepean river.

“Have started something”

“You have started something that deserves the highest commendation”.

Mr. Lewis said the department had contributed $38,000 to the Creeklands project and 35 acres costing $25,000 still had to be acquired.

“I am delighted that the venture has worked out.

“It is often necessary to buy back mistakes of the past, and Armidale has done this in magnificent fashion.

“Improve wherever possible”

“I hope you will continue to feel that it is worthwhile to improve wherever possible so that we can say “we have a magnificent country”.

Mr. Lewis said 700 acres a day during the last seven years had been put aside for preservation in New South Wales.

And between $400,000 and $500,000 had been spent each year to give additional recreational space in the state.

“That's a pretty good record,” he said.

But one of the department’s big problems was “the fact that we still have a minority who want to vandalise”.

“So I hope everyone will ensure that our youth starts improving and not destroying.

“I am delighted to declare the carnival open”.

Mr. Lewis also presented prizes to bathtub derby winners.

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Creeklands Carnival results

Results of events at the Creeklands Carnival on Saturday afternoon:

New England Bathtub Championship - Senior division: E - coli (Ken Johnson and Jack Prosser) 1, Ring of Confidence (D. Hewitt and B. Keogh) 2, Man's World (G. Maguire and G. Cochrane) 3. Most original, E - coli.

Junior division: M. Delangre 1, P. Delangre 2, B. Yates 3 Most original, D. Brown, G. Hawkins, L Channon.

Rowing events: Women's pairs: A. Frazier and L. Sauer 1, D. Makepeace and M. Grills 2, R. Frazier and A. Daley 3.

Junior pairs: St. Ursula’s 1 (K. Cree and R. Pearse) 1, J. Smith and R. Lockwood 2, St. Ursula's 2 (A. Daley and M. Grills) 3.

Junior fours: K. Cree, L. Pearse, K. Welsh, J. B. Yates 1, M. Northey, M. Edmunds, B. Dunne, P. Newley 2; P.A. Makepeace, T. Watts, R. Newley 3.

Academic fours: P.L.C. 1, U.N.E Natural Resources 2, De La Salle 3.

Junior Head of Creek: Demonstration I, 1, Ben Venue 2, St. Mary’s 3.

Senior Head of Creek: Armidale High School 1, P.L.C. 2, St. Ursula's 3.

Open eight or championship: P.L.C. 1, Armidale High School 2, St. Ursula's and De La Salle 3.

Service Clubs eights: Lions 1, N. Armidale Rotary 2, Armidale Rotary 3.

Dumaresq Derby: J. Rayner 1, G. Cunnynghame 2, D. Blair 3.

Oldest competitor, J. Reid.

Youngest, M. Riordan, first schoolboy R. Gates.

100 yards backwards race: Ray Marshall, 16.5 sec.

Father, and son race: Laurie and Ray Marshall.

Mother and daughter race: Joan and Susan Gates.

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Our thanks

History is a wonderful teacher! Our special thanks go to Dr John Atchison OAM, local historian and educator, for bringing our attention to this edition of the Armidale Express. And to Dr John Harris who first told us of his memory of a fabulous ‘regatta’ in the creeklands - way back when!

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Postscript

In their first podcast ‘Ramble On’ by current Mayor Sam Coupland and GM James Roncon, Sam expressed his support for improvements to the creeklands - we reckon that was great to hear! We reckon “It’s time”!

You can check out this first podcast here.

Last Sunday, in response to an alert from Armidale Regional Council sent out just two days earlier, some of our community turned up to the Clean-Up Australia Day community event to clean up our creeklands and parks.

In his welcome to the event, local First Nations representative, Brad Widders, spoke passionately of the need for all of us to look after country - if we want the country to look after us.

Representatives of our association participated in the event but we were struck by how few adult residents turned up to help. The day was saved when over 100 TAS (The Armidale School) students (years 6 to 12) arrived ready to help clean out the creek.

A truckload of shopping carts harvested from a short section of Dumaresq Creek - or is in Dumaresq Drain?

When people in the community talk to our association about the creeklands, the most common thing they say is “why doesn’t the Council keep the creeklands clean - especially by removing shopping carts?” Well, it seems Council will do this - at least on Clean up Australia Day - so long as the community helps.

But why isn’t this be an everyday thing? We guess that Council cannot afford to have a team on-hand just for the creeklands. And surely we all need to realise that it is members of our community who are putting the rubbish in the creek - so we have to address that collectively.

Our association has as its aim: “To assist in the careful planning, design and development of beautiful, healthy and safe public spaces featuring wetlands, lagoons and billabongs, connected by flowing water along the Armidale Creeklands”. When we realise this dream, the creeklands will be so much better utilised and enjoyed every day of the year, the community will see that it is healthy, well-cared-for and beautiful, visitors and residents will value the entire precinct more and rubbish in the creek will be a thing of the past.

After 3 hours, a truckload of bags of rubbish - mostly plastic - plus discarded furniture.

We thank all those who participated, including our Mayor and Deputy Mayor (we are told), but especially, the school students who enthusiastically cleaned up our city’s main artery.

They saved the day! Just some of the wonderful 100+ student crew from TAS , The Armidale School (years 6 to 12), after 3 hours of hard work - with truckloads of trolleys and rubbish they cleaned up from the creeklands.

Of course, the efforts of the day stretched along only a part of the creek - up and downstream from the Information Centre - so there is a long length of creek that did not get cleaned on the day.

We wonder if Council had given us more notice, if Council had invited interested community groups like ours and the Armidale Urban Rivercare Group (AURG) to have displays on-hand, whether the event might have been even more successful. Most would know - and appreciate - that community groups such as AURG already do a great deal to maintain and improve our creeklands with many volunteers involved in regular working bees.

Our association - Visions for Armidale Creeklands - wants to complement the work of other groups such as AURG.

We think that the community, and Council, are still not doing enough to identify just what our broad community wants in terms of a “Vision” for the creeklands and getting on with the job. Yes, Stage 1 of the Creeklands Master Plan is funded and plans are currently being prepared by Council; but so much more engagement with the community is needed if this money is to deliver a great outcome.

We don’t believe that the creeklands, currently, are beautiful and healthy. We want to see environmental water restored to our intermittent creek which, last Sunday, was reduced to just a trickle after this past dry summer. If our society can retain water for environmental flows in the Murray-Darling Basin, why can’t we do the same in our upland, inland environment which needs all the healthy water it can get.

We will be seeking young people’s Visions … and rewarding them!

To help us add to our association’s “Visions” we will soon be embarking on a Sponsorship Campaign to raise funds to expand our Visions across the community. Some of the money raised will go to generous prizes for school students who come up with the most inspirational ideas for improving our most precious public space - the creeklands - which stretch along our entire beautiful city.

So, watch out for our campaign and support us if you can. If any in the community can assist us, why not join us?

And, students, watch out for your opportunity to put your best ideas forward.

The entire community needs your ideas to stimulate further action so that we can “look after our country - so it will look after us!”

AURG notice of works which explains the project and shows collaborators

A few days ago, we witnessed some substantial progress towards seeing a wetland created along Dumaresq creeklands - west of the soccer fields which are south of Erskine St.

This is the project that the Armidale Urban Rivercare Group (AURG) was successful in securing funding late last year. It is called the “Weedy Wasteland to Wildlife Wetland" project and involves a number of partners.

Bruce Whan and helper removing woody weeds

Our association - Visions for Armidale Creeklands - is very pleased to see this happening. As we said in our recent blog, we compliment the AURG on their success with this significant funding.

Our association remains hopeful that, one day, we will see many more wetlands, billabongs, and ponds, etc. created along our creeklands for the enjoyment of all living things.

After all, our aim is “To assist in the careful planning, design and development of beautiful, healthy and safe public spaces featuring wetlands, lagoons and billabongs, connected by flowing water along the Armidale Creeklands”.

Currently, our association is focused on planning for more billabongs along Black Gully creek behind NERAM and the ACCKP and attempting to influence Council’s planners who are implementing Stage 1 of the Armidale Creeklands Master Plan (near the skate park).

If you have any ideas or feedback for our association, please contact us.

Workers, chainsaws and stumps in the area that will become the wetland.

Just some of the woody ‘weeds’ timber removed so far from the site of the wetland

Our association aims:

To assist in the careful planning, design and development of beautiful, healthy and safe public spaces featuring wetlands, lagoons and billabongs, connected by flowing water along the Armidale Creeklands

We were pleased to read of the visions for Armidale proposed by the new Mayor, Sam Coupland in his Mayoral Minute (ARC Council meeting January 27, 2022). 

In short, he has suggested we grow and broaden the economic base of our region and city through growing our population, with a focus on ‘sustainable’ industries supported by renewable energy.  We appreciate the mention of using resources more wisely and protecting our environment and prime agricultural land.  He sees water security and economic resilience as two key challenges.

We are pleased to see these positive ideas put forward and hope that all elected members of Council and key Council staff will consider, refine and distil not only their own thoughts but also those from the broader community so that we develop the best collective visions for our region and city.

Our association is pleased to see the recent release of the summary of results of the “Shape Your Region” survey, initiated late last year by the General Manager, which has harnessed the views of many across our communities.  Among the most important findings, we are pleased to note that the community ranks water provision and sustainability, cleaner creeklands and community consultation as priorities.

As these visions are collated and considered by Council, it is worth noting that this is not the first time the community has been asked for its views.  Our association hopes that we will not waste the considerable effort that some put into submissions made to the Armidale Regional Plan 2040 initiated by the previous CEO in 2019.

Therefore, we suggest that all submissions to that 2040 plan be made available on Council’s website so we can all see what our community thought about such a wide array of issues.  To not make these submissions available is to waste the efforts of the community and encourage scepticism about contributing the community’s ideas to any planning processes conducted by Council.

So, whilst we await Council to act on this suggestion, may we present readers with a little of our detailed (15 page) submission to the consultants who undertook the Armidale Region Plan 2040.  [At the time (December 3, 2019), we copied it to the then CEO and all Councillors].  

We remind readers that the 2040 plan called for submissions under a very broad set of headings, many of which need to be considered in addition to the two key challenges posed by Mayor Sam Coupland.  The topics we commented on included Growth, Housing, Education, Sport, Recreation and Open Space, Health, Transport and Connectivity, Tourism, Agriculture, Arts, Culture and Social, Sustainability, Biodiversity and Smart City!  To conclude our submission - made during that most horrible of droughts (late in 2019) - we proposed a WEL vision (“Water Equals Life”).   

Extract from the submission to the Armidale Region Plan 2040: 

Our association’s aim is: “To assist in the careful planning, design and development of beautiful, healthy and safe public spaces featuring wetlands, lagoons and billabongs, connected by flowing water along the Armidale Creeklands”. 

We support the development of user-friendly infrastructure such as attractive bridges, paths and cycle ways, play and recreation areas, along with performance and creative spaces which will complement water features and improve the quality of life, economy and beauty of Armidale.

More water features will encourage tourism, grow the economy and provide educational and research opportunities. An enhanced creeklands environment will see more environmental flows of water supporting healthy life along the entire centre axis of the city - supporting water birds, frogs, eels, fish, invertebrates, etc.  Billabongs, lagoons, ponds and wetlands will greatly enhance the recreational opportunities and enjoyment of all residents as well as visitors to the region.

Visions for Armidale Creeklands Inc aims to collaborate with the wider community by seeking the visions of the aboriginal community, sporting associations, recreational users, the business community, educational institutions, residents and visitors of all ages and those wanting environmental protection, stream health, wildlife corridors, native vegetation and deciduous colour.

A full version of the submission can be found by visiting our blog (March 11, 2020) on our website.

We look forward to seeing even more opportunities for discussion of visions across the community and by Armidale Regional Council as we seek an agreed path forward.

Flowing water in Stage 1 precinct

(December 2021, west of Armidale Central shopping centre)

In November 2021, we conducted a survey of our members to see what they thought of Council’s work plan for Stage 1 of the Creeklands Master Plan.

Note: this Work Plan was written by Council officers and adopted by Council with no opportunity given to our association to comment on it prior to it being put before Council.

We trust that the newly appointed Council will remedy the situation by ensuring that community associations such as Visions for Armidale Creeklands are invited to work with Council - so that the ideas put forward by our members (see below) are given serious consideration - before any Stage 1 Work Plan is implemented.

The results are shown below in a chart of all items ranked from highest to lowest.

• The highest ranked items relate to vegetation changes.

• The lowest ranked item is for the concrete based labyrinth.

Following the chart are a full listing of the comments received from members.

Our association believes that these results show which items got the most support but also, importantly, a considerable level of concern about some items, their costs and the process. This survey supports our suggestion made in our August 2021 blog that Council should engage with community groups in implementing its plan.

Survey of members of Visions for Armidale Creeklands (November 2021)

Ranking of Agreement with 20 items listed in adopted Work Plan (see Appendix below) for Rehabilitation Stage 1 Work Plan of the Creeklands Master Plan

Comments received from members in November 2021 survey about plans for Stage 1 of Creeklands Master Plan

Any comments on the re-constructed cycleway (uncosted)?

• The cycle way doesn’t get flooded often and the money could be used for other projects along the creek.

• Shared cycle way is very important for safety. Very important. More important than labyrinth.  Labyrinth a waste of money and could do a maze with that money.

• Cycleway needs to be above 5 year Average Recurrence Interval but also the roads need to be similarly (say 10 year ARI) designed, as Jessie, Faulkner, Dumaresq and Taylor Sts are closed due to flooding several times a year i.e. ARI less than 6 months. Cycleway needs to be wide for pedestrians too. Rubbish bins need to be provided along the cycleway near road crossings.

• Does this also mean resurfacing the existing sections of the foot path/cycleway that will not be subjected  to relocation. Many sections of the path are in a poor condition and are in need of maintenance

• Perhaps not a priority when including establishment of pools, riffles and pumped recycling of water for Dumaresq Creek.

• Need to know the cost before deciding

23. Please provide any additional thoughts you have about the Indicative Costs for any of the items above 

• I believe I can make a statement or answer these questions but it won’t make any difference to the decisions you have made already and things that have to be done.

• I can’t see on a map what you are talking about sometimes so that is difficult also.

• Most people would have no idea about how much each bit of work would cost, especially when there is no itemised scope of work. Also your survey questions are confusing. E.g. "pedestrian access from Dumaresq st to Markham St, including Dumaresq St". Do you have a plan that shows the extent of pedestrian access and which side of the road?

• Concern that one third of costs are for unknown costs.

• Not qualified to comment on costings.

• I have no idea about costs. Please see my comments about calling for tenders in my answer to Q26.

• Where are the provisions for ongoing maintenance and development?

• The council already have all the facilities to do all the work that is required.

• I am unsure of many of the costs - surely there is a way to get tenders to make sure of value for money?

24. What in your view are the best features of this Proposed Implementation Plan for Stage 1?

• The opening up of the creek and make it more attractive to users.

• A crossing to skate park. Shared bike and pathway for safety. I sometimes feel uneasy on the path when bikes are around. 

• Eliminate weeds, provide native vegetation, improve access.

• Upgrading of western area of creek which has been a problem area.

• Remediation of contaminated soil and clearance of creek.

• I believe that this section of the creeklands requires the upgrading and modernization of facilities and that many of the works proposed will provide greater opportunities for users of the creeklands. The removal of weeds and woody weeds from the creek banks will allow greater access and improve stream flow and water quality.

• VERY hard to determine

• All features have some merit and some are essential (eg Gasworks remediation)

• The aim of developing a 'family friendly' precinct that is likely to get more usage of the creeklands.

25. What in your view are the worst features of this Proposed Implementation Plan for Stage 1?

• Upgrading Labyrinth and working on the Spanish arch. I feel are a waste of time and money that could be spent elsewhere. 

• Too much cost on exercise stations and fixing crumbling ruins.

• Lack of imagination in terms of the creek itself and no consideration of water management 

• Lack of community consultation. Expenditure on exercise stations and labryinth and concern that expenditure is being syphoned into Council's responsibilities.

• 1) I believe that the plan has missed a great opportunity to provide more water in the landscape by the construction of designed water bodies that are connected to the creek that would not exacerbate flooding and would not become stagnant.
  2) I am also disappointed the the plan proposes to use the funding for the construction of a traffic island across Dumaresq Street. Although it is obvious that this structure is required I believe this should be funded through Council's recurrent road budget as it is and has been a safety feature for many years. The foot paths at the causeway on Dumaresq St adjacent to Centro should be the subject of a complete redesign to improve safety and function.
  3) Very disappointed that there wasn't a more enlightened vision for the duck pond with a possible enlargement or a second larger pond closer toward the creek with reticulating water.
  4) Maybe the maze could have been replaced with an Aboriginal cultural feature  and information providing an opportunity to express the importance of the original inhabitants of the area.
  5) There is a wealth of knowledge and resources on the European history and use of the creeklands and no provision has been made to provide interpretative displays."

• One of the interesting features is the amount of detail given to infrastructure works rather than consider the environment value of landscape and water flow.

• Anything associated with walkways

• No pools and riffles. No planting of deciduous exotic trees in areas needing shade in summer and sun in winter while providing a highly attractive environment changing with the seasons.

• The lack of any provision for healthy, aerated water to flow continuously through the precinct even during drought times.

26. Please provide any thoughts you have about Council's decision to use NSW Public Works Advisory and the Soil Conservation Service to carry out the design and management of the implementation of Stage 1

• I think that is okay

• I don’t know enough to answer this question. 

• It seems like an opportunity for government to waste money on themselves. 

• need independent advice

• It would be great for Armidale if locals could be involved and employed for all of this work. It might end up being much cheaper.

• I assume with the issues of contamination within the creek and surrounding soils that the SCS is an appropriate organization to carry out the works within the stream bed and be the project managers for the construction phases of the project.

• Any Government Service is certain to waste time, stuff up the investigation and waste money.

• Unfamiliar with details

• I don't have any experience or qualifications to comment, other than to say ALL work, including project management, should go to tender, with a public, clear and appropriate tender process to select all involved.

• I am unsure of their landscape design skills and commitment to listening to the community

27. Any other thoughts, feedback or suggestions?

• Toilets and facilities around skatepark would be great. Maybe more families would use this area then. 

• I'm concerned that in making the creek more meandering, the slope of the creek will be made flatter (culvert invert levels across roads are at fixed heights), and therefore very little opportunity to have a "bubbling brook". The creek may become more stagnant.

• Council should be encouraged to establish a community group to consult with on the Creek Lands and other issues within the city. With regards the creek lands this funding is only for stage 1. Why wait for years before getting community input in to planning for stages 2,3 and 4.

• The modern definition of consultation is that administrators make decisions then inform the public.  I thought that consultation means consult at the start of the process.

• Nope

• The council should continuously do the required work.

• I hope that Council decides to take a more active role in coordinating things and especially to encourage input from relevant community groups to ensure an outcome that will please the broader community.

Appendix. Rehabilitation Stage 1 Work Plan (adopted by Council on 25 August 2021)

We were delighted to learn of the success of the Armidale Urban Rivercare Group (AURG) in securing State Government funding - announced by Member for Northern Tablelands, Adam Marshall - for its ‘Weedy Wasteland to Wildlife Wetland’ project - as reported recently on NBN News.  

Our sincere compliments to the AURG Chair, Bruce Whan, and all of the partners in this project.  

Our association is very pleased that permission has been granted for a wetland which will add so much to the amenity, beauty and function of the creeklands.  In 2017, our group formed “to assist in the careful planning, design and development of beautiful, healthy and safe public spaces featuring wetlands, lagoons and billabongs, connected by flowing water along the Armidale Creeklands”.  With our focus on developing community visions which will see restored natural levels of water flows and retaining water in naturalised settings, we have tried to complement the work of AURG which has been so successful in transforming the vegetation along the creeklands with appropriate native species.  

We will be recommending to our members and our Friendly Followers that they might volunteer to help out when AURG commences its new Wildlife Wetland project.

It is particularly pleasing that Armidale Regional Council is a partner in the project as they will be key to getting approvals for any interventions in the creeklands.  Also, it is great to see that the University of New England's Aquatic Ecology and Restoration Research Group will be designing the wetland.

We look forward to seeing this project lead the way towards seeing even more wetlands and billabongs connected by flowing water along the entire length of the Armidale Creeklands. 

Many will be aware that Stage 1 of the Armidale Creeklands Master Plan is to be implemented as a Family Precinct by Armidale Regional Council during 2022 with $3m of funding from the State Government.  Our association is pleased that progress is being made but we continue to make representations to Council on behalf of our members to see a greater focus on healthy water flows and billabongs/ponds in this precinct to add beauty and function to the planned pathways, exercise stations, picnic facilities, shade and native plantings.  Sadly, the approved plans say very little about water!  

In short, our goal of creating a community consensus of what our creeklands might be is far from over.  As we know, we can experience droughts as well as floods and so we need to protect assets from floods as well as find ways to ensure that healthy water can flow along our streams and through any wetlands - even in dry times.  

We encourage any interested members of the community to get involved and help AURG and Visions for Armidale Creeklands Inc to realise all of our dreams.

Some questions for candidates for Armidale Regional Council?

As the election for Councillors of Armidale Regional Council approaches, you might ask candidates a few questions relating to the creeklands …

1. Armidale is a great city and, like all great cities of the world, has the potential to be even greater with more healthy environmental flows of water along its extensive creeklands. Do you agree?

2. Should the implementation of Stage 1 of the Armidale Creeklands Master Plan (with its $3m grant) be carried out with the participation and endorsement of relevant community organisations to ensure that the community will be pleased with the outcome?

3. To ensure the protection of life and assets, do you agree that no buildings should be constructed within the 1-in-100 year flood zone along the Armidale creeklands?

Visions for Armidale Creeklands aims to ”assist in the careful planning, design and development of beautiful, healthy and safe public spaces featuring wetlands, lagoons and billabongs, connected by flowing water along the Armidale Creeklands”.

We also “support the development of user-friendly infrastructure such as attractive bridges, paths and cycle ways, play and recreation areas, along with performance and creative spaces which will complement water features and improve the quality of life, economy and beauty of Armidale”.

Our association looks forward to working with the new Armidale Regional Council in a collaborative, transparent and constructive way to see the beauty, life and function of our city enhanced with the supply of sufficient environmental flows to ensure healthy pools, billabongs, streams and riffles throughout the city.

Over the past decade or so, we have all learned of the impact on our daily lives, both positive and negative, of ‘social media’. Some hate it! Others love it!

In reality, for our non-profit association, Visions for Armidale Creeklands, social media are helping a lot. Eventually, we are confident it will help bring more water and wildlife back to our creeklands.

How so?

On our Facebook page, many members of the community have chosen to ‘Like’ our posts; pleasingly, no-one has made negative comments. This gives us confidence that our messages are gradually getting ‘out there’. Over the past year, the number of people who ‘Like’ our page has grown by 45% - so each time we post, we are reaching more across our community. Typically, our posts reach 1,000 people or more. Our most successful post to date reached some 7,000 people!

More recently, we have started our Instagram page where we have posted images of water that we dream of. When we posted an image of punting on the river in Cambridge UK, we were delighted to discover that the Armidale Rowing Club was interested - who knew?

It’s early days as we are starting to learn to find value in the sharing of our ‘Visions’ as images on Instagram. To date, we have gathered together some 81 followers - we thank them all.

Even on Twitter, we are discovering things, as we post occasionally to our Twitter account. We also follow Centennial Parklands in Sydney as a source of inspiration for beautiful bodies of water, parklands and the children’s Wild Play Garden.

There are so many interesting points of view on Twitter, especially from people with influence such as the media, politicians and leaders of various groups. A few days ago, we discovered a tweet from the Secretary of the ACTU, Sally McManus, to celebrate the end of Victoria’s latest Covid lockdown, that tells us about the #BirdofTheYear, the superb fairy-wren, and also about walking in the John Cummins wetland. After some searching, we discovered this wetland is in a lovely area near Yea, Victoria.

This inspires us to keep planning to realise our Visions for Armidale’s creeklands!

As we attract more interest and support from across the community, and as we find out what ‘Visions’ are most favoured, we are getting closer to getting a community consensus. This is informing our plans for restoring natural flows of water so we can welcome more wildlife back to our unique tableland creeklands environment, for the enjoyment of all.

We look forward to seeing a Working Group of Council formed to help plan the implementation of Stage 1 of the Creeklands Master Plan

Since the announcement in June 2021 of $3m for Stage 1 of the Creeklands Master Plan, we have not learned anything about the next steps to be taken nor how any designs will be created and the process for implementation. This worries your committee.

The number 2 recommendation of the adopted Creeklands Master Plan is: “Working group: Establish an expanded working group of stakeholders (including external or transient organisations or users) to regularly meet to continue project momentum”.

We have made representations to Council suggesting that such a Working Group should include representatives of key community groups and especially those who made submissions to the Creeklands consultants who prepared the Master Plan. These groups include: Visions for Armidale Creeklands Inc, the Armidale Urban Rivercare Group, the Aboriginal Cultural Centre and Keeping Place, the University of New England, Armidale Neighbourhood Watch Group, Stringybark Ecological, Sporting Groups, Fauna and vegetation interests, local government expertise and Sustainable Living Armidale.

Although Council has not yet agreed to our request, we hope that good sense will prevail so that the voices of the community can be heard - especially as Council embarks on spending the $3m awarded for Stage 1 of the agreed Master Plan. We would hate to see Council have to return the money - as was the case recently with a grant made for the hydrotherapy pool!

If you are talking to a Councillor, or a prospective Councillor, why not ask them what their views are about the Armidale Creeklands and the value of community input to the implementation phase of the Plan?

June 3, 2021 was an exciting day for many an Armidale resident! After lots of work from Armidale Regional Council and community groups such as AURG and Visions for Armidale Creeklands - and with the support of the Mayor Ian Tiley and our local member, Adam Marshall MP - an announcement was made of some $3m to implement Stage 1 of the Armidale Creeklands Master Plan. More details of what the grant will achieve can be found here at Adam Marshall’s blog.

These smiling faces belong to Mayor Ian Tiley, Bruce Whan of Armidale Urban Rivercare Group (AURG), Adam Marshall MP and Jim Scott of Visions for Armidale Creeklands

June 3 was also the day that we met with Dave Carr of Stringybark Ecological to get advice on how we can best design our new project: Black Gully Creek Billabongs, behind NERAM and the ACCKP. This proof-of-concept project was agreed to by the former Administrator, Viv May, using funds from the Bushfire Recovery Fund from the NSW State Government. Back in March we held a consultation meeting with lots of people with an interest in the project. Watch this space for more news about how it this exciting project is progressing.

Dave Carr (Stringybark Ecological) and Jim Reid (V4ACL) discussing improvements to the billabongs and access paths along Black Gully Creek on a wet day (June 3, 2021).

Don Hardman and Jim Reid of Visions for Armidale Creeklands addressing the Black Gully Creeks Billabongs consultation meeting at the ACCKP on March 5, 2021.

Video telling our story …

To learn a little more about Visions for Armidale Creeklands and how you might be able to help, please have a look at our new video …

In November 2019, our committee hosted a bus tour along parts of the Armidale creeklands with members of the local Aboriginal community.

During the tour we learned something about how Aboriginal communities are connected in an inseparable way to the land and environment:

“Aboriginal communities have a connection and sense of ownership of the land. The land and water and its biodiversity values are the centre of Aboriginal spirituality and contribute to Aboriginal peoples’ identity. Aboriginal heritage and nature are inseparable from each other and need to be managed in an integrated manner. Management of cultural heritage should accordingly focus on conservation across the whole landscape and recognise the role of people in the landscape. Natural resource use remains an important part of Aboriginal people’s lives in NSW. It is associated with the use and enjoyment of valued foods and medicines, caring for the land, passing on cultural knowledge and strengthening social bonds. The Armidale Creeklands provided the local ANAIWAN people with a rich variety of foods, medicine, resources, shelter and utensils. ”

Front page of report on bus tour with Aboriginal representatives

Link to report on bus tour with representatives of the local Aboriginal community.